Following the opening of our New York office in May, we're celebrating American Independence Day with a roundup of Dezeen's favourite US projects from the past year, including a house with walls built from soil, a remote family retreat and a noisy installation in a New York factory (+ slideshow). More about Five of Dezeen's favourite American projects from the last year
Extra Moooi: Dutch brand Moooi launched its first US showroom in May. In this movie, co-founder Marcel Wanders explains how the company hopes to tap into a new generation of "design-savvy" American consumers. More about Moooi opens New York showroom to target booming US design market
Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind plans to explore "architecture and emotion" as the first guest editor of CNN Style, a new online publication that covers art, architecture and design (+ movie). More about Daniel Libeskind to be first guest editor for new CNN publication
Iranian-American designer Nader Tehrani has been made dean of architecture at The Cooper Union in New York, one of the most prestigious art and design universities in the United States. More about Nader Tehrani appointed architecture dean at The Cooper Union
An office building designed by Bjarke Ingels' firm BIG is now under construction at the Philadelphia Navy Yard – an industrial site being transformed into a mixed-use district. More about BIG-designed office building breaks ground at Philadelphia's Navy Yard
Boston-based Leers Weinzapfel Associates has completed a water-cooling facility at Ohio State University that is sheathed in a copper-coloured aluminium screen (+slideshow). More about Leers Weinzapfel wraps water-cooling plant in a copper-coloured screen
New York 2015: Brooklyn studio Pelle has unveiled a range of modular, stick-style lighting that can be configured into simple or complex shapes. More about Pelle's stick-style lighting enables multiple configurations
Brooklyn-based visual artist Aaron Asis tied over 2,000 metres of blue cord across Philadelphia's disused St Andrew's Collegiate Chapel for this installation (+ slideshow). More about Blue cord criss-crosses the interior of an abandoned church in Philadelphia
Design brand Hem is to launch its online furniture customisation service in the USA, amid signs that mass customisation is becoming big business. More about Mass customisation takes off as Hem launches online service in USA
The 3D-printing industry "is choking off its own revolution" with a combination of toy-like machines, over-priced materials and legal wrangles according to Francis Bitonti, the designer behind the printed dress for Dita von Teese (+ interview). More about 3D printing has stagnated, says pioneering designer Francis Bitonti
Snøhetta has unveiled plans to build the first official market building in Portland, Oregon, for over 70 years. More about Snøhetta reveals design for Portland's first city market since 1942
Designer Dror Benshetrit has unveiled three proposals for residential towers on different sites in New York. More about Studio Dror's conceptual tower designs for New York offer three takes on high-rise architecture
Creators of the proposed Lowline in New York, billed as the world's first underground park, have launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund development of the project (+ slideshow). More about Lowline creators launch Kickstarter campaign for underground park in New York
Spanish architect Andrés Jaque has created a towering network of water-purifying pipes for this year's courtyard installation at MoMA PS1 in Queens, New York (+ slideshow). More about Andrés Jaque's giant water purifier unveiled in MoMA PS1 courtyard
NeoCon 2015:David Adjaye has created a range of African-inspired textiles for Knoll, in addition to curating a related exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. More about David Adjaye aims to dispel stereotypical images of Africa through textile designs
Competition: Dezeen has teamed up with New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art to offer readers the chance to win one of five pairs of tickets to a talk with Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima, co-founder of SANAA. More about Competition: win tickets to Kazuyo Sejima's talk at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Opinion: a reactionary government policy from 1899 has turned Washington DC into a city of low buildings, expensive floor space and rampant inequality. A few skyscrapers could change all that, says Matthew Yglesias, executive editor of Vox. More about "Washington DC's aversion to skyscrapers has turned it into an American Versailles"
Chinese architecture office MAD has unveiled designs for a residential project resembling a hilltop village for Beverly Hills in Los Angeles. More about MAD designs hilltop village for Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills
Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza has been commissioned to design a luxury condominium tower in New York City – his first American project. More about Álvaro Siza's first US project to be a luxury residential tower in Manhattan
Work has begun on the new "School of Genius" campus in New York City, which aims to boost the city's burgeoning tech industry (+ slideshow). More about New York's Cornell Tech campus will include buildings by Morphosis and Weiss/Manfredi