An expert jury selects the finalists, before a public vote determines the winner. The winning museum receives €100,000 to realise its proposed project. Voting runs from 5 to 27 November, with the winner due to be announced on 2 December.

Located in the IJmeer lake, Pampus forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Dutch Water Defence Lines. Its former garrison had to survive for long periods without help from the mainland, making self-sufficiency essential to the fort’s original purpose.

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That challenge has taken on a new meaning. Pampus now operates without fossil fuels, generates its own renewable energy and purifies water from the surrounding lake for use on the island. According to its website, official approval to serve the treated water as drinking water is still pending.

“This combination of heritage and practical solutions for the future makes Pampus a rather special place,” said spokesperson Anouschka Zanolla. “Our selection is a wonderful recognition of everything our team has been working towards.”

The island also grows some of the vegetables and herbs used in its kitchen, while providing space for wildlife. Together, these activities demonstrate how the careful use of natural resources can become part of everyday island life.

“The next step is to help visitors experience more of this ingenuity for themselves,” Zanolla said. For visitors, she added, the “adventure” begins on the boat journey to the island.

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Exploring self-sufficiency

Winning the prize would allow Pampus to create interactive installations around the island, exploring energy, water, food and materials. The aim is to help visitors understand the practical choices involved in becoming more self-sufficient.

“How can you harness the wind’s energy? Which tiny creatures help a vegetable garden thrive? And how can you preserve summer’s harvest to enjoy in winter?” Zanolla asked.

“Through hands-on activities, tasting and experimenting, visitors would discover how inventive and enjoyable a more self-sufficient way of living can be.

“The island’s history provides the starting point, showing how ideas from the past can inspire practical solutions for the future.”

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Seeing home differently

Pampus hopes visitors will leave with more than happy memories of an unusual island. Its ambition is to encourage them to consider how the ideas they encounter could apply to their own lives.

“The ambition is to spark fresh curiosity about the water from their taps, the electricity in their sockets and the food on their plates. Perhaps they will even think: ‘I could try that at home.’

“The message is an optimistic one: a more sustainable future offers opportunities for creativity, discovery and enjoyment.”

“If so much is possible on one small island, imagine what could happen beyond its shores,” Zanolla told Travel Tomorrow.

More information about the nomination and public vote is available on the Pampus website.

L’article Former Dutch sea fort shortlisted for €100,000 green museum award est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Organised jointly by Azerbaijan’s Embassy in Belgium and its Missions to the European Union and NATO, the concert marked the sixth anniversary of Victory Day.

The evening opened with Bayati-Shiraz, one of the seven main mughams, recalling its performance in Shusha in 2021 when the Kharibulbul Music Festival returned to the city after almost three decades. For Mammad Ahmadzada, Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, the choice carried particular significance: the piece “is much more than a musical composition. It’s the voice of a nation’s pain, the expression of its longing, the reflection of its victory and, ultimately, its hope for peace.”

“Today, this music carries the message of peace. It symbolises our hope for lasting stability, reconciliation, and a future in which these lands, once marked by suffering and conflict, will become places of prosperity, development and renewed life,” he added.

Songs and dances from Karabakh

Founded in 1938 by Uzeyir Hajibeyov, widely regarded as the father of Azerbaijani classical music, the ensemble bears the name of Fikret Amirov, known for his symphonic interpretations of mugham. For its Brussels performance, it prepared a programme focused on the musical and dance traditions of Karabakh and the region Azerbaijan calls Eastern Zangezur.

Songs, instrumental pieces and mugham performances alternated with energetic folk dances. Dressed in colourful costumes, the dancers performed intricate choreography with precision, while the singers impressed the audience with their expressive vocals.

Behind the performers, a screen displayed landscapes from across Azerbaijan alongside footage of reconstruction work in its cities and villages. The evening concluded with a buffet of traditional Azerbaijani specialities.

What is mugham?

