A few months ago, fourteen 5th-year architecture students at the University of Southern California (USC) were given an unusual challenge: select two materials, and two only, to design and construct... a Mao jacket.

The results, exhibited at the university on March 7th, were fourteen fascinating experimentations with unusual materials - including everything from rubber erasers to acrylic paint to 5,500 metal Mao pins (shipped direct from China). 

As Lee Olvera, the studio lead, told USC News, “It’s an exploration of program and function. In architecture, we’re called upon to design the skins of buildings all the time. This project infuses our intuitive skills of artistry and aesthetics with the rigor of analytical and performance-based material experimentation to create innovative working solutions."

Check out more images from this unusual studio project, after the break.

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In 2009 we reached out to our readers across the globe and asked "What does your office look like?" From transparent tubes (like Selgas Cano's popular studio) to wide-open spaces (like BIG's offices in Copenhagen), we learned that the projects we publish every day are produced in all kinds of settings. But has anything changed over these few years?

A recent article from The New York Times confirms something we've all long-suspected. A Pritzker translates into big bucks. Demand for Shigeru Ban's Manhattan buildings has soared since his awarding of the prize. The New York Times reports that page views of the Metal Shutter Houses, for example, have quadrupled on the listings site Streeteasy.com. Why? The Pritzker name carries weight:

David Chipperfield Architects has won the prestigious competition to design Stockholm’s new Nobel Centre in the Blasieholmsudden peninsula. The firm's proposal - named Nobelhuset - beat out those by Swedish shortlisters Wingårdhs Arkitektkontor and Johan Celsing Arkitektkontor; the three had been selected from 12 high-profile entries (including the likes of BIG, OMA, and SANAA) in November of last year.

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Bjarke Ingels Group has unveiled their latest - and certainly greenest - "mountainous" housing project (for previous examples, see: Mountain Dwelling and 8 House). Although still in progress, Hualien Residences, a beach resort housing complex in Taiwan, will consist of green "landscape stripes" that resemble mountains themselves. The project, which incorporates walking paths, underground jogging paths, and an observation point, has already been recognized as a finalist in the 2014 MIPIM awards for its use of design to encourage healthy, active lifestyles for the complex's primarily older residents.

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The National Building Museum (NBM) has announced that BIG has designed a 61x61 foot maze to be housed in the building's grand atrium from July 4th to September 1st of this year. According to the NBM's website, the labyrinth's Baltic birch plywood walls, which stand 18 feet high at the maze's periphery, descend as you make your way towards the center. From the core, then, visitors receive a view of the entire layout - and a better understanding of how to get back out.

According to Bjarke Ingels, "The concept is simple: as you travel deeper into a maze, your path typically becomes more convoluted. What if we invert this scenario and create a maze that brings clarity and visual understanding upon reaching the heart of the labyrinth?" Of course, those uninterested in the challenge of figuring out the maze can peek down on it from the Museum's second and third floors - but where would be the fun in that?

More images, diagrams and drawings after the break!

Socrates Sculpture Park and The Architectural League of New York have announced that Austin+Mergold have won “Folly 2014” – an annual competition among emerging architects to design and build a large-scale project for public exhibition at Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City – with their project SuralArk, an installation that is "part ship, part house."

The annual “Folly” program strives to give emerging architects and designers the opportunity to build public projects that explore the boundaries between architecture and sculpture. This year's proposal beat out 171 submissions from 17 countries; it was selected by a jury made up of Chris Doyle, Artist; John Hatfield, Socrates Sculpture Park; Enrique Norten, TEN Arquitectos; Lisa Switkin, James Corner Field Operations; and Ada Tolla, LOT-EK.

SuralArk will open on May 11th through August 3rd. Learn more about the project after the break.

The Art Newspaper reports that the Guggenheim will launch an international competition on June 4th to find an architect to design a satellite in Helsinki, Finland focused on "Nordic and international architecture and design, and their connection contemporary art."

In response to the recent popularity of "selfies" in social media, The Society of Architecture Photography (SAP) has racked their archives to release a few rare images of what the society is calling "architecture selfies" - images taken by architects in front of their works. SAP's Director, Chantelle Archambault, told us: "We weren't sure if we would find any at all, but we were pleasantly surprised to find seven - even one of Le Corbusier at Chandigarh in 1961. I suppose it's only natural - architects consider travel an integral part of their creative process, and a pilgrimage to a built work is one of the most rewarding experiences an architect can claim."

See all the newly released "architecture selfies" - including photographs of Mies van der Rohe, Louis Kahn, and more - after the break...