"The architecture does matter in the storming of the National Congress"

The bemusement of the rioters who made their way into Brasília's National Congress this month pointed to an increasing disaffection with architectural symbols of power, writes Will Wiles. More

"Let's save some of the Whitechapel Fatberg"

The 130-tonne "fatburg" discovered below the streets of east London earlier this month serves as a reminder of how sophisticated Victorian engineering has liberated people from having to think about waste, says Will Wiles. More

New Year's resolutions for architecture and design in 2017

With 2016 coming to an end, Will Wiles doses out his New Year's resolutions for architecture and design in 2017, which include resisting the hygge trend and finally taking responsibility for the climate. More

"EU design displays the best and the worst of doing things by scrupulous consensus"

Opinion: on the Brexit battleground, fluffy design nostalgia is being pitched against the EU's bland passports, forgettable glass buildings and uninspiring flag. This could all have been avoided, says Will Wiles. More

"No one thinks of themselves as designing clutter"

Opinion: IKEA has declared "peak stuff" and Apple's sales are levelling out. Something is awry in the consumer design market, says Will Wiles. More

"Foster and Aravena are moving architecture out of the shallows and into deeper water"

Opinion: while many architects are designing slippery "architexture", Norman Foster and Alejandro Aravena are unlikely allies in the pursuit of real architecture, says Will Wiles. More

"Creatives are mythologised as the tooth fairies of urban renewal"

Opinion: London's creative classes are caught up in an urban renewal hamster wheel that's affecting property prices across the capital – and there's no way off without leaving the city entirely, says Will Wiles. More

"Who would defend the elevated urban motorway?"

Opinion: the elevated highways that cut through major cities around the world were once heralded as harbingers of modernity, but are now seen as pollution-generating, space-guzzling monsters. Will Wiles wonders if they're really all that bad. More

"The control room is a highly charged mythic space"

Opinion: when the team behind the Rosetta space mission landed Philae on a moving comet last week, they celebrated in a grey control room – the kind of uniquely bland space that has been the backdrop to some of the 21st century's most iconic moments, says Will Wiles. More