This week on Dezeen, we looked back at the highlights of 2024 as the year comes to an end, including the top 10 gadgets of the year.
Among the projects featured in the gadget highlights were a pair of hiking trousers that give the wearer a boost as they walk and a stretchable digital screen that can expand up to 50 per cent.
We also unveiled our picks for the top 10 UK architecture projects of the year, the top 10 home interiors of the year and the top 10 cabins of the year.
The proposed tallest skyscraper in the US, Legends Tower, was back in the news this week after local airport director Jeff Mulder expressed concern about its height and safety.
In a complaint to the Federal Aircraft Administration (FAA), he claimed Legends Tower's 581-metre (1,907 feet) height would create safety issues and delays for air travel.
However, the tower's architect – California-based studio AO – has since stated it is "collaborating" with the FAA to resolve the issue.
In other North American news, Vancouver Art Gallery has abandoned its plans for a new building by Swiss architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron after almost a decade.
The institution cited financial concerns as the reason for the decision. Herzog & de Meuron's renders of the project showed copper-clad stacked volumes protruding from a mass-timber structure.
In Japan, renders were released of the luxury Pullman Tokyo Ginza hotel, which is set to be built on the site of the Nakagin Capsule Tower – an iconic example of the metabolism architecture style.
Readers' opinions were divided on the decision to erect what some called an "uninspired and generic" hotel on the site of the building, which was demolished in 2022.
In an opinion piece this week, Michelle Ogundehin discussed the Pantone colour of the year for 2025, an "unremarkable mid-brown called Mocha Mousse."
The colour, which was unveiled last week, "reflects the triumph of manipulative marketing for greed over need," she said. "I believe this may be a classic exemplar of enshittification, in both story and hue."
Designs for the Jawaher Boston Medical District in Sharjah, UAE, by Renzo Piano Building Workshop were also unveiled this week.
The renders show healthcare facilities located inside a large tree-filled park, which will measure 1,000 metres by 500 metres and have a canopy at its centre.
Popular projects featured on Dezeen this week included a sculptural water tower in Sweden by White Arkitekter, an "architecturally unique" London home and a São Paulo penthouse designed by Philippe Starck.
This week's lookbook featured interiors with gold and silver accents to ring in the festive season.
This week on Dezeen
This week on Dezeen is our regular roundup of the week's top news stories. Subscribe to our newsletters to be sure you don't miss anything.
The post This week we picked the architecture and design highlights of 2024 appeared first on Dezeen.
