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Abu Dhabi announced as second Sphere venue location

2024-10-15T14:01:00-04:00

The second iteration of the popular Sphere venue will be located in Abu Dhabi after officials from the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT) announced a deal with its New York-based holding company Sphere Entertainment.

The first Sphere location outside of the United States is part of the intended vision of CEO James Dolan for a global network of venues and will require the DCT to pay a franchise initiation fee for the use of proprietary designs and intellectual property. It also aligns with Abu Dhabi's larger 2030 Tourism Strategy, which spurred an investment equal to at least $10 billion.

The DCT Abu Dhabi will also be asked to pay an annual fee to use the Sphere’s creative and artistic content. Populous’ original design for the 20,000-seat Las Vegas Sphere cost a total of $2.3 billion to construct between 2019 and 2023.

This ends some speculation as to where the Sphere would exp...

Netflix House will remake two American shopping spaces into entertainment venues

2024-07-19T11:24:00-04:00

Details are emerging of Netflix’s plans for a new series of "immersive experiences" that will reimagine several dead retail spaces inside shopping centers in the United States by 2025. Both the Galleria Dallas and the King of Prussia Mall in Pennsylvania are being targeted for the new Netflix House ventures, according to the streaming giant’s recent press release.

Each will include over 100,000 square feet of space. The Verge says: "Details on what exactly will fill all that space and draw fans to the streaming giant’s first two permanent venues remain thin, but they will include 'regularly updated immersive experiences' and 'unique food and drink offerings' [...]"

Safdie Architects will expand Marina Bay Sands for 2029

2024-04-08T13:02:00-04:00

Safdie Architects has announced plans for a programmatic expansion of their previous Marina Bay Sands design in Singapore.

The scheme calls for the addition of a new luxury hotel tower with a sky roof, a 15,000-seat entertainment venue, and further spaces reserved for work, retail, and dining.

The project is being undertaken to provide a boost to Singapore’s tourism sector, which is considered lagging behind other destinations in the Asia-Pacific region in spite of strong post-pandemic numbers. (The resort has drawn more than 470 million visitors since its opening, according to a press release from its Las Vegas-based management group.)

Rendering of the new entertainment arena. Image courtesy Marina Bay Sands

"The all-suite hotel tower will set new standards of hospitality, the state-of-the-art arena will help attract the highest-caliber global entertainment events and artists, and the additional convention and exhibition space will extend the success of Singapore as a leading MICE d...

Populous unveils cliffside Saudi stadium design formed of modular cubes

2024-01-22T11:44:00-05:00

Populous has unveiled plans for a major stadium in Saudi Arabia to be constructed on top of a 650-foot-tall cliff. The Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Stadium seeks to “draw visitors from across the globe and revolutionize the traditional stadium experience with its immersive design and unique technological features,” according to the team.

Image credit: Populous

Located in Qiddiya City, 40 minutes from the capital Riyadh, the venue is designed to host the country’s largest sports, entertainment, and cultural events and is expected to attract 7.6 million annual visits. The stadium will be the world’s first venue with a combined retractable roof, pitch, and LED wall, offering what the team calls “unparalleled versatility” in “allowing the space to transform into different ‘event modes’ in a matter of hours.”

When activated, the LED wall will display live event broadcasts, high-definition films, and laser shows. When not in use, the wall gives way to views of the city from the venue’s cliff...

Populous reveals new esports arena design for Saudi Arabia's Qiddiya megaproject

2023-12-26T18:29:00-05:00

Populous has announced its plans for an esports gaming center in the new Qiddiya City entertainment district of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The proposed Qiddiya City Esports Arena is included under the Saudi Vision 2030 umbrella and serves a considerable market of gaming fans within the country that is anticipated to grow to contribute $13 billion to the country’s GDP annually in the same time period.

Populous will leverage a considerable past experience in esports and gaming, including the NBA 2K League Broadcast Arena, Fortress Melbourne, and the new Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The firm says its final product will be unique to them all both in terms of scale and their users’ experience, creating a “fantasy world” with capacity for more than 5,155 players.

