During the age of foolishness, when congregations moved on, the last visitor to these sacred spaces was usually a wrecker’s ball. Now, it seems as though a spring of hope is upon us, as more and more churches become homes. — theglobeandmail.com

If you're in Berlin this weekend, you might wanna check out this exhibition as part of Gallery Weekend Berlin: JOH3 - J. MAYER H.'s newly-opened residential building in Berlin's Mitte district - will open its gallery space with carpets and furniture from J. MAYER H.'s 2011 exhibition "Rapport" at Berlinische Galerie. The exhibition was organized as a collaboration between the Berlinische Galerie, Euroboden and Vorwerk. A model of the building will also be on view. — bustler.net

Copenhagen darlings BIG have unveiled their design for the 490-foot-tall Beach and Howe tower in Vancouver, a collaboration with Westbank, Dialog, Cobalt, PFS, Buro Happold, Glotman Simpson and local architect James Cheng. The new mixed-use tower marks the entry point to downtown Vancouver, forming a welcoming gateway to the city, while adding another unique structure to the city's skyline. — bustler.net

LAN Architecture recently completed 70° Sud, an apartment building in Boulogne-Billancourt, a western suburb of Paris. The project emerged as the winner of a competition back in 2008. — bustler.net

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

Young Chinese firm FangCheng Architects has sent us their proposal Bridge Urban Life Typology, a city-wide network of bridge buildings which won the team the Second Prize at the 1.100.10000 Ideas Competition. The contest sought for innovative ideas to rapidly add 240,000 affordable housing units for more than 800,000 people in China's mega-boomtown Shenzhen. — bustler.net

We are happy to also present the second prize winner of the 2012 Design to Zero competition: Project Zero, a collaborative effort by graduate students Daniel Kim and Caitlin Ranson from Clemson University School of Architecture [...]. Project Zero seeks to redefine the "unit," focusing on the tight relationship between material unit, family unit, and living unit. The site chosen for the proposal is in a historic residential district not far from downtown Grennville, South Carolina. — bustler.net

Just a few days ago, we published the winning entry of the 2011 DOW Design to Zero competition. Here is now also the third prize winner, the entry Oil Silo Home, by architects Leon Lai and Eric Tan of pinkcloud.dk. The proposal recycles existing oil silos by transforming them into affordable housing for families worldwide. — bustler.net

International design and research collaborative Y Design Office has sent us the proposal Unit Fusion, a modular, plug-in high-rise residential typology for Hong Kong. As of yet, the 75-story tower project is still in its conceptual design phase. — bustler.net

And here's another Dutch firm that just designed an unusual residential tower for a booming Asian metropolis: Yongsan Dreamhub corporation presented the MVRDV-designed residential development of the Yongsan Business district in Seoul, South Korea: two connected luxury residential high-rises. A 260 meter tall tower and a 300 meter tall tower are connected in the center by a pixelated cloud of additional program offering amenities and outside spaces with wide views. — bustler.net

Ben van Berkel / UNStudio has shared with us their design for The Scotts Tower in Singapore which was just unveiled yesterday.

The tower will be the first development under the Far East Organisation’s new SOHO brand. Designed to conserve space whilst maximizing live/work/play areas, The Scotts Tower promises to present a new dimension of functional and flexible vertical space. — bustler.net

Winners have recently been revealed in Aarhus, Denmark, for the new Brabrand Housing Association residential complex competition. The winning team consists of Danish architects ADEPT and LUPLAU & POULSEN, turn-key contractor Dansk Boligbyg and NIRAS Consulting Engineers. The team has designed a project [...] that consists of 238 public dwellings distributed between 83 apartments for families and +55 aged seniors, and 155 student-housing units. — bustler.net

One of our favorite architectural design competitions has just announced the winning entries of its 2011 edition: the Zombie Safe House Competition. Sure, laugh about it, but once the postapocalyptic days are upon us and roaming hordes of the undead come for your guts, the term "sustainable design" takes on a whole new meaning. — bustler.net

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