Dezeen Wire: architect Winy Maas of MVRDV and the studio's think tank The Why Factory will present 676 miniature LEGO towers at the Venice Architecture Biennale later this month for an exhibition to promote the inclusion of architectural discourse within European Union development policies. More about MVRDV's The Why Factory to show LEGO towers at Venice Architecture Biennale
Dezeen Wire: Dutch architect Wiel Arets has been appointed as dean of the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. More about Wiel Arets Named Dean of IIT College of Architecture
Dezeen Wire: researchers from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris have designed software that can look at a photo and identify the city in which it was taken by recognising building typologies. More about Software that can tell what city it's looking at
Dezeen Wire: car brand Nissan has unveiled its design for a new fleet of black cabs for London. More about NV200 London Taxi by Nissan
Dezeen Wire: the Royal Opera House in London has launched a competition to redesign the entrances and surrounding public spaces of its Covent Garden building, making it more accessible to the public. More about The Royal Opera House launches competition to redesign entrances
Dezeen Wire: London 2012 Olympic cauldron designer Thomas Heatherwick has revealed that he has been inundated with messages of support from people "moved by his spectacular creation". Speaking to the Independent, Heatherwick also says he ignored advice to avoid having moving parts in the cauldron, which features around 1,000 moving components. " "It's probably more complex than a Swiss watch," Heatherwick says - read the article in the Independent.
See all our stories about the London 2012 Olympics | See all our stories about Thomas Heatherwick
More about "Flames of fame for Olympic cauldron designer" - The Independent
Dezeen Wire: Thomas Heatherwick has designed a distillery and visitor centre for gin brand Bombay Sapphire at an abandoned mill in Hampshire, England. More about Laverstoke Mill by Thomas Heatherwick for Bombay Sapphire
Dezeen Wire: the Royal Institute of British Architects has joined the campaign to promote the architects and engineers who designed buildings for the London 2012 Olympic games but have been unable to promote their work because of a marketing agreement with the event organisers. More about RIBA joins protest against Olympic marketing rules
Dezeen Wire: Finland is attracting tourists at an unprecedented rate, boosted by Helsinki's current status as the World Design Capital, in sharp contrast to the unexpected drop in visitor numbers London has experienced during its Olympic summer. More about Boost for Finnish tourism as visitors head to World Design Capital Helsinki
Dezeen Wire: in an article for Domus magazine, design critic Justin McGuirk examines the social and physical decline of London's social housing, discussing the part played by luxury real-estate developers and how architects have been held accountable. More about "The market cannot solve the housing crisis" - Justin McGuirk
Dezeen Wire: “Software is the most important material we have come across in the last 100 years,” said Matt Jones of London studio BERG at yesterday's Designed in Hackney Day of talks and discussions with some of the most interesting designers and architects from Dezeen's local borough, curated in collaboration with Beatrice Galilee. More about Designed in Hackney Day highlights
Dezeen Wire: architects OMA are developing a modular display system for the stores of American accessories brand Coach. More about Merchandising System by OMA for Coach
Dezeen Wire: democratic nations won't be able to host the Olympics in future due to increasing tensions between the public interests of democracies and the commercial interests of the games, according to a new report published by Dutch architecture, research and urbanism studio XML to coincide with the London 2012 Olympics. More about "Olympics will only take place in non-democratic countries," say authors of Olympic Cities report
Dezeen Wire: this week Harrods opened the doors to its first gender-neutral toy department, designed by London and Singapore-based interior architects Shed. More about Shed create gender-neutral toy department at Harrods
Dezeen Wire: London studio Hat Trick Design have produced a set of Royal Mail stamps featuring iconic architecture from the capital to celebrate the London 2012 Olympics. More about Olympic stamps by Hat Trick Design
Dezeen Wire: after a spectacular unveiling on Friday, the London 2012 Olympic Cauldron designed by Thomas Heatherwick is proving controversial. Detractors complain that it's hidden out of sight for most visitors to the Olympic Park, only on show for those with tickets to events inside the main stadium, and last night the Cauldron had to be extinguished while it was moved aside to make way for sporting events.
Read more about the Cauldron's design in our earlier story here and see all our stories about the London 2012 Olympics here.
More about Controversy over London 2012 Olympic Cauldron
Dezeen Wire: officials say the ancient Colosseum in Rome, one of Italy's most popular attractions, has started to tilt and may need urgent repairs - Guardian
More about "Colosseum in Rome is leaning" - Guardian
Dezeen Wire: angered that architects, engineers and suppliers have been unable to promote their Olympics-related work because of a marketing agreement with London 2012 organisers, New London Architecture chair Peter Murray aims to provoke debate on the subject at today's Creative Industries Summit in London by wearing a T-shirt listing all the architects and engineers involved in London 2012. More about NLA chair launches T-shirt protest against Olympic marketing rules
Dezeen Wire: Guus Beumer has been named director of a new institute for architecture, design and electronic culture that is due to launch in January in the Netherlands. More about Guus Beumer appointed director of new Netherlands design institute
Dezeen Wire: the seminar programme for 100% Design in London this September has been announced and features a series of live shows curated by Dezeen and talks by designers including Ross Lovegrove and Yves Behar (above). More about 100% Design 2012 seminar programme announced