Children of all ages are frolicking around a splash pad at Sunset Park chucking small water balloons at each other. Their parents are sitting beneath the shade of nearby trees. It’s a sweltering 110-degree day in Las Vegas — and dangerously hotter on the park’s many surfaces.

Saudi Arabia said Sunday that more than 1,300 faithful died during the hajj pilgrimage which took place during intense heat. Dr. Steffen Lehmann, Professor of Architecture and Urbanism at UNLV and Director of the Urban Futures Lab, tells FRANCE24 that multiple solutions are needed to avoid such tragedies in the future.

People around the globe are suffering stifling temperatures and the heat is causing a soaring death toll at this year's Hajj.

Based on our survey of 1,000 homeowners with installed solar systems, solar panels cost between $15,000 and $22,500 before incentives for an average 2,000 square foot home. The actual price you pay will depend on a number of factors including the system size you need, the installation company and equipment you choose and the financing option you select.

As millions swelter under record-breaking temperatures world-wide, we’ll talk to an expert about what, if anything, can be done.

From planting trees to painting streets white, US cities are fighting extreme heat. In 2013, Los Angeles became the first large city to pass a law requiring all new homes to have a cool roof. Since then, the city – where the number of days at 35C (95F) is expected to soar by 2050 – has rolled out numerous other keep-cool initiatives, including painting pavements white and expanding its Green Standards Building Code to include cool roofs on non-residential buildings and retrofits.

“It felt like magic.” Joshua Vermillion was describing the first time he used artificial intelligence, or AI, to make an image. Vermillion is an architect and designer who teaches at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He creates artwork of otherworldly spaces. Before he started using AI to do this, Vermillion would make maybe 10 pieces in a year. Last year, though, he made around 150 works. “I can just simply tell the computer what I want in plain English,” he says. “What a time to be alive!”

Brutalist buildings have been called ‘imposing monsters’ and yet they feature prominently in the architectural landscape of the nation’s capital. The National Building Museum uses this perspective as a launching point for its new exhibition, Capital Brutalism, which opens on Saturday, June 1, 2024. Co-organized with the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA), Capital Brutalism is the largest-ever survey of Brutalist architecture in Washington, D.C. and will be on display at the Museum through Monday, February 17, 2025

Have you ever seen a building that looks from another planet? If not, you’re in for a treat. There’s a fascinating collection of 50 out-of-this-world alien-like buildings designed by architects that will leave you in awe. From surreal-looking museums to futuristic skyscrapers, these structures push the boundaries of what we consider to be typical architecture. Each building is unique and showcases the creativity and imagination of its designer. These architects were unafraid to think outside the box when creating these architectural wonders.

The Comprehensive Digestive Institute of Nevada’s location in the southeast Las Vegas Valley boasts nearly a dozen exam rooms, a collaborative office space for physicians, an open-concept nursing station and a slew of other amenities to benefit patients and providers alike. It’s almost impossible to tell that, in a former life, the building was not equipped for medical use at all. In fact, it was a financial-services firm.

Rolling up to a Tesla charging port, Illinois Republican state Senator Dan McConchie grimaced that wheelchair users like him couldn’t use it — or any of the others at the gas station where he filmed his Instagram reel. They’d all been placed on a raised surface that he couldn’t readily reach. McConchie introduced a state bill to improve relevant accessibility standards, including electric car chargers. But it’s a national problem: Electric vehicle charging stations are often inaccessible, despite being designed and built decades after the Americans With Disabilities Act, or ADA, became law.

Whether you’re walking the streets of a city you know like the palm of your hand or someplace completely unfamiliar, some buildings might make you stop dead in your tracks. It’s because some architectural gems are so astonishing, they never cease to impress the passersby or catch their attention, be it for all the right or wrong reasons.