Architects Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA) and city transformation company Sidewalk Labs, owned by Google’s holding company Alphabet, have teamed up to create a “prototype for a modular paving system which aims to make streets reconfigurable, safer and more accessible to pedestrians, cyclists and tomorrow’s self-driving vehicles”. Currently on exhibition in Toronto, The Dynamic Street is made up of a series of hexagonal modular paving slabs that can be picked up,

A Post-earthquake reconstruction and demonstration project in the city of Zhaotong, China, has been declared the 2017 World Building of the Year. Designed by a team of researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the rammed-earth structure is a prototype home for an elderly couple living in Guangming Village. A devastating 2014 earthquake destroyed hundreds of houses in the region, and the project was conceived to demonstrate "a safe,

Design studios Motionspot and Ryder Architecture have been crowned winners of the Celia Thomas Prize, which promotes hotel design that is accessible for disabled people. The international accolade, which was presented at the RIBA Bespoke Access Awards in London, received submissions from as far afield as Germany, Russia, Hong Kong and Canada. The winning concept, called AllGo, is a universal approach to hotel room design that ensures all rooms are

Hotel brand Wyndham Garden has launched a new global design prototype that it believes can help hospitality operators save money, improve efficiency and forge a closer connection to nature. Nine prototypical hotels, designed for business travellers, are already under development in Texas, Indiana and West Virginia. The design – developed with hospitality design firm Krause+Sawyer – is inspired by gardens, using natural materials, abundant daylight and flora and fauna to

Two architecture studios hope to show how remote heritage sites can be served by ‘satellite’ visitor centres through their own design for a tourist hub which celebrates an uninhabited Scottish archipelago from a location on a nearby island. Scottish studio Dualchas Architects and Norway’s Reiulf Ramstad Architects, who are working in the UK for the first time, have unveiled their masterplan for the St Kilda Visitor Centre. They propose the