Image courtesy Populous

The program is divided into six translucent volumes, each with its own LED-lit entrance. Once inside, the gaming experience will be focused into a central bowl seating arrangement wrapped by two concours...

Take a look inside the Las Vegas Sphere's interior and lighting designs

2023-12-22T14:05:00-05:00

New York-based design studio ICRAVE has shared a special look inside its interior, wayfinding, and lighting design work on the headline-grabbing new Sphere entertainment venue in Las Vegas.

Besides its 580,000-square-foot fully programmable exterior LED facade and the 160,000-square interior display for 17,500 guests, Sphere features another 300,000 square feet of interior space spread across eight levels.

Cross section rendering of Sphere. Image courtesy Sphere Entertainment

The lighting strategy for its lobby, VIP clubs, food and beverage spaces, and other hospitality suites was designed to mimic the geometry of the venue (now the world’s largest spherical structure) and insists on stage lighting to further communicate its purpose to the world.

Photo: Rich Fury, courtesy Sphere Entertainment

“We needed the surrounding spaces to live up to the promise of what’s inside the bowl and to ensure...

Snøhetta designs Saudi opera house inspired by traditional Najdi architecture

2023-12-18T11:45:00-05:00

Snøhetta has unveiled its design for an opera house in Diriyah, on the outskirts of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Inspired by the surrounding desert landscape, local cultural heritage, and Najdi building traditions, the Royal Diriyah Opera House forms part of a wider master plan to redevelop the historic area.

Image credit: Binyan

Both the form and materiality of the opera house respond to a vernacular style in the area known as Najdi, which historically saw mud-brick structures closely clustered to create constant shade. Similarly, the proposed scheme comprises a cluster of buildings connected by open-access passages, responding to the need to shade visitors from the sun.

Image credit: Binyan

The concept behind the design was “the idea of earth from the riverbeds, which crack when exposed to the hot sun, is molded by wind and rain, and then finds a new shape as separate forms.” As a result, the cluster of buildings is imagined as rising from the ground to form open passages across the site. ...

South Korea moves closer to getting its own MSG Sphere

2023-12-16T08:00:00-05:00

South Korean media outlets are reporting on a deal that would bring a new MSG Sphere design to the Seoul region just weeks after its controversial London predecessor was rejected over suspect environmental impact assessments and local opposition.

The new 20,000-capacity venue will feature a 1.2 million LED display, the same numbers as the now-open Las Vegas counterpart. The potential satellite would be included in the city of Hanam’s K-Star World project, a mixed-use district totaling 900,000 square meters and located roughly 12 miles to the east of the capital’s Gangnam neighborhood, according to the Korea Economic Daily.

"If Hanam attracts Asia’s first MSG Sphere, it will be an opportunity for Korea’s entertainment industry to take a quantum leap in attracting huge overseas investment and tourists," Mayor Lee Hyun-Jae told the paper in August.

He was reportedly looki...

So much for the controversial London Sphere after Mayor Sadiq Khan refuses planning permission

2023-11-20T18:54:00-05:00

The proposed MSG Sphere in East London has been scrapped with the late decision by Mayor Sadiq Khan to refuse planning permissions over grounds that its design causes a public nuisance to residents of the surrounding Stratford district.

The long-controversial Sphere had been derided by critics and locals alike since first being revealed in January of 2018. Myriad attempts at halting the application process had been lodged in the years leading up to Monday's decision. Populous, which has also developed its well-reviewed twin in Las Vegas, was responsible for the 21,500-capacity design proposal.

The issue of light pollution had always been a critical factor in its pending success as a proposed entertainment venue sited in place of the 4.7-acre former coach park of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Khan’s decision cited the issue along with two other factors for the refusal, including its huge operational costs and an overall lack of green credentials for the project. Its impact on se...

SHoP, Field Operations behind proposed $8 billion ‘Metropolitan Park’ mixed-use/casino development in Queens

2023-11-09T19:46:00-05:00

A group affiliated with New York Mets franchise owner Steve Cohen has revealed a proposal for a new mixed-use entertainment district and casino that would occupy a transforming portion of the Willets Point, Queens neighborhood if approved.

