This week we revealed a house hidden underground in Japan

This week on Dezeen, we showcased a house and restaurant designed by architect Junya Ishigami, which is hidden below ground level in Japan.

The house, which was built by pouring concrete into holes in the ground, contains a home and restaurant for Japanese chef Motonori Hirata, who is an old friend of the architect.

Continuing our Solar Revolution series, we published the Dezeen guide to solar power, which explained the differences between various types of photovoltaics.

In an interview as part of the series, Dutch scientist and professor Wim C Sinke said that solar technology is currently being held back by manufacturing limitations due to the levels of embodied carbon involved in production.

Two groups of skyscrapers were unveiled by leading studios this week.

In Amsterdam, Dutch studio MVRDV officially opened the mountain-like angular skyscraper named Valley, while in Paris, Ateliers Jean Nouvel completed a pair of inclined towers.

Ahead of this year's FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar, UK studio Foster + Partners has revealed images of its golden Lusail Stadium, which will host the tournament's final.

Designed to be a landmark structure for the World Cup, the stadium's form was informed by Islamic bowls and was described by the studio as a "golden vessel".

Speaking at Singapore Design Week, British designer Thomas Heatherwick said that we are "living through an epidemic of boringness".

"I want to talk about streets with the new buildings on and the problem that we all know exists in our towns and cities around the world – that we're increasingly surrounded by characterless buildings," he said.

In Toronto, Danish studio Henning Larsen Architects, local studio KPMB and landscape architecture studio SLA revealed plans to convert a former airstrip into a residential district.

Under the plans, Downsview Airfield would become home to around 80,000, with housing arranged around the two-kilometre-long runway, which would become a "pedestrian corridor".

Popular projects this week include an "elegant shelter" built around a chestnut tree, a 1920s skyscraper turned into a hotel in New York and an office with a timber exoskeleton.

This week's lookbooks showcased brutalist interiors with a surprisingly welcoming feel and sunny interiors that make use of the Colour of the Year 2023.

This week on Dezeen

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