Dezeen Magazine

Expandable kids' clothing wins James Dyson Award for best student invention in the UK

This week, the UK's worst building and best student invention were announced

This week, a pair of towers outside London's Victoria station won the 2017 Carbuncle Cup and children's clothes that grow with their wearers took home the UK's James Dyson Award.

Royal College of Art graduate Ryan Mario Yasin won the UK edition of the James Dyson Award for his pleated Petit Pli clothing. The children's garments are designed to expand in any direction, meaning they can "grow" up to six sizes larger.

"Crass" London development wins Carbuncle Cup 2017 for worst UK building

Meanwhile, the red-coloured Nova Victoria development, designed by PLP Architecture, beat nominees including Preston Railway Station and the Battersea Power Station to win this year's Carbuncle Cup. The prize is awarded annually by Building Design to the ugliest building constructed in the UK.

Another winner this week was Es Devlin, the in-demand set designer who has created backdrops for the likes of Kanye West, Lady Gaga and U2. She was given the Panerai London Design Medal at this year's British Land Celebration of Design Awards.

Star Wars-inspired observatory will be built atop a mountain in Cyprus

In architecture news, Kyriakos Tsolakis Architects received permission to construct astronomical centre on top of a Cyprus mountain, which is visually inspired by the sci-fi buildings from the Star Wars movies.

Another competition was won by Dutch architects Mecanoo, which proposed 12 skyscrapers as part of a masterplan for a new commercial district in Shenzhen, China.

Cranes at Zaha Hadid's 1000 Museum in Miami
Construction sites and cranes pose threat to Miami residents in Hurricane Irma's path

Also this week, American urban studies theorist Richard Florida said the inequality caused by the revival of great urban centres was a catalyst for the rise of populist politics in the West, and the election of Donald Trump.

In other US news, residents in Miami living next to construction sites with heavy cranes were forced to evacuate their homes in anticipation of Hurricane Irma over fears that the high winds would topple the structures.

Company behind Yves Behar's hard-pressed Juicero machine shuts down

In Sydney, residents of a forgotten high-rise block took part in a public art project focused on gentrification, by lighting up the windows of their apartments to make themselves visible to the community.

Meanwhile, the Silicon Valley company behind the Yves Behar-designed Juicero shut down and offered refunds to customers who purchased the much-criticised machines.

Späckhuggaren, 'House for a Drummer' by Bornstein Lyckefors Architects
Bornstein Lyckefors Architects builds vibrant red cabin as a retreat for a Swedish family

Popular projects and stories this week on Dezeen included a smart washing machine that folds laundered clothes, a red wood cabin built for a sailor and his family in Sweden and a Hong Kong warehouse conversion inhabited by two artists and their pets.