Attendance at amusement parks has picked up again this year, boosted by a record summer season. Closed for months and then reopened with very restrictive gauges, amusement parks are once again seeing their aisles and attractions filled with visitors. Despite a certain loss of income during the crisis, the parks have not stopped investing, quite the contrary. New lands, new attractions and new events have been or will be created with the aim of attracting more and more visitors while increasing loyalty. Innovation, especially technological innovation, is more than ever at the heart of the development strategies of these places dedicated to leisure and escape.
Tuesday 15 December 2020
As sustainability and environmental issues start to assume a greater role in the considerations of architects and developers, it appears the age of the megabuilding may finally be over. Taking their place in 2021 are new, biophilic structures – from a school in India to an aquarium in Mexico and a hotel on a glacier – which incorporate elements of the natural world into their architecture, from sympathetic materials and forms to forging direct connections with their surrounding environments.
Svart Hotel, Meløy, Norway
Svart Hotel (pictured, above), built by Oslo-based architects Snohetta on the Svartisen glacier, north of the Arctic circle, will welcome its first guests in 2021. The hotel will use 85 per cent less energy than a comparable property thanks to the inclusion of solar panels and a series of channels cut through its roof that conduct light and heat into the interior.