Surprising as it may seem, Spain currently lacks a national Law on Architecture and Habitability to recognize and promote the value of the profession to the country's economic, social, and cultural development.

However, 2017 brought two major developments that can and should provide the momentum needed to advance toward a crucial national law. First, the passage on November 8 of the Public Sector Contracts Law, which, according to Jordi Ludevid, president of the Superior Council of the Colleges of Architects of Spain (CSCAE), represents "a spectacular and highly positive change" for architects. Second, the approval on June 28, 2017, of Spain’s first-ever architecture legislation, the Catalonia Architecture Law.

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Unbeknown to many, cork is something of a dark horse when it comes to the environment—a model of a sustainable industry and building material. By its very nature, cork is both recyclable and renewable, as it is the only tree that regenerates its bark, while harvesting that bark causes the tree no harm.

Cork has been sneaking its way into our buildings for many years now; due to its hard-wearing properties it can be found, for example, in the checkerboard flooring of the Library of Congress. Even NASA has been wise to cork's light weight and insulation capacity, using it as an insulator for their space shuttles.

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Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion is being transformed into a “1:1 scale model” of itself in a new exhibition designed by Anna and Eugeni Bach titled “mies missing materiality.”

Over the next week, the iconic structure – the longest standing temporary pavilion in modern architectural history – will be completely covered with white vinyl, obscuring the beautiful marble, travertine, steel, chrome, and glass for which it is recognized.

The project sets to prompt discussion about the role of material in the original design, as well as the symbolism of the white surface within modern architecture.

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For the animal lovers among our audience, this week we have put together a special roundup of images of architecture alongside some marvelous critters. While not exactly a mainstay of architectural photography, proponents of the form like BoysPlayNice, Jesus Granada and Rafael Gamo have dared to include animal inhabitants in their architectural compositions. Read on to see a selection of 20 creative images where you will find horses, sheep, cows, goats, dogs, cats, and even elephants.

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We love construction details! That's why this week's photos highlight the art of the synthesis of materials and the varied photographic products we can obtain by looking closer. Photographers like Joel Filipe, Marie-Françoise Plissart and Adria Goula, give us precise and beautiful exposure to wooden joints, steel structures, concrete details, curtain walls and more.

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The Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp Début Award was created to celebrate the achievements, and promote the careers of, young architects and practices under the age of 35.

More than 140 applications were received, representing five continents and including 39 countries including Portugal, Germany, Brazil, and Mexico, as well as Iran, Jordan, Sudan, and Palestine. The jury have praised the very high level of the proposals across the board.

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From a list of 25 finalists released in May, the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) has announced the winners of the 2016 European Prize for Urban Public Space. Awarded since 2000 to recognize “transformations and improvements in the public spaces of Europe,” this year’s prize names two joint winners along with four special mentions. All 25 finalists will have their work featured in an exhibition that will tour Europe over the next two years, and also will be published in an online archive that features past finalists.

Continue after the break for images and descriptions of the winning projects.

The Wienerberger Brick Award has offered a unique platform for the recognition of outstanding brick architecture of international quality since 2004. The award comprises 5 different categories, which may change depending on trends and current topics.

In 2016, prizes were awarded in the following categories: Residential Use, Public Use, Re-Use, Urban Infill, and Special Solution. In total, more than 600 projects from 55 countries were submitted. Owing to the great variety of projects, it was not an easy task for the independent, pre-jury panel to narrow down the submissions to 50 nominations. From this shortlist a jury of four internationally renowned architects (Laura Andreini, Archea Associati, Italy Johan Anrys, 51N4E, Belgium Matija Bevk, bevk perovic arhitekti, Slovenia Alfred Munkenbeck, Munkenbeck + Partners, UK) selected the winners.

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