Architecture

Apple opens store by Foster + Partners in Los Angeles' historic Tower Theatre Apple Tower Theatre is a new Apple Store designed by UK studio Foster + Partners inside an abandoned 1920s movie theatre in Downtown Los Angeles. Foster + Partners worked with the technology company to renovate the historic building, which was originally designed by American architect S Charles Lee in 1927 in the baroque revival style. The movie theatre was built in the 1920s At the intersection of Eighth Street and Broadway, Tower Theatre was the first theatre in Los Angeles to be wired for showing motion pictures with sound...

Transformation of Oxford Circus into pedestrianised piazzas will "create rival to Times Square" Plans to transform the Oxford Circus road junction in London into two car-free piazzas with trees and seating have been announced by Westminster City Council and the Crown Estate. An international design competition held by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) to deliver the final scheme will be held this summer. The transformation aims to address air quality, safety and congestion at Oxford Circus, which is a busy intersection between major shopping destinations Oxford Street and Regents Street. The organisers of the competition hope that the finished...

Taliesyn designs open-air living spaces for Ksaraah house in Bangalore There are very few walls in this house in rural Bangalore, designed by architecture and design studio Taliesyn, so that residents can enjoy the tropical landscape surroundings. Named Ksaraah, the house is a family weekend home for one of the studio's principal architects, Shalini Chandrashekar. The house is located in rural Bangalore Located on a site where Chandrashekar had already been practising organic farming, the 487-square-metre house was designed around a desire to create a connection with nature. Living spaces are either fully open, or able to be opened up...

Aluminium "wizard hat" tops New York library renovation by Mecanoo A sculptural aluminium crown tops New York's Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library, which has been renovated by Dutch practice Mecanoo and American firm Beyer Blinder Belle. Formerly called the Mid-Manhattan Library, the steel and granite library dates from 1914 and was built as a department store. Its original structure has been retained and the renovation introduces a three-storey "vertical library", business and educational facilities and a publicly accessible rooftop garden and café. The New York library dates from 1914 The mechanical equipment of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library's (SNFL) is now concealed...

SUMMER CHIC AND SUSTAINABLE INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS Zoom that Room   With summer just around the corner and temperatures heating up, here are five simple ideas that will transform your interiors, giving a fresh new summer look. Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to cost the earth. British interior designer, and founder of Zoom That Room, Benji Lewis, offers a myriad of options from eco-conscious ideas to fresh new colours and vibrant wall art. There’s no time like the present to add some summer flair to your living space.   A splash of colour  “The use of pastel colours in interiors suggests a fresh yet daring approach...