Whereas residents were once all long-term tenants, in the 35 years since Margaret Thatcher encouraged people to buy – and therefore sell – their council flats and houses, the population of places like this has become ever more transient.

In particular, homes that were once council properties are now often owned by buy-to-let landlords who rent them out on a short-term basis. — The Guardian

Designing out homelessness appears to be part of a wider ambition to make consumers and investors feel secure, while avoiding direct human intervention. [...]

It is an indictment of our communities that we have come to identify street homelessness as a form of “disorder” – a sign that something is amiss or dangerous in our public spaces. Yet the reality is that these kinds of design and security measures are put in place because of the breakdown of these very communities. — theconversation.com

The Royal College of Art has announced the appointment of Dr Adrian Lahoud as Dean of the School of Architecture.

Currently Head of the Architecture programme, Dr Lahoud joined the College in September 2015. Previously he led the MArch in Urban Design at The Bartlett, University College London. [...]

The appointment represents the conclusion of an international search. Dr Lahoud will take up his new position in January 2016. — Royal College of Art

If there is one thing Britons dislike more than their country’s housing shortage, it is the idea of building more houses. Even as a lack of homes has sent prices through the roof... cities have remained ringed by protected “green belts” of land that are off-limits to developers. Attempts to build on them provoke outcry. But on December 7th the government published a consultation on letting councils allocate “appropriate small-scale sites in the green belt specifically for starter homes”... — the Economist

Alongside the companies shortlisted for the management services, four of the UK’s largest architectural practices have been shortlisted to provide architectural advice. The companies shortlisted are Allies & Morrison, BDP, Foster & Partners and HOK.

[...] The report, produced by Deloitte Real Estate, Aecom and HOK, stated that the major works would cost between £3.5bn and £5.7bn and take between five and 40 years to complete. — construction-manager.co.uk

After a decade of outlandish proposals for the City, Parry has come up with a refreshingly blunt stick of a building for the centrepiece of the district’s “cluster” of office blocks. [...]

“The thing that’s most interesting in all this is urban design,” says Parry, deflecting the discussion away from the fact that he is penning the City’s tallest totem. He’s more concerned with fixing the human experience at street level: “The project is really all about public space.” — theguardian.com

You wait years for a new bridge across the Thames then three come along at once. Joining the controversial garden bridge and a plan for a crossing between Nine Elms and Pimlico, both of which have fierce opponents, comes a proposal unveiled today for a new pedestrian and cycle bridge between Rotherhithe and the Isle of Dogs in east London that hasn’t aroused a single objection – yet.

There’s a good reason why: of the three plans, it makes by far the most sense. — Oliver Wainwright

The City of London skyline is to be dominated by a newcomer after the latest version of a tower formerly known as the Pinnacle or Helter Skelter received the green light from planners.

The revived building, officially known as 22 Bishopsgate – or simply 22 – will be the tallest building in the Square Mile at 278 metres (912ft) [...].

The new design scrapping the expensive curved-glass panels at the top was the work of PLP Architecture. — theguardian.com

Transport bosses have unveiled the first official map showing the walking times between central London's Tube stations. 

The comprehensive plan highlights the time it takes to travel on foot between almost all of the stations on London’s Underground network.

[Transport for London] Chief Executive Gordon Innes said: “The Tube is the most used transport method by visitors in London, stations for many of our top attractions are within walking distance of each other. — the Evening Standard

Visitors to the garden bridge in London will be tracked by their mobile phone signals and supervised by staff with powers to take people’s names and addresses and confiscate and destroy banned items, including kites and musical instruments, according to a planning document. [...]

Caroline Pidgeon [...] said she feared the bridge was following “a worrying trend of the privatisation of public places, where the rights of private owners trump those of ordinary people”. — theguardian.com

The controversial and seemingly doomed plan for a garden bridge over the Thames in London could be resurrected after the group behind the project reached an agreement with council officials over the level of public funding. On Monday...a joint announcement by Lambeth...and the Garden Bridge Trust said negotiations would resume after a deal to limit the money Transport for London (TfL) would have to pay towards construction to £10m, from an original £30m. — The Guardian

The collaboration will consist of seminars, workshops, and studio classes for MIT students and potential exhibitions at MIT and the Soane Museum. This fall, the Department of Architecture is offering the program’s first class, a reconsideration of architectural fragments [...]

“The Fragment,” taught by David Gissen, a visiting professor in the History, Theory and Criticism program, will explore architectural monuments rendered into a fragmented, disassembled, or ruined state. — news.mit.edu

Following their July announcement of the shortlist for the 2015 Stirling Prize, RIBA announced [today] the Burntwood School in Wandsworth London as the winning project. Now in its 20th year, the RIBA Stirling Prize is regarded as the UK’s most prestigious architecture prize. Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM), the practice that designed the all girls' school, is winning the coveted award for the first time. — Bustler