Darling Harbour has commissioned Kengo Kuma to design a new civic and creative center in Sydney - the Japanese practice's first Australian project. The 30-meter-tall, wood-clad "Darling Exchange" will rise six stories and provide space for a ground-floor market hall, library, childcare center, makerspace, and additional program for start-ups, as well as a rooftop bar and restaurant.

“Our aim is to achieve architecture that is an open and tangible as possible to the community, and this is reflected in the circular geometry that creates a building that is accessible and recognizable from multiple directions,” said Kuma. 

OMA has won a commission to design their first project in the United Arab Emirates. The winning proposal will transform four warehouses on Dubai's Alserkal Avenue into a new multi-purpose venue that will connect local architects and artists, and highlight the role intelligent design plays in the city.

“The main strategy for the design of the event space is to blur the boundary between interior and exterior by bringing view and daylight into the space and extending the action and events to the public space outside," said Iyad Alsaka, OMA's MEA Partner in Charge.

Foster + Partners, BIG and Grimshaw Architects have won a competition to design pavilions for Expo 2020 Dubai. Under the Expo’s 2020 theme of Connecting Minds, Creating the Future, the teams were selected from 13 invited practices to design three themed pavilions within the Expo's HOK-designed masterplan: Opportunity, Mobility, and Sustainability.

"A key criterion for the competition was ensuring that the designs not only embodied one of Expo’s core themes, but also had the flexibility and longevity to live on as landmarks and functional structures after the Expo is complete in 2021," said the organizers in a press release. 

BIG has revealed their concept for the Redskins new stadium complex. Complete with a moat, the semi-transparent, undulating structure was designed to redefine the American stadium. Rather than being (mostly) preserved for game-day, BIG envisions the stadium to be a year-round destination used for more than just football.

“The stadium is designed as much for the tailgating, like the pre-game, as for the game itself,” Bjarke Ingels said on 60 Minutes. “Tailgating literally becomes a picnic in a park. It can actually make the stadium a more lively destination throughout the year without ruining the turf for the football game.”

Videos

A Japanese Constellation: Toyo Ito, SANAA, and Beyond focuses on the work of architects and designers orbiting Pritzker Prize winners Toyo Ito and SANAA. MoMA’s first presentation dedicated solely to Japanese practitioners, the exhibition spotlights a small cluster of contemporary Japanese architects working within the larger field, exploring their formal inventiveness and close professional relationships to frame a radical model of practice in the 21st century.

Working with Drexel University and master developer Brandywine Realty Trust, SHoP and West 8 will transform 14-acres of existing underutilized land with 6.5-acres of public open space to create a collaborative mixed-use neighborhood in Philadelphia’s University City submarket. Schuylkill Yards will feature a mix of 24/7 entrepreneurial spaces, educational facilities and research laboratories, corporate offices, residential and retail spaces, hospitality and cultural venues, as well as a robust public realm network that connects the existing neighborhoods with the adjacent Amtrak 30th Street Station.

Situated next to the third-busiest passenger rail station in the country, Schuylkill Yards will be connected to Philadelphia’s international airport and major cities along the Northeast corridor, making it a major innovation hub on the East Coast.

Toronto-based MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects (MJMA) has been selected to receive the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada's (RAIC) 2016 Architectural Firm Award. Known for their work in community recreation and sports buildings, the more than 50-person practice was chosen by the jury for their "wellness approach" to design and contribution to the "broader communities in which the projects are located."

“MJMA has consistently achieved a very high quality of architecture and bold clarity throughout its large body of work,” said the five-member jury. “In addition to the spectacular spatial qualities, the architecture exhibits a clear problem-solving approach.

As part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco has announced major renovation and expansion plans by wHY Architecture. The practice is expected to design a new 12,000-square-foot exhibition pavilion, reconfigure the Museum’s existing galleries, and modernize its education and public programming spaces. Work will begin in 2017.

