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.

This Paraty’s reinforced concrete boxes house design is a modern residential design located in in Paraty, Brazil.

Printemps store Paris, the largest beauty department in the world, is about halfway through a $100 million renovation that it hopes to complete in 2010.

“Our vision is to make Printemps the best store in the world,” said Paolo de Cesare, the store’s president and chief executive.

For now, Printemps is under a giant tentwhile a team of 60 artisans bring the flagship’s 1883 façade back to its original Belle Epoque glory.