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renzo piano breaks ground on hanoi’s opera house, crowned with shimmering dome

Renzo Piano’s ‘Island of Music’ breaks ground in Hanoi

Hanoi’s Westlake Opera House, a new cultural landmark designed by architect Renzo Piano and named Isola della Musica (Island of Music), breaks ground on the Quang An Peninsula by Đầm Trị Lake. Scheduled for completion in 2027, the complex features a 2,000-seat opera house and a themed cultural and art park.

The architectural and structural design of the Hanoi Westlake Opera House is rooted in the principle of expressing the building’s interior program through its external form, much like natural double-layered structures. After exploring several geometric models, from soap bubble shells to two-dimensional catenary envelopes, the team developed a three-dimensional catenary surface as the defining geometry of the project.

This thin ribbed concrete shell functions entirely in compression, distributing loads to a few internal supports and multiple perimeter points along the square island base, which forms the archetypal footprint of the building. Between the ribs, the structure allows for openings, while the outer rain screen, expected to be clad in ceramic tiles, follows the shell’s complex curvature. These tiles vary in size to create a pixelated texture that shimmers with a mother-of-pearl effect, subtly shifting with changing light and weather conditions. 

renderings by Aesthetica Studio, courtesy of RPBW

mother-of-pear-like shell reflects the colors of the lake

The Hanoi Westlake Opera House, also known as the Pearl Theater, is one of the most ambitious cultural projects of the city to date. Developed by Sun Group, the 191,000-square-meter site is set to host major cultural and political events while offering public spaces for creativity and recreation.

A striking dome-shaped structure inspired by the rippling surface of West Lake shields the project. Renzo Piano, the Italian architect behind the Centre Pompidou in Paris and The Shard in London, has spent decades exploring thin-shell technologies, and for the first time, he applies them here in Hanoi. The shimmering, mother-of-pearl–like surface of the roof captures and reflects the shifting tones of the lake throughout the day.

The building hosts two main auditoriums, including an opera hall that accommodates 1,797 guests and a multi-functional performance space with movable seating for up to 1,430 standing visitors and 216 balcony seats. Advanced acoustic engineering allows panels in the main auditorium to move and adjust, tailoring sound reflection and reverberation for different performance types, a system found in only a handful of opera houses worldwide.

Renzo Piano’s Opera House breaks ground in Hanoi | image © Sun Group, via @rpbw_architects

reshaping west lake’s urban landscape

Renzo Piano’s Isola della Musica forms part of a broader regeneration effort along West Lake. Surrounding ponds and waterways, including the lotus pond of Pho Linh Pagoda and Thuy Su Lake, will be restored and replanted with native lotus flowers to integrate the architecture into its natural setting. Eight new boat docks will support a future waterway route, including one connecting directly to the opera house. Meanwhile, Dang Thai Mai Street will be expanded to 90 meters in width, linking Xuan Dieu Street with the lakeshore and introducing a new pedestrian promenade.

the complex features a 2,000-seat opera house and a themed cultural and art park

the team developed a three-dimensional catenary surface as the defining geometry of the project

this thin ribbed concrete shell functions entirely in compression

the outer rain screen, expected to be clad in ceramic tiles, follows the shell’s complex curvature

between the ribs the structure allows for openings

a striking dome-shaped structure inspired by the rippling surface of West Lake shields the project

tiles vary in size to create a pixelated texture that shimmers with a mother-of-pearl effect

project info:

name: Hanoi Westlake Opera House Isola della Musica

architect: Renzo Piano Building Workshop | @rpbw_architects

location: Quang An Peninsula, Tây Hồ District, Hanoi, Vietnam

area: approx. 191,000 square meters

developer: Sun Group

client: Hanoi People’s Committee

completion: expected 2027

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manuel álvarez diestro turns football goalposts into architectural observation frames

geometry of Football goalposts becomes a photographic frame

Manuel Álvarez Diestro turns the geometry of football goals into a lens to explore urban growth and the boundaries of architecture. There is a fragile line of thought about whether football goals belong to architecture. Two posts and a crossbar that define no inhabitable space, yet minimally mark the goalkeeper’s territory. In Through the Goalpost, the photographer turns this humble yet powerful structure into a lens through which to contemplate the expansion of cities. Like a discreet observer, he enters empty fields, looks through fences, or watches from afar, tracing the dialogue between the geometric clarity of the goal and the cubic shapes of surrounding buildings.

