Opinion: as London's Barbican gallery launches a major retrospective on Modernist designers Charles and Ray Eames, Sam Jacob wonders whether it matters that the Eames name has taken on a life of its own. More about "Eames has become a vaguely suggestive word applied to alchemise junk shop remnants"
Opinion: the Chicago Architecture Biennial's diverse range of participants and mediums offers hope for the future of the discipline, despite protestations from self-appointed "gatekeepers" of the profession like Patrik Schumacher, says Mimi Zeiger. More about "Architecture is finally moving beyond a homogeneous status quo"
Opinion: SANAA's new river-inspired building in New Canaan may be beautiful, says Alexandra Lange, but it is still unclear whether its community-focussed programme will be useful to anyone. More about "Grace Farms is a trophy building, not a light-on-the-land wilderness retreat"
Opinion: Chicago may have been the birthplace of the modern skyscraper, but the city is now more interested in landscape projects that make New York's High Line look like small fry, says Jonathan D Solomon, director of architecture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. More about "Chicago is a living laboratory of future infrastructure"
Opinion: we must dispel the myth that design is a predictable and sequential process, says Lucas Verweij, because creativity can't be duplicated in laboratory conditions. More about "Prescribed design processes are for bad designers"
Opinion: charisma can't be learned, but it is often the architect's last line of defence against demanding clients and unsavoury economic realties, says Reinier de Graaf. More about "Charisma allows the architect to speak with authority, even when he has no clue"
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 about "Creatives are mythologised as the tooth fairies of urban renewal"
Opinion: when the Tour Montparnasse was built in Paris, its residents were so appalled they banned all high-rises. Londoners should do something similar in the wake of Rafael Viñoly's walkie talkie, says Owen Hatherley. More about "Massive, horrible and unavoidable"
Opinion: by destroying ancient architecture, ISIS is waging an ideological war on cultural history – it is our responsibility to respond with yet more culture, says Sam Jacob. More about "The destruction of the ancient city of Palmyra is an assault on human culture"
Opinion: Vienna-based designer Talia Radford was among the volunteers who helped thousands of refugees passing through Austria over the weekend. In this piece for Dezeen, she calls on designers across Europe to find solutions for some of the practical problems caused by the crisis. More about Design is about people – including refugees
Opinion: the wedge – a form covered in grass and glass – has become an increasingly popular device for disguising architecture as landscape, says Alexandra Lange. More about "Let's stop acting like the wedge is not architecture"
Opinion: architects' proposals for pre-empting and adapting to the natural crises brought about by climate change aren't necessarily as superficial and politically correct as they may seem, says Mimi Zeiger. More about "These initiatives represent an opportunistic desire to play with extreme conditions"
Pomo summer: Postmodernism is still shaping contemporary architecture, says Owen Hatherley, but its impact on social housing is an unforgivable legacy. More about "Postmodernism will not be forgiven lightly for what it did to architectural culture"
Pomo summer: could there be anything more ridiculous than the idea of a Postmodern revival? It depends what you mean by Postmodernism, says Sam Jacob, in his column for Dezeen's summer season on the controversial movement. More about "Postmodernism's real qualities are mean and difficult, yet also psychedelically positive"
Pomo summer: amid the joy and humour of the Postmodern movement, a serious and experimental form of architecture developed to offer both seductive and frightening versions of reality, says Aaron Betsky in his first Opinion column for Dezeen. More about "Experimental architecture emerged to question Postmodernism's jokes"
Opinion: it's hard to find new examples of housing innovation in London to match the groundbreaking ideas of the 1960s and 70s, says New London Architecture founder Peter Murray, but he believes architects and designers have the power to change that. More about "How dull and uninspired the approach to solving the UK's housing problems has become"
Opinion: designers could offer beautiful, meaningful and lasting alternatives to the mass-produced souvenirs offered inside London's tourist shops, says Will Wiles. More about "Can design reclaim and redeem the humble souvenir?"
Opinion: the limitless prosperity once promised by urbanisation has failed to materialise, leaving rapidly growing inequality in its wake. It will take more than some clever technology to solve the problems with the world's biggest cities, says Reinier de Graaf. More about "The smart city blinds us to the possibility of political action"
Opinion: twisting slides, a hotel room shaped like a boat and a pop-up theatre are among the "fun" recent additions to London's Brutalist Southbank Centre. Has Owen Hatherley lost his sense of humour or is there something more sinister in all these layers of entertainment? More about "The real problem with all this Fun is that it isn't really very funny"
Opinion: as Thomas Heatherwick's Provocations exhibition opens in New York, Alexandra Lange questions whether the British designer has done enough yet to prove he can also produce well-built permanent architecture. More about "Can Heatherwick produce architecture that is more than a gimmick or a gadget?"