Mugham is a traditional form of Azerbaijani music that combines established musical structures with extensive improvisation. A male or female singer, known as a khanende, performs with instruments such as the tar, a long-necked lute, the kamancha, a spiked fiddle, and the daf, a large frame drum.

Passed down largely from master to student, mugham leaves considerable room for individual interpretation, meaning no two performances are quite the same. Its seven main modes are Rast, Shur, Segah, Shushtar, Chargah, Bayati-Shiraz and Humayun, each associated with different moods and emotions. Traditionally, it was performed at weddings and private gatherings of music lovers.

Shusha has long been an important centre of mugham. The city hosted the first Kharibulbul Music Festival in 1989, named after the flower that has become one of its symbols.

UNESCO inscribed Azerbaijani mugham on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. Azerbaijani music also features on the Golden Record carried aboard NASA’s Voyager spacecraft, launched in 1977, taking a part of the country’s musical heritage into space.

L’article Azerbaijan brings the sounds of mugham to Brussels est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Set in parkland along the shores of Zishan Lake, in Hubei Province, the new cultural complex consists of four public buildings designed to complement the Ziyouji boutique lodgings scattered along the opposite shore.

Covering approximately 3,920 square metres, the four buildings are organised around a meadow, following the natural contours of the terrain rather than imposing themselves on the landscape.

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The concept draws inspiration from traditional Chinese landscape handscrolls, where perspective shifts as the viewer moves through the scene. Instead of a single centre or predetermined route, visitors are encouraged to wander freely between buildings.

“There are no forced axes or rigid zoning between individual buildings; instead, they are connected organically through gentle slopes, undulating lawns, and landscaped pathways, blending seamlessly into the existing meadow,” BUZZ explained. 

The largest of the four buildings is the approximately 3,000-square-metre Zi Museum, a pale concrete structure built around a central courtyard.

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Accessible from three different points at varying elevations, the museum was conceived as an “open labyrinth” by BUZZ. Galleries, public passages, relaxation areas and hospitality spaces intertwine in a seemingly random fashion, giving visitors the sensation of wandering in a Chinese garden full of surprises.

The ground level houses flexible exhibition spaces and a restaurant opening onto a garden, while a lower-level entrance provides access from the main road.

From the lakeside viewpoint, visitors can enter the museum’s central courtyard before making their way up to the rooftop. There, sweeping concrete walls, curved ramps and broad staircases reminiscent of New York’s Grand Central Terminal transform the roof into a spectacular extension of the surrounding landscape, overlooking the lake and parkland.

Visitors preferring to admire the scenery rather than the exhibitions can bypass the galleries entirely and access the rooftop directly from the park.

Zi Museum Cluster by Büro Ziyu Zhuang in Xianning, China https://t.co/7S9isofFM7

— ParametricArchitecture (@parametricarch) November 2, 2026

This configuration is meant to allow “serious academic exhibition and relaxed social gatherings” to co-exist in the same building, says BUZZ.

Adjacent to the museum stands the second structure, a “meditation tower”, whose metal-mesh exterior encloses a staircase winding around a hollow centre.

The stairs lead upwards to a platform offering panoramic views of the surroundings, which can also accommodate gatherings and small exhibitions, and downwards to a sunken courtyard.

The third building could almost be dubbed the “camouflage” building. Embedded into the hillside, with a grass-covered rooftop, it is barely distinguishable from its surroundings when viewed from above. Built from rammed earth, it serves as a workshop.

The fourth building is a bookshop, with an unusual overhanging roof sheltering its entrance facing the main street. Inside, the floor steps down towards the lake, while a glass façade opens onto the parkland and water beyond.

The project invites visitors to make their own discoveries in a landscape where architecture, nature and art cohabit and intertwine.

L’article China’s new Zi Museum blends art, architecture and nature in a lakeside meadow est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Compiled by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), together with research partner Entertainment + Culture Advisors (ECA) and the Park Database (TPDB), the ranking is based on visitor numbers recorded in 2025.

China dominated the list, with 12 entries, five of which are in its capital, Beijing. It also claims all three spots on the winners’ podium.