The $8 billion proposal covers 50 acres (20 of which will be dedicated open space) and will include designs from SHoP Architects, Fields Operations, and Jeffrey Beers International. The site is located adjacent to another development that was announced in May and is being master planned by HOK to create the first-ever dedicated professional soccer facility in New York City. The plan calls for a hotel, multiple restaurants or bars, a conference space, gardens and athletic facilities, a music venue, and a food hall for local vendors.

Speaking in a press release, Cohen said: “When I bought this team, fans and the community kept saying we needed to do better. Metropolitan Park delivers on the promise of a shared space that people will not only want t...

Frida Escobedo and Handel's National Black Theatre project tops out in Harlem

2023-10-09T17:24:00-04:00

Frida Escobedo and Handel Architects have shared photos of their newly topped-out National Black Theatre and Ray Harlem mixed-use development in Manhattan.

The project entails a new 27,000-square-foot theater, retail spaces, and a 222-unit residential component strategically located along the historic 125th Street corridor in East Harlem. It is the first scheme in the city to utilize the Visual and Performing Arts bonus included in a comprehensive 2008 rezoning plan, expanding on the late National Black Theatre founder Barbara Ann Teer’s vision for “an artistic ecosystem that uplifts the community,” according to Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. Proponents say its creation is also a catalyst for greater representation in the theater and cultural industries overall.

Image © Brett Tiagwad

Construction will now continue towards the NBT’s expected public opening in 2026. Once complete, the theater will include a 250-seat immersive technology performance space, a 99-seat flexible s...

Go inside The Shed’s short-lived Sonic Sphere installation with The New York Times

2023-07-06T17:26:00-04:00

“It’s about a change in consciousness that leaves a memory,” [Ed] Cooke said of the project. “Can people have an experience where they touch some new territory of consciousness, not in a way that is like an altered state, but one that actually leaves a trace?”

The 50-ton space, which is suspended some 34 feet above the ground, has a capacity of 250 people and was promoted by co-designer Merijn Royaards as a “sensory laboratory that [...] bends time, expands consciousness, and punctures our perception of reality” at the project’s announcement in early May.

Video courtesy of The Shed/YouTube

Its design was supposedly inspired by German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Kugelauditorium from 1970 and includes a JBL sound system for special 45-minute ticketed performances. The venue closes on July 30th, with a return to New York planned for next year. Speaking of their intent for the $2 million project, Royaards' colleague Ed Cooke told the Times, “We want to give [people] something magical.”

Watch Las Vegas’ MSG Sphere light up for Fourth of July debut

2023-07-05T18:11:00-04:00

At 366 feet tall and 516 feet wide, it’s being billed as the world’s largest spherical structure. Its bowl-shaped theater reportedly contains the world’s highest-resolution wraparound LED screen. And its exterior is fitted with 1.2 million hockey puck-sized LEDs that can be programmed to flash dynamic imagery on a massive scale – again, reportedly the world’s largest. It was fully illuminated for the first time Tuesday night to celebrate the Fourth of July.

The venue doesn’t officially debut until late September with the beginning of U2’s special residency. The sphere will blast tunes from its hyper-customizable 164,000-speaker audio system, which somehow can even direct specific languages to certain parts of the audience.

Video courtesy of Sphere/YouTube

Testing of its eye-burning extierior didn’t commence until just last week. In a press statement, Sphere Entertainment SVP Guy Barnett called it “living architecture, and unlike anything that exists anywhere in the world.”

The Shed debuts Sonic Sphere suspended musical feature

2023-05-09T13:17:00-04:00

The Shed at New York City’s Hudson Yards has unveiled plans for a new, temporary 65-foot spherical concert hall feature to be placed inside the arts venue’s McCourt performance space this summer.

The space is the product of architectural designers Ed Cooke, Merijn Royaards, and Nicholas Christie and has previously been enacted at the 2022 Burning Man festival and ten other venues.

