A scheme to convert roadways in Phoenix into car-free and plant-filled corridors shaded by woven canopies has won first place in a design competition. More about Blank Studio proposes fibre canopies for sun-drenched Arizona streets
A new type of modular tile promises to help reduce flooding in cities hit by increased rainfall due to climate change. More about The Climate Tile by Tredje Natur aims to stop cities flooding
In our next exclusive movie from this year's World Architecture Festival, Grant Bailey of Isthmus explains how the Auckland firm's award-winning Kopupaka Reserve was informed by local Maori culture. More about World Landscape of the Year 2016 is "about respect for water" says landscape architect Grant Bailey
An Auckland wetlands reserve featuring "woven" timber structures has been named World Landscape of the Year 2016 at the World Architecture Festival. More about Kopupaka Reserve in Auckland wins World Landscape of the Year 2016
Architecture office Carlo Ratti Associati has used submarine technologies to design a buoyant public space off the coast of West Palm Beach's Currie Park. More about Carlo Ratti proposes floating plaza for Florida waterfront
A design for "the most Instagrammable billboard in the world" by a Los Angeles team has beaten schemes by Zaha Hadid Architects and Gensler in a competition to create an advertising structure for Sunset Boulevard. More about Futuristic digital billboard to be erected in Hollywood
The design community and foreign policymakers need to attend each other's events and communicate, if we are to find solutions to global urbanisation issues, says US Department of State advisor Ian Klaus. More about "Designers and diplomats must work more closely together"
Kiosks with stainless steel canopies and a towering glass and chrome sculpture are among the recent enhancements made to Chicago's Navy Pier, one of the largest public piers in the world. More about Chicago's century-old Navy Pier revitalised by James Corner Field Operations and nArchitects
Finnish Modernist architect Alvar Aalto accidentally invented the skateboard bowl with a 1930s swimming pool design, according to a US skateboarding magazine and a Finnish newspaper. More about Alvar Aalto "changed the history of skateboarding"
American firms Rogers Partners and Nelson Byrd Waltz have conceived a raised, tree-lined park for Atlanta, Georgia, that would be built atop rail tracks and a busy roadway (+ slideshow). More about Elevated urban park in Atlanta would stretch over a rail line and highway
Thomas Heatherwick has defended his Garden Bridge proposal for London's River Thames, after a BBC report found that the project was missing £22 million in funding. More about Heatherwick defends Garden Bridge as investigation reveals £22 million funding gap
Rio 2016: ahead of this year's Olympic and Paralympic games, British photographer Giles Price took to the skies to capture the physical and social repercussions that stadiums and infrastructure are imposing on Rio de Janeiro (+ slideshow). More about Giles Price's aerial photographs show impact of Olympic venues on Rio
Rio 2016: a 2.5 million-square-metre area west of Rio de Janeiro has been transformed by Brazilian firm Vigliecca & Associados into one of two major locations during the city's Olympic and Paralympic games (+ slideshow). More about Deodoro Olympic Park will host multiple sporting events during the Rio 2016 games
Photo essay: drawn to the bright hues painted on basketball, tennis and volleyball courts in low-income neighbourhoods, New York-based photographer Ward Roberts has scoured the globe to capture these pastel-toned pockets of urban space (+ slideshow). More about Ward Roberts' photographs capture the colours of sports courts around the world
Opinion: major landscape interventions like West 8's recently opened The Hills on Governors Island, along with planned improvements to transport links, will bolster New York's coherence as a multi-island metropolis says Alan G Brake. More about "New York is rapidly evolving beyond a Manhattan-centric identity"
Venice Architecture Biennale 2016: the architects behind plans to create a cluster of freshwater swimming pools on the River Thames have unveiled a proposal for a floating pool on the Yarra River in the Australian city of Melbourne. More about Studio Octopi designs floating swimming pool for Melbourne's Yarra River
Food trucks and a sports facility are included in these conceptual schemes by Buro Koray Duman for a derelict space under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, a major elevated highway in New York (+ slideshow). More about Buro Koray Duman finds uses for neglected space under elevated New York highway
The design features of Indian stepwells and water mazes are combined in this proposal for a landscaped garden by architecture studio Penda (+ slideshow). More about Penda combines stepwells with water mazes for Indian garden design
British designer Thomas Heatherwick's elevated park over the Hudson River has been given the go ahead by planners and will start construction this summer. More about Heatherwick's Pier 55 to begin construction over New York's Hudson River
Tropical, desert and aquatic plants will be housed in a trio of domed glass greenhouses at the centre of these botanical gardens planned by Austrian firm Delugan Meissl Associated Architects for Taiyuan, China. More about Domed greenhouses form heart of botanic garden design by Delugan Meissl