The remaining eight spots are shared between France, the United Kingdom and South Korea, with two entries each, while the United States and Vatican City have one each.

The number one spot goes to Beijing’s Palace Museum, better known as the Forbidden City. Once upon a time the residence of Chinese emperors, it now houses a vast collection of imperial treasures, paintings, ceramics, and jade artefacts. It welcomed 19 million people last year. 

Second place goes to the Summer Palace, also in Beijing, another remnant of the country’s imperial past. Renowned for its gardens, temples and lakes, it attracted 17,381,000 visitors in 2025.

Beijing’s National Museum of China, tracing the country’s history and civilisation, comes tenth with 6,900,000 visitors, while Prince Kung’s Mansion Museum, a beautifully preserved Qing dynasty residence, ranks fourteen. Beijing’s fifth entry, which also closes the top 20, is the China Science and Technology Museum.

Elsewhere in China, the Emperor Qin Shihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum in Xi’an, home to the famous Terracotta Army, takes third place on the winners’ podium with 10.97 million visitors.

Shenzhen’s Nanshan District Museum, dedicated to local history and cultural heritage, ranks sixth, while another defining chapter of Chinese history is explored at the Opium War Museum in Dongguan (9). The museum retraces the nineteenth-century conflicts between imperial China and Western powers, which marked the beginning of what China has long called its “century of humiliation”.

The Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, famous for its extraordinary bronze masks and sculptures, ranks fifteenth, just ahead of Chengdu’s Wuhou Shrine Museum, dedicated to the Three Kingdoms period.

Nanjing Museum, with its massive collection of Chinese art and archaeology, and the Shenyang Palace Museum, a former imperial residence, occupy eighteenth and nineteenth places respectively.

Europe is represented by only five institutions on the list, with Paris and London unsurprisingly leading the way.

Le Louvre in Paris, home to Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and countless other masterpieces, comes fourth with just over 9 million visitors in 2025. It remains the most visited museum outside of China.

France’s second entry is the Palace of Versailles (5), famous for its Hall of Mirrors and gardens, with 8.4 million visitors.

London, where many of the major museums offer free admission to their permanent collections, has two entries. The Natural History Museum (7), celebrated for its dinosaur fossils and natural history collections and the British Museum (13), home to the Rosetta Stone and Egyptian antiquities.

The Vatican Museums (8), whose collection includes Michelangelo’s celebrated frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, completes Europe’s representation.

South Korea also has two institutions in the ranking, both in Seoul: Gyeongbokgung Palace (11), the former royal residence of the Joseon dynasty and the National Museum of Korea (12), showcasing Korean art and archaeology.

Across the Atlantic, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, or the Met, comes seventeenth. Famous for its collections spanning thousands of years and civilisations, it is the only American institution to make the top-20. 

Just over a decade ago, London, Paris, and Washington, DC, dominated the list. 

In the European top-20, many of the top places are former royal residences, including Versailles, Istanbul’s Topkapı Palace, Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace and Kraków’s Wawel Royal Castle, alongside archaeological sites such as Pompeii.

L’article China claims 12 spots in world’s top 20 most-visited museums est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Revealed on 29 October 2026, the 71,500-seat Generali Stadium will be the fruit of a transatlantic partnership between British architecture studio Foster + Partners and US-based studio MANICA. The stadium takes its name from Italian insurance giant Generali, which has secured the naming rights.

The new arena will rise alongside San Siro, officially known as the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, which celebrates its centenary this year. Home to AC Milan since 1926 and shared with Inter since 1947, the stadium has been the theatre of epic victories, crushing defeats and legendary performances.

A new symbol for Milano. A new home for future generations of fans. Generali Stadium @GENERALI https://t.co/c7D0827E7T

— AC Milan (@acmilan) October 29, 2026

Construction is expected to begin in 2028, with the new stadium scheduled to be ready ahead of the 2032 UEFA European Championship. San Siro will then be largely demolished to make way for a wider redevelopment of the district.

