Because towers take so long to plan and construct, the current crop reflect a vision up to a decade old, reckons Nick Offer of Arup, an engineering firm. Economic conditions and the scale of such projects mean that only the very brave will invest now... In 2010 the coalition scrapped the previous, Labour government’s density targets, which were designed to encourage developers to build more units. Instead it has endorsed “garden cities” — economist.com

ARTIST Damien Hirst has unveiled plans to build more than 500 landmark eco-homes in Ilfracombe, which he hopes will regenerate the town and provide a national blueprint for environmental housing.

Architects working for Hirst, said to be the richest living artist in the world, hope to submit a planning application for the development at Winsham Farm in six months. — thisisnorthdevon.co.uk

Construction was completed on a new straw bale building for the University of Nottingham which brings together the School of Biosciences and the School of Veterinary and Medical Sciences. The project is the first stage of a 20-year visionary masterplan for the university's Sutton Bonington Campus. — youtube.com

The rise of housing followed the rise of a prosperous middle class driven by the Industrial Revolution, an event that helped to reshape architecture from the 18th century until now. — guardian.co.uk

There were other strong contenders, but the 2011 Carbuncle Cup for Britain's "ugliest new building" has been awarded to the £600m MediaCityUK. This concatenation of anaemic buildings is the controversial new regional headquarters of the BBC, and home to the media studies faculty of Salford University. — guardian.co.uk

Now the British government is preparing to close the road around [Stonehenge], restoring the stones' heathland setting, while a new visitors' centre is constructed 2.5km away. In the new design, hundreds of thousands of sightseers will reach the site via the centre on a lightweight transit system. Expect druids in golf buggies. — theaustralian.com.au

In a week dominated by images of buildings burning to the ground, there have been at least a few people out there still building the things. The press was granted a preview of King's Cross station's new concourse, ahead of its opening in time for the Olympics next year. Designed by architect John McAslan, it is a majestically conceived space which stands alongside the Grade 1-listed sheds and replaces the cramped and grotty 1960s extension that currently serves as the station's entrance. — guardian.co.uk

More breaking award news from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA): the shortlist for the 2011 RIBA Lubetkin Prize, given to the best international building outside the European Union, has been announced. — bustler.net

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has unveiled the shortlist for the prestigious £20,000 ($32.5K) RIBA Stirling Prize. This year is the first time the shortlist includes practices who have all previously been shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize; and also includes two RIBA Stirling Prize winners: David Chipperfield Architects and Zaha Hadid Architects. — bustler.net

The new Museum of Liverpool, designed by Copenhagen-based 3XN, will open its doors to the public next week Tuesday, July 19. The dynamic low-rise structure is the largest National Museum to be built in the UK in over 100 years and is situated on a UNESCO World Heritage Site next to Liverpool’s famous ’Three Graces’. — bustler.net

Peter Zumthor's first completed building in the UK opens this Friday, July 1: the 2011 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion. The concept for this year’s Pavilion is the hortus conclusus, a contemplative room, a garden within a garden. One enters the building from the lawn and begins the transition into the central garden, a place abstracted from the world of noise and traffic and the smells of London – an interior space within which to sit, to walk, to observe the flowers. — bustler.net

If you're in London this summer, don't miss to check out this year’s Architecture Room at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition, curated by Piers Gough of CZWG and Alan Stanton of Stanton Williams. The exhibition opened on June 7 and runs through August 15, 2011. — bustler.net

June 2011 sees the launch of Windmill Hill, a new building complex on the Waddesdon Estate, northwest of London, that will serve as a research and archive center for Waddesdon and a home for the philanthropic work of the Rothschild Foundation. Designed by Stephen Marshall Architects, Windmill Hill had just been recognized for its architectural excellence with a RIBA award and will open to the public on June 18. — bustler.net

This lovely underground home is slated to be the first zero-carbon home in the North West of England. Designed by Make Architects, this 4-bedroom oasis leaves the views of nature in tact above the ground while creating spaces filled with light and space below the ground plane. — michellekaufmann.com