A second Apple Store opened on July 3rd, two steps from Opéra, 18 months after the brand’s first Paris store opened in the Carroussel du Louvre in Nov 2009.

Named as Apple Opera Store, the design is a radical departure from the usual Apple Stores that you might have seen around the world.

The location has been under construction for well over a year, due to the need to preserve and restore historic architecture, such as wooden doors, arched windows and wrought-iron balcony railings on the exterior.

S.T. Dupont has worked with jewelry designer Philippe Tournaire to produce a series of writing instruments based on the world’s greatest structures.

Called “Architectural Masterpieces,” the series is inspired by three iconic monuments of the contemporary world—Paris’ Les Invalides, Russia’s St. Basil’s Cathedral, and China’s Pagoda of the Sun.

The roofing of the structures is made of solid 18 karat gold while the pens’ cylinders are manually plated and polished in bronze.

Japanese architecture firm Sanaa, winners of the prestigious Pritzker prize, will plan the conversion of iconic Parisian department store La Samaritaine to other uses, owners LVMH said in a statement.

The firm, founded by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, is to present plans by the end of the year for converting the art deco building into a complex of shops, flats, offices and a hotel.

The store, once the biggest in Paris in terms of floor space, occupies a prime site overlooking the Seine river in central Paris.

The financially troubled Gulf emirate of Dubai on Monday opened the world’s tallest building, a glistening concrete, glass and steel pinnacle rising 828 metres (2,717 feet) out of the desert sands.

Blazing fireworks rippled up and down the massive structure after it was officially opened by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum.

He renamed the building, previously known as Burj Dubai, Burj Khalifa in honour of United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan.

Architectural photographer Iwan Baan recently shot the Universe House, a beach house in Mexico barely higher than the rock it sits on, with a pool on the roof.

The house was designed by Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco and built by architect Tatiana Bilbao. Via Propgo Luxury.

The hotel will form the centerpiece of a new resort to be built near Split, the second-largest city in Croatia that is situated on the shores of the Adriatic Sea.

Designed by Richard Hywel Evans of Studio RHE the concept was proposed from a desire to provide sea views from each room.

The 61m diameter hotel will have three floors and will rotate 1.3 times per day. Guests will enter from below at lower ground level which does not rotate.