Brutalist with a twist, the new structure’s most striking feature is its monumental façade, with giant concrete supports resembling X-shaped chromosomes rising approximately 60 metres above the ground. Their intersecting forms draw on the city’s architectural heritage, referencing the intricate stonework of Milan’s Duomo, but could also symbolise the two rival teams coming together under one roof.

Norman Foster, founder of Foster + Partners, told Dezeen that, above all, the studio wanted to “create a new home for two-storied football clubs, which captures the unique energy of the city and its distinctive architectural and structural traditions”.

Foster further explained that the stadium celebrates the enduring connection between the football clubs and Milan, carrying their shared heritage into the future.

The structural façade, composed of interlocking low-carbon precast concrete segments, will support the stadium bowl and double-curved roof. Diamond-shaped entrances will lead visitors into naturally ventilated colonnades and panoramic concourses overlooking the city.

Inside, the architects have adopted something of an if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it approach. Inspired by San Siro’s famous seating configuration, the new stadium will feature a continuous, two-tier, 360-degree bowl, bringing spectators even closer to the pitch.

At either end, the steeply inclined stands, known as the curvas, will accommodate approximately 11,700 supporters each, with opposing fans facing each other across the field. With inclinations of up to 37 degrees, the stands are designed to bring the spectators even closer to the action.

Acoustics were another major consideration. The geometry of the bowl and roof is designed to capture and amplify the roar of the crowds inside the arena, while limiting noise spilling into the surrounding neighbourhood.

For MANICA founder David Manica, preserving San Siro’s unique atmosphere was essential. “The result is a stadium where the chanting and singing build on themselves, taking the atmosphere Milanese supporters love and making it even more powerful”, he told Dezeen.

But not at the expense of sustainability, which was another important consideration in the design. Approximately 27,500 square metres of photovoltaic panels will cover the roof, while the all-electric development will incorporate natural ventilation, rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling. The architects are targeting LEED Gold certification and carbon-neutral operations.

For Foster, the project is also a “celebration of Milanese and Italian engineering tradition, where architecture and structure become one”.

Beyond football, the stadium forms part of a wider 281,000-square-metre redevelopment bringing together green spaces, public areas, and leisure and retail facilities. It is also designed to host concerts and other major events.

L’article Milan unveils striking new Generali Stadium to replace iconic San Siro est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

It is easy to understand the attraction: after all, music, architecture and art have inspired one another for millennia. Protecting the sites is, however, no easy task. Bringing thousands of ravers into such fragile settings can feel like letting toddlers loose in a china shop, or worse, as any damage there could represent a permanent loss for humanity.

The summer saw numerous festivals at historic locations, including Stone Techno Festival at Germany’s nineteenth-century Zollverein coal mine, the BSH Festival inside Croatia’s 2,000-year-old Pula Arena, and Aura festival at Sicily’s Segesta Archaeological Park, home to a 2,500-year-old Doric temple. 

For Aura’s founder Fabrizio Costa and co-organiser Matthew Hoag, the attraction goes beyond the spectacular setting. They see the event as a way to introduce younger generations to history. This is supported by scientific research, which has highlighted how cultural festivals can help preserve traditions, strengthen community engagement and support local economies. 

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Strict precautions are, however, necessary. Sound and vibrations must be monitored, speakers positioned to direct bass away from monuments, and even lighting needs to be kept at “heritage-safe intensity levels”. Heavy equipment must also be kept away from vulnerable structures, while heritage impact assessments must be carried out before events are approved and after to assess the damage, if any. 

In another study, Zachary M. Jones stresses the importance of involving heritage experts and local communities in planning to ensure that festivals do not become merely tourism-driven events.

Costa told Time Out that despite these constraints, “there is a magic in the air” even without the music. 

“Imagine what it’s like when you add the music.”

Not everyone welcomes these initiatives. One attendee at Jordan’s house and techno Medaina Festival, held in Petra and Wadi Rum, described an event largely attended by Westerners that felt like “an Arab-themed Halloween parade”.