Lounge-type seating is combined with a listening platform that's suspended 34 feet off the ground. Standing sections and a netted center complete the spatial design, with a capacity for 250 persons, a JBL sound system, and lighting design from Polina Zakh. The space was supposedly inspired by Karlheinz Stockhausen’s 1970 Kugelauditorium for the World Expo in Japan that same year.

Royaards explains: “My first experience of clubbing was during a cold winter in early ’90s Rotterdam. The interference patterns of visual, sonic, and kinetic waveform transmissions that flooded the dance floor and enveloped me we...

Populous attached to proposed Etihad Stadium expansion for Manchester City FC

2023-04-18T18:16:00-04:00

Manchester City Football Club has just released renderings for a proposed expansion of their 24-year-old Etihad Stadium led by Populous.

The submission to the Manchester City Council calls for a “best-in-class” fan experience and year-round live entertainment venue to be integrated into the stadium complex. The scheme was proposed following the results of a monthlong consultation process with fans and members of the local community and will help expand seating capacity during performances to over 60,000.

A 3,000-capacity covered exterior City Square fan zone is also included in the design, along with plans for a 400-room hotel, team store, and museum.

Image courtesy Manchester City FC

A new tier will be added above the stadium’s North Stand section to provide space for the new accommodations. The plan also calls for the inclusion of startup spaces in the development, supported by City Football Group and Etihad Campus. Manchester City is promising investments in excess of £300 millio...

'An astonishing place to explore': Oliver Wainwright previews the trippy Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood

2023-01-25T13:00:00-05:00

Welcome to Super Nintendo World, the closest thing you can get to diving head-first inside a video game and experiencing the likely effects of swallowing one of Mario’s magic mushrooms. For Universal, it represents the first expansion beyond film- and TV-themed rides, and a step up in designing a total environment – with the opening timed to capitalise on the release of an animated Super Mario Bros movie this spring.

The park expansion officially opens on February 17th. Visitors will find attractions like the overpriced Toadstool Cafe, a “sedate crawl” signature race experience (sans shortcuts), cuter small details, and Bowser’s Castle, which apparently includes a self-help library and bomb-making workshop.

Previously on Archinect: Super Nintendo World Hollywood sets an opening date for 2023

Wainwright compared the latter to Kim Jong-Il’s palatial abode, a space he documented somewhat controversially for a 2018 investigation published by Taschen. A Universal Studios executive described its design as being geared to encourage profligate repetition, not unlike a casino's. The Hollywood location follows another that opened in Osaka in 2021 and will be joined by two others in Orlando and Singapore, due to open by the end of 2025.

The future of London's MSG Sphere may be getting clearer despite concerns

2023-01-24T17:42:00-05:00

[The] MSG Sphere, a new concert hall planned for Stratford in east London – which would be as wide as the London Eye and as tall as Big Ben – could soon move a step closer to reality. On Tuesday evening, the planning committee of the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) will meet to consider its developer’s plans for managing the advertising display and its impact.

Efforts to halt the development of the Populous-designed entertainment venue date back to late 2020, when the public consultation phase for the project was extended for a third time over concerns about light pollution. Plans were approved by the LLDC in March of last year contingent on an agreement for a five-year review of the giant billboard’s 25-year advertising consent, which was accepted at Tuesday’s meeting. The project will now go before London Mayor Sadiq Khan for final approval.

Madison Square Garden (MSG)'s revised plan reportedly calls for a “suite of mitigation measures” to combat the effects of what would be the world's largest LED display. The intense visual impact of its Las Vegas counterpart is already being seen as a hazard.

A statement from the opposition group Stop MSG Sphere can be viewed below.

We gave it our best shot (the statement we gave at the meeting tonight is below). We're deeply disappointed no one voted against the paltry 5yr review on the 25YR adver...

Five major sports and entertainment venues by Populous: Your Next Employer?

2023-01-17T13:30:00-05:00

Following our previous visit to San Francisco-based Mork-Ulnes Architects, we are using the first 2023 edition of our Meet Your Next Employer series to explore the work of global sports and entertainment venue specialists Populous.

