The results of the 2011 Solar Decathlon has just been announced, and the winner is University of Maryland WaterShed house! The beautiful water-conservation themed house has been leading the competition pretty much since the first day that the Solar Decathlon kicked off, taking first place in the architecture contest and scoring in the top five in almost every contest; from engineering to communications. — Inhabitat

The MVRDV and COBE scheme for the transformation of a former concrete factory into a multifunctional creative hub was chosen winner of an international design competition. The master plan proposes an informal transformation of the 45,000m2 site into a dense neighborhood, incl. 8,000m2 existing factory halls, organized around a plaza for events. — bustler.net

German firm kadawittfeldarchitektur has sent us fascinating first photographs of the recently completed new adidas research and development building "adidas Laces". The new structure houses 1,700 working places at the adidas World of Sports campus in Herzogenaurach, Germany. — bustler.net

Mateo Arquitectura recently completed the new building for the Film Library of Catalonia in the Raval district of Barcelona. Designed by Josep Lluís Mateo, the project won the first prize in a restricted competition in 2004 and houses archives, a library and cinema halls on a total area of 7,515 sqm (80,891 sqft). — bustler.net

Earlier this week on Wednesday, the construction of the new academic building for the Amsterdam University College reached its highest point. Mecanoo architecten, based in Delft, designed the 6,000 m² faculty for the University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam. The new Liberal Arts and Science building will be located in Science Park Amsterdam, the international science and research center in the area referred to as Watergraafsmeer, and will be realized in 2012. — bustler.net

JDS Architects’ Holmenkollen Ski Jump has been announced as the winner of the 2011 ECCS Structural Steel Design Award today at the ECCS Congress in Potsdam, Germany. The award recognizes outstanding design in steel construction emphasizing the many advantages of steel in construction, production, economy and architecture. — bustler.net

From super efficient solar energy systems, to high-tech whole-house monitoring, rainwater collection, vegetable gardens and beautiful architecture, we're amazed the innovation at work in this year's Solar Decathlon entries. Although we're excited to see all 20 of the Solar Decathlon houses starting today in DC, we've got our eyes on several shining contenders - read on for a first look at our top 7 teams! — Inhabitat

A design-build team led by Ledcor was announced Wednesday as the winning bid for construction of the new Royal Alberta Museum in downtown Edmonton. — cbc.ca

Six designers have had their futuristic visions for visually pleasing electricity pylons shortlisted for a competition that could see their plans spark into life. — channel4.com

The 2011 Solar Decathlon is heating up as 20 teams of students from around the world construct stunning, energy-efficient homes at the National Mall’s West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C. The competition officially opens on September 23rd, but Inhabitat offers a first look at each of this year's solar-powered homes. — Inhabitat

I stuck to master plan — NYT

The National Mall has been loved to death. It is our country’s most visited national park, with more than 25 million annual visitors and 3,000 annual permitted events. This 700-acre park was not built to withstand this level of use and has not received adequate resources to be restored and maintained to a level befitting its role as an irreplaceable piece of our American fabric. — nationalmall.org

Michael Korn, a student at the Royal College of Art, has won the UK James Dyson Award, which he hopes will increase global sales of his creation.

Mr Korn's design, the KwickScreen, lets healthcare professionals give privacy to patients with a lightweight, portable screen. — news.sky.com

theids wants to start a conversation about the Animal Architecture Awards. To theids, "this is not Animal Architecture. I feel that they have taken a term that was already being used to describe other projects... which pre-dates this competition that has been hosted for 3 years. " der flaneur cautioned "Zoomorphic is an architecture book for 1st year students that want to see 'cool animal-looking buildings'."