The debate intensified with October’s Starlight Festival, staged roughly a kilometre from the Pyramids of Giza, featuring DJs including Adriatique, Pete Tong, Charlotte de Witte and Enrico Sangiuliano. It followed a long tradition of concerts near the monuments, from the Grateful Dead and Frank Sinatra to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

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In 2025, the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights filed a lawsuit over concerts near the pyramids, warning that they “pose a serious risk to the structural integrity of the Pyramids and their surrounding heritage environment”. Egyptologist Monica Hanna also raised concerns over loud noises and lasers, which she said were “dangerous for such old stones”. 

Research, however, suggests that the danger may lie less in the music than in the crowds. A study published in September 2026 by Adel Bali and colleagues found that while sound pressure had a negligible structural impact on Rome’s medieval Moletta Tower, vibrations caused by thousands of people jumping simultaneously could potentially damage it.

Ultimately, the question is perhaps less about whether ancient monuments should become places of celebration – some were built precisely for that purpose, after all – than about whether modern festivals can celebrate their history without putting their future at risk.

L’article Raving among the ruins raises concerns over heritage preservation est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Currently, the museum site is at the city’s Royal Albert Dock, but Apple Corps, the company John, Paul, George, and Ringo created in 1968, has announced the attraction is moving to new premises at the former St Johns Market in St Johns Shopping Centre, opposite Liverpool’s iconic Lime Street railway station.

The market and surrounding precinct were designed in 1969 by James A. Roberts. The architects replaced an 1822 neoclassical building with a Brutalist structure whose concrete forms were beloved by some and seen as an eyesore by others. It is now undergoing renovations that its website says will mean it is “stripped of its 1970s feel.”

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The Beatles museum will move in by 2028, taking up 10,000m² and comprising original artefacts, sets from a new four-part film by Sam Mendes due for release in spring 2028, and interactive displays intended to immerse visitors in the world of the Beatles, from their modest Liverpudlian childhoods to worldwide fame.

Visitors will be invited to explore a recreation of the legendary Liverpool Cavern, cradle of the Merseybeat sound. A mock-up of London’s Abbey Road Studios, where the band recorded nearly all their work and whose exterior zebra crossing features (in) on the album of the same name, will also be there, alongside other notable locations that peppered their journey.

Also forming part of the Beatles odyssey in the St Johns development will be the St Johns Beacon, or Radio City Tower. Oddly for a structure that is Liverpool’s second tallest, standing 138 metres tall, it will host an underwater-themed, Yellow Submarine-inspired attraction, offering 360-degree vistas.

It is anticipated the dual project will not only tap into the ongoing Beatles fanbase, but also new interest sparked by the upcoming Sam Mendes production, as well as today’s general popularity of music-driven travel and tourism.

Guests will be able to buy combi-tickets for the two new venues, and sales will go towards the Apple Corps Liverpool Trust, which raises funds to support new local talent and culture. The City Council, the Region Combined Authority, and the national UK government are all on board, and UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has praised the “ambition” behind the scheme, which he said he wanted to see more of across Britain, “backing the things our great cities do best and turning that global reputation into jobs, opportunity and growth.”

Surviving Beatles Paul and Ringo have expressed enthusiasm for the new museum too. Sir Paul McCartney has said he is “humbled” that people are still interested in the band, and hailed the development as a way for fans to “step into our story,” while Starr noted Liverpool’s enduring status as “Music City.” Liverpool, which introduced a tourist tax in 2025, attracted over 36.3 million visitors that year, an increase of more than 12%, achieving 3.3 million overnight stays.

L’article Liverpool’s Beatles Story experience to quadruple in size and gain giant tower in 2028 est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

New research from University College London (UCL) and Tohoku University in Japan challenges traditional approaches to language learning. The study suggests that mastering unfamiliar sounds is just as important as learning vocabulary and grammar.

