This week on Dezeen, designers put their skills to use in response to coronavirus by 3D-printing ventilator valves and sharing critical advice.

Italian start-up Isinnova has begun 3D-printing the crucial valves required for hospital ventilators, which help patients suffering from the coronavirus Covid-19 to breathe.

The company's first prototype was developed in just six hours after finding out that the usual supplier for a hospital in Chiari was unable to meet the increasing demand for the valves.

Elsewhere, graphic designers took to social media with artworks to encourage more people to follow the vital steps needed to slow the spread of Covid-19.

Among the artists was Juan Delcan, who told Dezeen that "even though we are not doctors or nurses... we artists can help by creating something useful".

To highlight the importance of hand-washing, Bompas & Parr launched The Fountain of Hygiene competition that invites designers to create new forms of hand-sanitiser pumps.

In Dubai, curators of the Global Grad Show called on universities and students to develop solutions for the issues that have resulted from the spread of the disease.

The designers' efforts coincided with more event postponements this week as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, with Clerkenwell Design Week, AIA and NYCxDesign all being delayed.

It was also announced that Italian architect behind the Barcelona Olympic Stadium, Vittorio Gregotti, had sadly passed away aged 92 after contracting the disease.

However, there were signs of hope as studios working in China told Dezeen that life was returning to normal in the country, as it recorded its first day with no new reported cases.

An architect at David Chipperfield's Shanghai office said that "the condition in China is improving quickly, a positive sign that Europe and other parts of world can get through it too".

Elsewhere, Paul Cocksedge hit the headlines after revealing plans to install a bridge made from cross-laminated timber over a river in Cape Town.

IJP Architects and AKT II also unveiled a bridge proposal named Dubai Creek Footbridge, which will have views of the world's tallest structure being designed by Santiago Calatrava.

Henning Larsen revealed visuals for a skyscraper in Sydney, which will be 183 metres at full height and form part of Cockle Bay Park on the city's waterfront.

In Chicago, SOM's consulting design partner David Childs updated his design for a pair of towers in the city after his initial proposal was halted.

In an exclusive interview, photographer Alastair Philip Wiper told Dezeen that he doesn't "want [his] pictures to tell people what they should think".

Dezeen also released its second Face-to-Face podcast, during which Thomas Heatherwick speaks to editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs about his childhood fascination with engineering and distaste for architectural discourse.

Projects that sparked readers imaginations this week included a wooden house in Japan described by its architect as "healing architecture", a Spanish dwelling with an underground concrete extension and a village residence in India composed of irregularly stacked boxes.