Founded in 1983, the firm operates 23 global offices including eight in the United States. Among the 3000+ projects in the firm’s portfolio include commissions for sports franchises such as MLB, the NBA, and the NFL, as well as major sporting events such as the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The firm’s background and culture were further explored back in late 2018 when we sat down with Missy Ragsdale, Director of Human Resources at Populous's Kansas City office as part of our How To Get A Job At ___ series. “Three words we regularly hear staff use to describe Populous are adaptive, energetic, and entrepreneurial,” Ragsdale told us.

HKS and Hood Design Studio’s CMNTY Culture development set for a 2024 groundbreaking in Hollywood

2022-12-06T13:54:00-05:00

An updated version of HKS and Hood Design Studio’s musically-inspired CMNTY Culture campus in Hollywood has been shared after the results of an initial study for the project were published by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning recently.

Urbanize LA has details on the promising development, which, when completed, will be one of the largest Black-owned enterprises in the city.

Image: HKS

Construction on the scheme, which is located on a four-parcel site at 6767 Sunset Boulevard, is now expected to begin in 2024 and wrap up by 2027. In total, the campus will include some 430,000 square feet of office space, a 50,000-square-foot production facility, a 500-seat performance venue, a 10,000-square-foot artists' hospitality area, and a six-story underground parking structure.

Image: HKS

The shared podium will be beset by landscaped terraces designed by Walter Hood's team and bookended by two offset volumes totaling 12 and 14 stories in height and wrapped in an LED screen facade.

Im...

New resort and casino project approved for the Las Vegas Strip

2022-10-24T11:48:00-04:00

Officials in Clark County, Nevada, have voted to approve a new 43-story resort and casino project to be located on the Las Vegas Strip following a successful bid from Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta.

According to Construction Dive, the scheme will include a 2,420-room hotel, 2,536-seat theater, chapel, retail, offices, and convention spaces on top of a multiple-level parking structure and be located nearby the larger Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino at 3725-3735 Las Vegas Boulevard South.

The plan will be developed over the next two years beginning tentatively in March and joins the city’s list of other major forthcoming post-pandemic projects, which to date includes DLR’s Group’s 21-story Dream Hotel, the soon-to-be-completed MSG Sphere by Populous, and the expanding Vegas Loop from Elon Musk’s The Boring Company.

An architect for the project has yet to be named. In a s...

RIOS continues to cultivate the film studio market with a new $600 million Hollywood expansion project

2022-10-10T18:18:00-04:00

RIOS has just been announced as the architects of a new $600 million television studio project in Hollywood, California.

The studio will look to expand on its other ongoing television production projects in the delivery of its latest venture, which is set to transform the former corporate headquarters of the early TV pioneers Technicolor on 6311 W. Romaine Street into a comprehensive studio campus for developers BARDAS and Bain Capital Real Estate.

Image courtesy RIOS

The 620,000-square-foot Echelon at Television Center involves the restoration of two existing Art Deco structures and the addition of two new six-story office towers on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard on a two-block site that also includes multiple sound stages, a “basecamp,” and a new public restaurant.

Image courtesy RIOS

The rise of streaming services has meant an increase in demand for technologically-advanced studio and production spaces around the Los Angeles area. RIOS has already begun the planning process f...

Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood is taking shape

2022-10-03T15:40:00-04:00

Get ready to enter the “World of Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach” as construction crews work to bring Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood to life. Sky5 captured video of the construction progress Wednesday as crews worked on various aspects of the project, such as the Warp Pipe entrance and Bowser’s Castle.

This latest Universal Studios Hollywood expansion will be the first Super Nintendo World in the United States, following the opening of its counterpart at Universal Studios Japan in 2021. The theme park was conceived in partnership with Nintendo and Universal Creative.

As seen in KTLA’s video coverage of the construction progress, the attraction looks to be shaping up ahead of its expected opening in early 2023.