"The new pavilion will underscore San Francisco’s cultural diversity, create one of the nation’s premier exhibition spaces dedicated to Asian art, and increase the number of special exhibitions on view for visitors," says the Museum.

If you haven't had the opportunity to step inside Santiago Calatrava's World Trade Center Oculus, here is your chance. Miguel de Guzmán of Imagen Subliminal has captured the incredible space in VR (Virtual Reality), granting you 360-degree views of the infamous oculus. Put on your Google Cardboard and see it for yourself.

20 prominent women in architecture have been shortlisted for the arcVision Prize - a prize that "aims to give recognition to women whose work brings an innovative new design, theoretical or practical approach to the economic, social and cultural issues at play in the field of architecture." Referred to some as the "Pritzker for women," the yearly arcVision Prize is now in its fourth edition.

The full list of nominees includes:

Common Edge has published a cheeky "letter to prospective architecture parents" that preps them for the changes their child will soon undergo by detailing the 6 phases of architectural education: "Architecture school is a peculiar beast. It almost never actually prepares students to be practicing architects, and 90% of what is written by architects and architectural theorists is incomprehensible garbage. But being able to discern what is and what is not incomprehensible garbage is a profoundly useful life skill."

The six phases each architecture student goes through includes: 

The City of Vancouver has agreed to purchase the Arbutus Corridor from Canadian Pacific Railway for $55 million to make way for a future public greenway. According to a report by CBC, this ends a long-standing dispute between the city and CP Rail over the worth of the nine kilometer stretch of land, which hasn't been used for nearly 15 years.

Studio Gang Architects has been chosen by the Department of State to design the new US Embassy compound in Brasília Brazil's federal capital. Selected from a shortlist of six, the Jeanne Gang-led practice won the commission with their "strong and cohesive team approach with more than 20 years of collaborative experience executing projects with complex constraints at challenging sites," says the report.

Yamagiwa has just released a new version of Toyo Ito's popular Mayuhana lamp - Mayuhana Ma Black. "Ma," meaning "true" or "genuine," represents the new lamps darker color that is, as the company describes, "more deep and profound."

"Mayuhana Ma Black is light in darkness. It is the quintessential quality of light found in Japan that reminds me of ‘In Praise of Shadows’ by Junichiro Tanizaki," says Toyo Ito.

NOW Architects and Grimshaw have been selected to design "LetsRun Park" - a new home for horseracing in the South Korean city of Yeongcheon. Selected through an international competition by the Korea Racing Authority and International Union of Architects, the team's masterplan calls for new racecourse and equine-themed family park on the 148 hectare site.

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) has selected La SHED Architecture as the recipient of its 2016 Emerging Architectural Practice Award. The small, nine-person office in Montreal is known for designing "fresh, contemporary houses inspired by the informal qualities," says the RAIC. It was founded in 2011 by University of Montreal graduates Renée Mailhot, MRAIC, Sébastien Parent and Yannick Laurin.

“This is a recently created firm that has developed a coherent and consistent body of high-quality architectural work in a rapid time frame,” said the five-member jury. “It has achieved this while often working within limited budgets.” 

AL_A's MPavilion 2015 has been gifted to the City of Melbourne. It will be relocated from the Queen Victoria Gardens to a permanent site at Collins Street park in Docklands, says Naomi Milgrom, chair of the Naomi Milgrom Foundation.

“In its new permanent home, Amanda Levete’s MPavilion 2015 will continue to inspire and be part of our city’s cultural heritage as a public amenity of Melbourne. Amanda’s magical, forest-like structure joins a growing family of architectural masterpieces to be enjoyed by the people of Melbourne for years to come,” Milgrom said.

Russian designer Vasily Klyukin has envisioned the "Asian Cobra Tower." Just as its name suggests, the gold-plated tower takes the shape of a snake, offering offices and apartments in its body and a restaurant, night club and terrace in its jaws.

"In Japan telling someone that he is a snake means a compliment. In China snakes and dragons often mean the same," says Klyukin. "The symbol of wisdom and eternal life, this tower would embellish any Eastern city."