Dezeen Magazine

Apple Park Observatory building on California campus

This week we exclusively revealed the subterranean Apple Park Observatory

This week on Dezeen, we were the first to showcase Apple's new events venue, built into a hillside at the technology company's Apple Park campus.

The building, which was designed "as a contemplative space" featuring natural stone, terrazzo and wood, is the most significant addition to the campus since the Steve Jobs Theater opened in 2017.

It will be used to host launch events and showcase Apple's latest technology.

Dezeen Awards 2024
Our longlists for the Dezeen Awards 2024 were revealed this week

We also unveiled the longlists for the 2024 Dezeen Awards, which champion design excellence and showcase innovation from architects and designers around the globe.

The architectureinteriors and design longlists were the first to be announced, followed by the sustainability longlist, which was revealed on Thursday. All of the projects that made our list can be found on the Dezeen Awards 2024 longlist page.

A skyscraper at night
The "tallest skyscraper in Nebraska" is under construction

Construction has begun on a 206-metre-tall skyscraper in Omaha, set to be the "tallest skyscraper in Nebraska" upon completion.

Designed by US architecture studio Pickard Chilton, the tower will be the new corporate headquarters of insurance company Mutual of Omaha.

Another skyscraper to catch readers' attention this week was a green-tiled tower by Studio Gang in San Francisco. Called Verde, the 23-storey building is the final tower completed in the first phase of the city's waterfront Mission Rock development.

True Joy paint by Dulux
The sunny True Joy is Dulux's colour of the year

Paint brand Dulux unveiled its colour of the year this week. True Joy is an "uplifting" bright yellow colour, chosen for its bold and sunny disposition, which adds a sense of cheerfulness to interiors.

In other design news, this year's UK James Dyson Award winner was named. The team behind Pyri, a pinecone-shaped wildfire detector built out of wax and charcoal, has won £5,000 to further develop the concept.

Tornado by MAD in Rotterdam
The Tornado was installed in Rotterdam

Chinese architecture studio MAD installed Tornado, its huge steel staircase, on top of the Fenix Museum in Rotterdam. The sculptural form is clad in 297 highly polished stainless-steel panels and its installation marks the topping-out of the museum.

Also in the Netherlands, Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis has created a sculptural fountain made of stacked onyx slabs for the Vondelpark in Amsterdam.

The piece reused coloured onyx stone slabs from the SolidNature installation at last year's Milan Design Week.

Burning Man installation
Ten Burning Man installations were presented on Dezeen

After Burning Man drew to a close in the Nevada desert, we showcased 10 installations from the festival including this year's effigy, which was designed as a series of elevated pathways made from wood.

In other US news, British studio Foster + Partners has renovated the modernist Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. The firm restored elements from the office skyscraper's original design and linked it to a redesigned adjacent park.

Alex Chinneck loop-de-loop canal boat in Sheffield
A loop-de-loop canal boat was installed in Sheffield

In the UK, artist Alex Chinneck installed a six-metre-high looped canal boat on the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal to celebrate the heritage of the waterway.

The 13-metre-long and six-metre-high sculpture was created as a free-to-visit artwork and fabricated from steel and aluminium before being painted in traditional colours.

CPFB by Archipelago
Archipelago turned a post office in Belgium into a learning centre

Popular projects featured on Dezeen this week included the conversion of a brutalist post office, a renovated loft in Brooklyn and a Czech provostry expansion.

This week's lookbooks featured sumptuous members' clubs and living rooms with sculptural coffee tables.

This week on Dezeen

This week on Dezeen is our regular roundup of the week's top news stories. Subscribe to our newsletters to be sure you don't miss anything.