Space-themed projects dominated headlines this week, as Elon Musk suggested rockets for fast international travel and Bjarke Ingels revealed plans for a Mars simulation city near Dubai.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk proposed that the company's rockets could be used as a form of transport around the world, allowing passengers to hop between any city in under an hour for the price of an economy airline flight.

The announcement was made at the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, where Musk also indicated SpaceX's upcoming BFR rocket would fly to Mars and the Moon.

Danish architect Bjarke Ingels has also been thinking about the red planet. He unveiled his proposal for the Mars Science City, a campus of domes near Dubai that will allow scientists to investigate ways to form a colony on Earth's neighbour.

Meanwhile, British inventor James Dyson announced his intention to invest £2 billion into a team of 400 employees to develop a battery-powered car, projected to launch in 2020.

In more travel news, EasyJet set out plans for a greener future by partnering with US firm Wright Electric to develop an electric plane for short-haul flights.

US-born architect Neave Brown was named the 2018 laureate of RIBA Royal Gold Medal. The 88-year old is the only living architect to have all of his projects in the UK on the country's heritage list.

Caruso St John was announced as the curators of the British Pavilion at the next Venice Architecture Biennale, after proposing a Brexit-themed exhibition.

Staying in the UK, news emerged that former London mayor Boris Johnson held secret talks with Apple over a retail store placed on the now-scrapped Garden Bridge in exchange for sponsorship.

Politician turned V&A director Tristram Hunt announced the museum's plans "to step in and do something" about the drop in UK students studying design and technology by funding related programmes in schools.

Popular projects and stories this week on Dezeen included a house proposed for Joshua Tree made up of angled shipping containers, and a renovated Brooklyn apartment featuring a plywood sleeping platform.