residential neighborhood in Kyiv | all images by Manuel Alvarez Diestro

Manuel Álvarez Diestro captures architecture through absence

This photographic series of images taken across diverse territories, from deserts to inner cities, and under varied circumstances, challenges the boundaries of architectural photography. ‘To photograph a goal is to frame nothing, and yet, to see through it is to reveal the architecture of the world beyond,’ shares photographer Manuel Álvarez Diestro. Through this lens, the goal becomes a mysterious geometry: no players, no ball, no keeper, only the camera crossing the frame and scoring through the architectures of urban growth.

goalpost against residential towers in Songdo, South Korea

goalpost in Casablanca framed against residential buildings

goalpost against skyscrapers in Seoul

goalpost framing urban developments in the distance, London

goalpost against residential buildings in Eibar, Spain

goalpost in Sharjah, UAE

goalpost against Hong Kong residential towers

goalposts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

goalpost seen from behind against new developments in Copenhagen

after the rain, a football field in Sharjah turns into a mirror of the surrounding structures

goalpost and rock in Oman’s desert

project info:

name: Through the Goalpost

photographer: Manuel Alvarez Diestro | @m.a.diestro

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

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mercedes-benz reveals vision iconic with art deco designs & paint that captures solar energy

Mercedes-benz vision iconic brings over art deco style

Mercedes-Benz introduces Vision Iconic, a vehicle with Art Deco designs and a car paint as thin as a wafer that can harness solar power. Unveiled in Shanghai on October 14th, 2025, the automobile, especially its hood, draws design cues from the Mercedes-Benz Typ 540K Autobahn-Kurier, which was the company’s roadster from 1938 with an elongated front, ballooned wheel arches, large round headlights at the center, and a sloping-down roof to the rear. For the recent Vision Iconic, Mercedes-Benz brings over the style of Art Deco, at least to the interiors. Stepping inside the car, the centerpiece is the instrument panel shaped as a floating glass, named Zeppelin. Its design evokes the carefully placed lines and geometric shapes that define the decorative, artistic style. As soon as the door opens, the instrument clutter comes to life with an analog animation inspired by chronographs. 

There’s a pillar-to-pillar screen on view, and at the center of it lies a clock shaped like the company’s iconic star logo, acting as an AI companion. Behind the Zeppelin, a decorative surface unfolds with a pearl look, and this marquetry also shows up around the door panels, encircling the polished brass door handles in silver and gold tones before reaching the star patterns that frame the rear seat. The seats at the front come through as a single bench in deep blue velvet. In front of the driver, the four-spoke steering wheel carries the Mercedes-Benz logo for the Vision Iconic, floating inside a glass sphere and clasped by the spokes as if it were a piece of jewelry. The interior floors are designed with straw marquetry, a decorative technique dating back to the 17th century and revived in the 1920s. The design team handcrafts the finish in a fan-shaped Art Deco motif, a continuation of the artistic style.

all images courtesy of Mercedes-Benz, unless stated otherwise

Car paint as thin as wafer can capture solar energy

A slew of innovations defines the recent Mercedes-Benz Vision Iconic. At the unveiling designboom attended, the company highlights its solar coating, a paint similar to a paste that turns the surface of any electric vehicle into a photovoltaic-active exterior. This means that the entire outside of the vehicle can harness solar power, depending on the location and local conditions, and recharge itself to add additional driving range. The company says that the solar cells in the coating have a high efficiency of 20 percent and generate energy continuously, even when the vehicle is switched off and that the paint doesn’t have any rare earths or silicone and can be recycled easily. 

Outside, the front section of the Mercedes-Benz Vision Iconic uses a grille design that the team has already introduced to the 2025 electric SUV named GLC. It keeps the wide chrome frame seen in older models such as the W108, W111, and Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman, and inside the frame is a smoked-glass lattice structure with built-in contour lighting. The model also includes a Mercedes-Benz star on the hood, which now comes illuminated and with lighting animations (the illumination pattern can change depending on the car’s mode or environment). The headlights are thin and integrated into the body to continue the simple front layout, and the body surface uses a high-gloss black finish that matches the illuminated front parts. The grille’s structure adopts durable chrome-plated metal for the frame and reinforced glass panels with integrated LED modules. 