Previously on Archinect: Super Nintendo World Hollywood sets an opening date for 2023

As per an NBCUniversal press release, one of the park’s main attractions is its “Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge,” which is described as “one of the most complex rides ever built within the entertainment industry.” Through the use of augmented reality, guests will be immersed in the environment of Mario Kart, where they will race similarly to the iconic video game.

HKS-designed immersive entertainment venue coming to LA's SoFi Stadium district

2022-08-31T18:31:00-04:00

A new HKS-designed entertainment venue is rising in Inglewood's under-construction Hollywood Park mixed-use mega-development. The project is led by experiential media and immersive technology company Cosm and will reportedly be the first location to utilize their domed and compound curved LED technology.

The site sits adjacent to a fellow HKS-designed project, SoFi Stadium. It will feature a 26.6-meter (87-foot) diameter LED dome in a 65,000-square-foot facility that can house up to 1,700 guests. Programming at the venue will include live sports and entertainment, experiential events and content, immersive art, music, and more.

Image courtesy Cosm

“We look forward to Hollywood Park being the home of Cosm’s first venue. Their modern venue design and immersive LED technology will create a one-of-a-kind entertainment offering for our guests and our community,” said SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park managing director Jason Gannon.

Image courtesy Cosm

“From our live 8K immersive production...

LA's Crypto.com Arena is getting a 'nine-figure' overhaul courtesy of Gensler and MEIS

2022-08-24T15:07:00-04:00

AEG has announced a new “nine-figure” overhaul of Los Angeles’ iconic renamed Crypto.com Arena (formerly The Staples Center) and adjacent L.A. LIVE pedestrian mall in a two-year project that promises to “provide fans with entirely new ways to experience their favorite sports and music event” once it is completed in 2024.

Urbanize LA has more on the planned renovations, which include a new entrance at the concourse level, added restaurant offerings, LED displays, reimagined City View Terrace, upgraded locker rooms, and the creation of new private suites and a multi-level Tunnel Cub said to be reserved for the arena’s many nightly VIP guests.

Image courtesy AEG

Ron Turner (Gensler) and Dan Meis (MEIS), the two architects who worked on the original Staples Center project 25 years ago, will return to oversee the construction, which they say is meant to provide fans with an enhanced entertainment experience for the next three decades.

Image courtesy AEG

“As one of the ...

HKS will transform a slice of Sunset Boulevard into a hub for Hollywood creativity

2022-03-22T13:35:00-04:00

A popular corner of Hollywood may soon be getting a lot busier thanks to a proposal for a new Grammy-worthy creative campus located at the crossroads of the entertainment industry’s two most important arteries.

Tentatively named the CMNTY Culture Campus, the proposed 500,000-square-foot design from HKS for Record Plant founder Phillip Lawrence and celebrity business mogul Thomas St. John will serve as the former’s “love letter” to the city, offering itself as a nexus of differing spaces reserved for users working across every area of the industry’s creative machine.

Image: CMNTY Culture/HKS

Hood Design Studio will collaborate with HKS for the landscape design on the two-acre site located directly across from Hollywood High School at Highland Avenue and Sunset Boulevard. The development is just a few short blocks removed from Netflix’s corporate headquarters and the site of MAD’s proposed Star office tower, which will be completed in 2026.

Once approved, the Campus will become one of...

Populous' London MSG Sphere is on the cusp of final approval in spite of objections

2022-03-17T11:58:00-04:00

A planning report for the scheme acknowledges criticism of the Sphere for its scale and massing, its impact on Stratford Station, and the impact of advertising on nearby residents. But it says the Sphere would ‘establish a strong sense of place at a scale that is not considered to be excessive, taking account of the established scale of surrounding buildings.

More than 1,000 objections were lodged against the project, which will come before the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) for a final approval vote on Tuesday. Their voices echo the derision Guardian critic Oliver Wainwright and others have parroted against the giant LED display’s ungainly light and noise pollution, murky politics, and sky-high price tag.

The public consultation process has been delayed several times over, but now appears to be inching towards the finish line, bringing out some of the opposition’s bigger names in a last-ditch effort to stop the Sphere from happening.

