This laboratory, as Mr. Hill calls it, for small-space, sustainable and — it must be stressed — high-end living is the first tangible product from his fledgling company, LifeEdited. It comes with an awkward manifesto that nonetheless manages to gather an armful of social and economic trends and philosophies, including happiness research, the booming field of collaborative consumption and data on the proven efficiencies of cities. — nytimes.com

The winners of the 2012 Housing Tomorrow competition were just announced. The annual competition promotes the exploration of contextual, cultural, and life cycle flows that offer new housing strategies for living in the future.

Sponsored by New York-based d3, the competition invites architects, designers, engineers, and students to collectively explore innovative approaches to residential urbanism, architecture, interiors, and designed objects. — bustler.net

Last December, the 2012 TED Prize winner was officially announced, and for the first time in the history of the prize, not just a single person but a collaborative idea was being awarded: the City 2.0. This week, with the TED2012: Full Spectrum conference happening right now in Long Beach, California, the TED Prize Wish - "One Wish to Change the World" - has now also been revealed. — bustler.net

Global design firm Fentress Architects recently announced the winning designs for the 2011 Fentress Global Challenge, an international competition launched last fall for architecture and engineering students to present their visions for the Airport of the Future. Expert jury members narrowed the 200 submittals to 16 finalists, and then to the top three with two honorable mentions. — bustler.net

Semi-autonomous flying robots programmed by Swiss architects Gramazio & Kohler "will lift, transport and assemble 1500 polystyrene foam bricks" next month—starting 2 December 2011—at the FRAC Center in France. The result, they hope, will be a "3.5 meter wide structure." — bldgblog.blogspot.com

In a not too distant future, hordes of blood-drenched zombies are on the horizon, mindlessly roaming the deserted streets, trying to get into your house and eat your brains. Sucks if your house isn't fully zombie-proof by then, right? So head over to the 2011 Zombie Safe House Competition voting page and root for your favorite entries. Or get eaten alive. Voting ends October 21. — bustler.net

Steven M. Johnson (b. 1938) is a former urban planner and future trends analyst from California, who defines himself in terms of Chinese astrology as a tiger "with a tendency to rush forward, defend the weak, and be foolishly brave." Since the early 1970s, he has been creating scores of alternative products and systems—on paper—that he hopes will benefit "or at least amuse" his fellow consumer-citizens. — theatlantic.com

The first phase of this zero-carbon Gulf city is up and running. But behind the futuristic facade of driverless pods, medieval streets twist and turn back the clock to traditional design — guardian.co.uk

... a new exhibit is having fun imagining what [Paris] will look like in the year 2100: 2º C warmer, due to climate change, but also a whole lot greener, where pedestrians rule and every building has a roof garden. — treehugger.com