The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, found that people with a particularly good ear for sounds process unfamiliar speech differently. Rather than interpreting it through the patterns of their native language, their brains treat it more like plain sound.

When learning a new language, people naturally associate new sounds with ones they already know. The more unfamiliar the pronunciation, the harder it is to distinguish and reproduce.

So why do some learners appear to master these differences with considerably greater ease?

To find out, researchers measured the auditory precision of 67 Japanese English learners, testing their ability to detect subtle changes in pitch, tone, and duration in non-speech sounds.

Using fMRI, they then monitored the participants’ brain activity as they distinguished between two English vowels with no direct Japanese equivalent: the ‘a’ in ‘cat’ and the ‘u’ in ‘cup’.

The findings were striking. Those with greater auditory precision were better at distinguishing unfamiliar pronunciations and relied less heavily on the left sensorimotor cortex — the part of the brain normally used for language processing. Their brains responded to the unfamiliar vowels much as they would to non-speech sounds, such as tones or beeps.

By treating new sounds as acoustic information rather than forcing them into familiar patterns, these learners were better equipped to tell them apart. In other words, learning to hear a foreign language without constantly comparing it to one’s own could make all the difference.

The study did not consider spelling, but writing systems may introduce an additional dimension. When a learner’s mother tongue lacks letters for certain sounds, they may associate new words with the nearest familiar spelling, which could result in the loss of subtle distinctions in memory as well as in the ear.

Prof Kazuya Saito-van Poeteren (UCL), the study’s lead author, argues that difficulties learning languages are not necessarily down to nationality or biology. “I do not think British people are biologically bad at languages. The problem is more likely to be that many people receive too little meaningful exposure, combined with teaching methods that do not necessarily train the auditory skills needed to make the most of that limited exposure”, he told The Guardian.

Foreign language education, Saito-van Poeteren says, “should move beyond an approach based on ‘more practice’ and towards one that develops learners’ ear for language learning in line with their auditory characteristics”.

Prof Padraic Monaghan, professor of cognition at Lancaster University, agrees that our brains are “naturally attuned to acquire languages through exposure”, though learners vary in their sensitivity to sound, at least in the early stages.

The findings bring to mind Israel’s ulpanim, intensive Hebrew-language schools originally established to help immigrants integrate into Israeli society. Their immersion-based approach encourages learners to listen, speak and absorb unfamiliar sounds through conversation and repetition rather than constantly relying on translation.

The researchers now hope to develop teaching methods combining conventional language learning with specific auditory training. In the meantime, it’s a good reminder that a new language is learnt not only on an app, but also by listening to people or deciphering songs.

L’article Have we been learning foreign languages the wrong way? est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Nearly a decade after Snøhetta won the design competition, the opera house has been completed and now stands on the shores of the Huangpu River within Shanghai’s Expo Culture Park. Its striking white curves echo the river’s flowing waters, while the roof structure is inspired by the geometry of an open Chinese fan or an opera dancer’s skirt.

Spanning 146,786 square metres, the opera house alternates white surfaces with expansive glass panels framed by slender vertical columns. It opens onto the surrounding park with its carefully laid-out pathways and terraces, becoming an extension of the public space.

Floor-to-ceiling windows bathe the interior in natural light and provide views of the park.

If the building feels like an open invitation to come inside, whether to attend a performance or lecture, or simply to explore, that is precisely what Snøhetta intended.

“A cultural building, any building for that matter, must respond to its surroundings, the people who use it, the performers it serves, and the city it becomes part of”, Snøhetta co-founder Kjetil Trædal Thorsen told Dezeen.

Undoubtedly the most spectacular element is the monumental spiral staircase that winds up to the roof. This transforms the space into an open-air stage and meeting point, as well as an observation deck offering panoramic views of the river and Shanghai’s skyline. Access to the rooftop is free of charge.

“People should be able to enjoy the building without attending a performance. It should become part of everyday life, a place to spend time, meet others, and experience the city,” Thorsen explained.