Previously on Archinect: Future of MSG Sphere London still undecided

“We are calling on the LLDC to refuse MSG’s application for a new venue in Stratford and encourage the Mayor of London to formally oppose this project in order to protect Newham’s residents and existing businesses from this inappropriate development,” a spokesperson for AEG, which operates London’s O2 Arena said in a letter ...

Super Nintendo World Hollywood sets an opening date for 2023

2022-03-14T11:50:00-04:00

An expansion at Universal Studios Hollywood will bring the spinning coins and floating blocks of the “Super Mario Bros.” video game to the theme park next year, marking the completion of one in just a handful of theme park expansions in the U.S. since the onset of COVID-19.

Park officials have billed the new expansion as a “visual spectacle of vibrant colors and architectural ingenuity located within a newly expanded area of the theme park, featuring a groundbreaking ride and interactive areas, to be enjoyed by the whole family."

Related on Archinect: Super Nintendo World theme park to open in Japan this summer. Image courtesy Universal Studios Japan

Universal’s last comparable expansion came in 2016 to the tune of nearly $500 million, which bought a six-acre plot in L.A. that was later developed into the commercially successful Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The added attraction, which is now set to open within an undetermined nine-month period next year, would constitute Universal's fourth such planned Super Nintendo World, joining an existing facility in Osaka, Japan, and followed closely by identical attractions in Orlando and Singapore by the year 2025.

“They are getting a jump on the market, getting people excited early,” industry consultant Den...

The world's first K-Pop-dedicated concert venue breaks ground in South Korea

2021-11-04T17:06:00-04:00

South Korea is getting its first and largest-scale arena dedicated to K-Pop. The project, called CJ LiveCity Arena, is being spearheaded by CJ LiveCity, a subsidiary of South Korean entertainment company CJ ENM, in partnership with sports and live entertainment company AEG. The group held a groundbreaking ceremony last week to mark the start of the project’s construction phase. The arena is expected to open in 2024.

In a statement from 2019 announcing the partnership, CJ LiveCity’s CEO Michael Kim said: “This collaboration combines CJ’s long-standing cultural business capabilities with AEG’s venue development and operations expertise and its global live touring and promotions capacities. Seoul Metropolitan Arena, which will be designed by a leading architectural firm, is expected to be a competitive venue not only across Asia but also globally due to performances of K-Pop as well as world-renowned artists.”

The venue will be located in Greater Seoul’s Goyang City and is designed to ...

New rendering reveals the temporary ABBA Voyage concert venue in East London

2021-09-07T19:49:00-04:00

As part of a concert series meant to promote the group’s first album release in 40 years, legendary Swedish pop group ABBA is pairing with one British architecture firm for a new 3,000-capacity concert venue nestled into a space originally designed for the 2012 Olympic games.

The band tapped Stufish Entertainment Architects for the design of the new temporary structure, which will be located in East London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The park is already host to the city’s 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium as well as an aquatics center designed by Zaha Hadid.

The newly unveiled plans call for a hexagonal, timber-clad construction that will house a variety of performance functions, including a main stage and box office space in addition to bars and a covered concourse area with food stalls for fans flocking to the interactive experience.

Concertgoers will also have access to private dance booths in a highly technical scheme that will feature the display of avatars who will perform se...

A Las Vegas theater company knows the value of having an interior architect on board (and they're hiring one right now)

2021-08-07T09:00:00-04:00

Having a background as an architect offers a specific level of expertise that can be used outside of traditional employment formats. Archinect has been connecting with architects and design professionals from various backgrounds since 1997.

Our industry-leading job board publishes approximately 150 new opportunities every week. Employment offerings from numerous locations and thousands of firms, organizations, creative companies, and institutions offer a mix of career opportunities for architects and design professionals from a variety of backgrounds and experiences.

Beyond traditional employment openings from small, medium, and large firms, Archinect Jobs also showcases a selection of unique job opportunities for architects.

Last week, our editorial team highlighted an exciting job opening to work as a Treehouse Designer. This week, renowned American theater company Spiegelworld is searching for an Interior Architect or Interior Designer for a remote position with their team.

Im...