Herzog & de Meuron won planning permission to completely overhaul Chelsea FC's London stadium this week, while a hotel designed by Oscar Niemeyer reopened in Rio after being closed for 20 years.

Herzog & de Meuron was unanimously granted planning permission for its planned revamp of Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium, which will encase the existing structure behind 264 sculptural pillars, increasing capacity up to 60,000.

A hotel designed by famed Brazilian modernist Oscar Niemeyer reopened as a luxury resort in Rio de Janeiro, after being closed for over 20 years.

But there was bad news for another well-known architect – Álvaro Siza's plans for a new visitor centre at the historic Granada palace the Alhambra were rejected.

Dutch firm OMA revealed scrapped designs to revamp London nightclub Ministry of Sound, before being granted permission to build a new cultural centre in Manchester later in the week.

Also in the UK, the future of Thomas Heatherwick's Garden Bridge was thrown into question again, after it emerged that costs could rise well above the estimated £185 million, and that the charity behind the project is at threat of liquidation.

The Tate galleries appointed its first female director in the form of Maria Balshaw, who will succeed Nicholas Serota, and Labour MP Tristam Hunt quit politics to become the new director of the V&A.

Work started on Poland's tallest building by Foster + Partners, and RAAAF and Atelier de Lyon revealed plans for a monument commemorating the Netherland's struggle with water.

In the US, it was announced that MAD's George Lucas Museum will be built in Los Angeles, and Las Vegas tried to entice the American football team Oakland Raiders with a $1.9 billion stadium design.

New York designer Karim Rashid launched an architecture and development firm that offers comprehensive property design, from foundations to artwork.

And in the latest coverage from CES, it emerged that two prototype models of a pioneering gaming laptop with three screens were stolen from the tech show in Las Vegas.

In Brexit news, the RIBA stated that withdrawing from the EU will have "no impact" on the ability of UK architects and designers to pitch for public-sector commissions in Europe.

Popular projects this week included Tadao Ando's Shanghai Poly Grand Theatre, a renovated apartment with monochrome interiors and a flat in London's brutalist Barbican Estate.