Inside, the predominantly white exterior gives way to a combination of red and white surfaces and warm wood. Vivid red sculptural volumes dominate the spacious lobby, their bold geometric lines contrasting with the fluidity of the exterior.

The three differently sized auditoriums, which can accommodate a total of 4,200 spectators, each have their own unique atmosphere and purpose. The largest of these is the 2,000-seat Harmony Hall, which is enveloped in deep burgundy red, from the seating to the balconies. The smaller 1,200-seat Soar Theatre has a lighter atmosphere, with pale wood panelling contrasting with the rich reds of the main hall. Both have been designed to accommodate a variety of performances, including opera, operetta, theatre and concerts.

The 1,000-seat Open Stage features flexible seating and stage configurations for experimental performances, opening directly onto the park.

Rehearsal and production facilities, exhibition and education spaces, restaurants and cafés are intended to keep the building active even when no performances are taking place.

As with any major building project these days, considerable thought has gone into sustainability. However, achieving this on such a large scale was no small challenge, as Thorsen acknowledged given the building’s “scale and complexity”. 

The vast white roof reflects sunlight and heat, while the lobby’s openings towards the river and park encourage natural cross-ventilation.

Durable materials were chosen to ensure longevity, and the building’s integration with the surrounding green spaces supports local biodiversity. Its proximity to public transport is also intended to reduce dependence on cars.

The inaugural season, which runs until 20 February 2027, will feature 82 performances across 47 productions, showcasing international opera, Chinese works, dance, concerts, and new commissions.

L’article Shanghai’s spectacular new Grand Opera House opens to the public est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Since its opening in 1983, Imperial Hotel Plaza Tokyo has been a luxury shopping haven. Yet cityscapes change, consumer behaviour evolves, and the building is currently lying vacant while awaiting demolition before the reconstruction of the Imperial Hotel Tokyo tower.  While the demolition had initially been scheduled for 2024, the works have been postponed until 2031 due to rising costs.

Instead of leaving the building as is until then, the former commercial centre is now set to temporarily house a cultural centre known as Not a Museum. To make the project possible, hospitality brand Nota – known from initiatives such as Not a Hotel – and Tokyo creative collective SKWAT – which already runs SKWAT Kameari Art Centre – will be joining forces.

From the Summer of 2027 until 2031, the cultural space will be taking over the first, second, third, and fourth floors of the building. The two companies will be in charge of the entire project.

“Since 1983, Imperial Hotel Plaza Tokyo has been a source of cutting-edge fashion and culture. Not a Museum aims to keep on that storied legacy with a new project that highlights the best of contemporary Japanese culture. Art, music, books, cinema, and fashion: an experimental ground for the future where diverse forms of expression converge, allowing you to experience culture as it unfolds,” Not a Museum explains on its website.

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The core concept of Not a Museum will be ‘Culture in the making’, meaning the accent will be put on the process instead of the final product as would be the case in a normal museum. Nothing has been shared as of yet about the artists who will be participating in the project.

Not a Museum is the second project that is part of Not a City, part of the wider Nota brand. The aim of the company is to make the most of unused spaces in Tokyo, especially those which are awaiting deconstruction and are thus temporarily standing vacant.

Another Not a City project is Japa Valley Tokyo, a “visionary art, retail, and hospitality precinct” designed by Nota creative advisors producer Pharrell Williams and fashion designer Nigo. The project will be set on a plot of land left empty since the demolition of two buildings from the 1960s.

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“Inspired by California’s Napa Valley, Japa Valley Tokyo will be a new tourist hub that combines the best of Japanese food, fashion, and culture. The setting for the project is Yurakucho Park, which Mitsubishi Estate is currently developing in front of Yurakucho Station as a temporary space before it commences construction on a new major building complex,” Not a City explains.

Japa Valley Tokyo will be open for a limited period beginning in 2027, covering one hectare of ground and featuring artwork from KAWS, event spaces, and pop-up stores.

L’article Tokyo’s former Imperial Hotel Plaza set to become a cultural complex in 2027 est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.