project info:

name: Vision Iconic

company: Mercedes-Benz | @mercedesbenz

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with its iconic, serpentine architecture by SANAA, grace farms turns ten years old

a decade of grace farms

Grace Farms in New Canaan, Connecticut, has marked its tenth anniversary with a new collection of installations and programming in and around SANAA’s iconic, serpentine River Building. Designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, the glass-and-steel structure drifts across an 80-acre landscape of meadows and woodlands, its continuous roofline following the contours of the site like a line drawn in light. A decade on, the building feels increasingly absorbed into its setting, the distinctions between constructed and natural softened by time, weather, and use.

designboom attended the 10 Year Celebration on October 11th, 2025, and met with SANAA co-founder Kazuyo Sejima as she returned to the site. She was joined by Sharon Prince, Grace Farms’ CEO and founder, and architect Toshihiro Oki, a member of the Design for Freedom Working Group. The gathering introduced new architectural and artistic commissions — from a series of SANAA-designed benches, new artist commissions, and a new fascia for the River Building’s meandering rooftop.

Grace Farms in Connecticut celebrates ten years | image © designboom

sanaa returns to connecticut with sculptural seating

Visitors to Grace Farms are now invited to sit amongst an installation of Dancing Trees, a series of six sculptural benches by SANAA’s Kazuyo Sejima, crafted from locally sourced Connecticut black cherry. Each piece retains the gentle irregularities of the trees they were shaped from, with minimal intervention beyond the addition of slender legs. Arranged in the Plaza, they suggest informal gathering, a continuity of the River Building’s flowing social spaces in solid wood.

Sejima described the work as ‘figures dancing together,’ each with a different posture yet moving in quiet relation to one another. Visitors can sit, lean, or rest along the curved surfaces, engaging with the material’s warmth and the surrounding landscape designed by Olin Studio. For Oki, the project represents a shift in process — ‘the material itself, its location and natural growth method could help us achieve the design,’ he notes, emphasizing the dialogue between form and context.

Kazuyo Sejima, Sharon Prince, and Toshihiro Oki at the Dancing Trees | image © designboom

A New Cedar Fascia from Haida Gwaii

Subtle but significant changes to the River Building itself include a new fascia of vertically oriented timber slats wrapping its continuous profile. The Western red cedar, sourced from the Taan forest in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, was chosen for its durability and ethical provenance.

Managed by the Haida Enterprise Corporation, the forest is stewarded entirely by the Haida Nation, aligning with Grace Farms’ Design for Freedom principles that advocate for transparency and fair labor within the global building materials supply chain.

Photographer and Grace Farms artist-in-residence James Florio documented this forest in his new work, Haida Gwaii, 2025, now permanently installed in the River Building’s Library. His photographs trace the depth and extreme verticality of cedar trunks, and connects the building’s new timber cladding to the landscape and community from which it originates.

a new series of programming and art installations is now on view | image © designboom

a new installation: ‘With Every Fiber | Pigment, Stone, Glass’

The anniversary coincided with the unveiling of a new installation of With Every Fiber | Pigment, Stone, Glass, the long-term exhibition that examines ethical sourcing in architecture and the construction industry. The exhibit — originally conceived by architect Nina Cooke John and curated by Grace Farms Founding Creative Director Chelsea Thatcher — features new commissions by artists and engineers who reinterpret the materials most implicated in forced and child labor: pigment, stone, and glass.

Among them, John Sabraw’s Lithologic uses pigments derived from the remediation of acid mine drainage, while Webb Yates Engineers’ Stone Space Frame demonstrates how post-tensioned stone might replace carbon-heavy steel trusses.

Hannah Rose Thomas’s tempera portrait of Nasreen Sheikh, a human rights activist and survivor of modern slavery, is accompanied by Woven in Tears, a composition by Evan Williams performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. All together, these works are a meditation on the labor embedded within materiality itself.

a new cedar fascia from the island of Haida Gwaii shows ethical material sourcing | image © designboom

ParaPosition, a new permanent sculpture by Alicja Kwade is now on view | image © designboom

Grace Farms’ theater space, The Sanctuary, hosted a performance by Joshua Bell | image © designboom

project info:

name: Grace Farms | @gracefarmsct

architect: SANAA | @sanaa_jimusho (Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa)

location: New Canaan, Connecticut, USA

previous coverage: October 2012, November 2014, October 2016, November 2020

photography: © designboom

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