The winners of the 2013 World Habitat Awards, a competition focused on addressing housing needs and issues across the globe, have just been announced. Picked from a pool of over 200 applicants, the two winning entries represent the most innovative and resilient proposals with potential for global use, taking on the rampant homelessness problem in the US (The 100,000 Homes Campaign) and exploring revitalisation opportunities for the Old City in Hebron (Hebron Old City Rehabilitation Programme). The winners will be honoured at a ceremony in Medellin, Colombia on October 17, 2014. To learn more about the competition and it's winners, click here.

After the foreclosure crisis, hundreds of cities despaired at the downturn - but in Milwaukee, the HomeGr/own Initiative saw opportunity. The organization converts empty lots into urban farms, calling upon citizens to assist in this growing local food movement. But while other cities have tried similar projects (and failed), Fast.Co reports that the HomeGr/own Initiative seems suited to last. Learn why here.

"In the 10 years I’ve been running my architectural practice, I [...] have gotten accustomed to people assuming that my male employees — whether younger or older — are the lead architects who will be making final decisions. Yet this time a lingering frustration colored the rest of my day, a sense that while feminism has made significant progress on a conscious level, little change has trickled down into the unconscious of our culture." Check out the rest of Esther Sperber's column for Lilith, in which she details the past travails of female architects (particularly Denise Scott Brown's), and their future mission, here.

In this interesting article for the Financial Times, Edwin Heathcote dissects two Hollywood homes that are infamous as the homes of slick movie bad guys. The Lovell Health House designed by Richard Neutra appeared in LA Confidential as the home of pornographer and pimp Pierce Patchett; the Sheats Goldstein Residence appeared in The Big Lebowski - again as the home of a pornographer - and was designed by none other than "Hollywood's favourite architect" John Lautner. Heathcote probes the two architects' design influences and ideas, and of course offers an explanation as to why ""bad guys always seem to get the best houses". You can read the full article here.

From November 22 through March 2, 2014, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University presents Lebbeus Woods, Architect, bringing together over 100 works from the past 35 years by one of the most influential architects working in the field. Recognized beyond architecture, Lebbeus Woods (1940–2012), who was born in Lansing, Michigan, has been hailed by leading designers, filmmakers, writers, and artists alike as a significant voice in recent decades. Notably, Zaha Hadid, architect of the Broad’s newly inaugurated building, cities Woods as a key influence.

The simple concrete-hewn structures designed by Tatiana Bilbao acknowledge their context in a way that most buildings don't. In a recent interview with uncube Magazine, Bilbao explains how her outlook on design shifted after she realized that "the quality of architecture relies heavily on the people who build it and what techniques and materials they are used to." And it seems this novel approach hasn't gone unnoticed - she recently showed her work at Berlin's Architekturgalerie and is on a star-studded shortlist to design the Menil Drawing Institute. Read the full interview here.

Isay Weinfeld, the multi-award winning Brazilian architect and designer, will be opening his first ever US exhibit at Espasso in conjunction with the launch of a new monograph that takes a closer look at his recent projects.

A portion of Santiago Calatrava’s $4 billion PATH station has opened. According to NY Daily News, the Western Concourse will now relieve New Yorkers from “cramped sidewalks and temporary bridges” crossing West St. with a 600-foot underground passage lined in “bright white marble” that connects the World Trade Center to the neighboring office complex formerly known as the World Financial Center. Once complete in 2015, the controversial transit hub will double as a massive shopping and retail complex, which aims to “transform” the cultural experience of lower Manhattan.

Last week, thanks to the courtesy of Taschen, we gave you the chance to win one of five copies of the book Richard Meier & Partners Complete Works.

Chinese city-dwellers are waking to find eight stories of construction debris outside of their homes. Over two billion tons of waste, outside Beijing and other major cities, is a result of a booming construction industry. "There's no systematic way to deal with [the garbage]," says Wilson W.S. Lu, architecture professor at the University of Hong Kong, "The illegal dumping is everywhere." Recycling efforts have just begun, but local activists believe it will require a radical paradigm shift in the way Chinese residents reclaim material. Read the full New York Times article, "China's Mountains of Construction Rubble."

The Buckminster Fuller Institute (BFI) is proud to partner with The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union and The Cooper Union Institute for Sustainable Design to exhibit DYMAX REDUX, a crowdsourcing design contest to highlight today's graphic designers, visual artists and citizen cartographers own interpretation of Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Map. Originally published 70 years ago, Fuller's map was a cartographic breakthrough showing one island in one ocean; an iconic design that has inspired generations since.

The latest Future Trends Survey, published by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), indicates both stability and optimism. The Future Trends Workload Index increased to +26, a rise of four balance points from August 2013, "building upon the steadily increasing positive trend" seen since the start of this year. The survey also shows evidence that "the growing optimism about an upturn in overall workloads is now widespread" throughout the UK.

Seizing on the current trend for 'micro-apartments' in cities such as New York, Fast Company has an interesting profile (including some great photos) of the Nakagin Capsule Tower, the 1972 Japanese building, one of the first (and still one of the most extreme) examples of small-plan living. The article explores both the successful and unsuccessful elements of the design, such as the difficult maintenance and non-openable windows, as well as the ongoing battle for preservation since the residents voted to replace the tower with a conventional building. You can read the full article here.

Do we prefer straight lines or curves? According to Eric Jaffe's article on Fast Co.Design, it seems we subconsciously prefer the latter. Our brains, he claims, have evolved to perceive potential threat in sharp edges. "Square watches, pointy couches, and the like activate the amygdala. The part of the brain that processes fear." Thus, our feelings, buying habits and favorite buildings are subject to our affection of curves. Investigate for yourself and make sure to read the full article here, “Why Our Brains Love Curvy Architecture.”

In light of the strong responses to their Lodge on the Lake competition, organized in collaboration with the University of Canberra and won by Henry Stephens, Nick Roberts and Jack Davies in May, the Gallery of Australian Design is hosting an exhibition of the submissions to the competition, including models of the entries created specially created for the exhibition.

After sitting derelict for years, the Kate Wollman Memorial Rink in Brooklyn's Prospect Park is poised for something of a rebirth. Tod Williams and Billie Tsien's plans for a sports complex, known as Lakeside, is expected to restore the rink's role as the park's chief attraction. Michael Kimmelman recently stopped by the site to explore the project as it nears completion - click here to read his thoughts on what he calls one of the last "parting gifts of the Bloomberg era to the city."

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Light Forest is the final working prototype of the Architectural Association (AA) DLAB Visiting School, which took place in AA London and AA Hooke Park, a 350-acre working forest in Dorset, south west England, where the AA has a small educational facility centred on a woodworking workshop.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced the winners of the President’s Awards for Research 2013. The awards recognize high-quality research and encourage its distribution and incorporation into the wider profession to foster innovation and strategic thinking. From an urban healing agenda for reform in Bahrain to a book that explores the incredible potential of concrete, the 2013 winners of the President’s Awards for Research are: