This week we revealed the 2025 Stirling Prize shortlist

Sterling Prize-shortlisted Appleby Blue senior housing

This week on Dezeen, the Royal Institute of British Architects announced its six-strong shortlist for the Stirling Prize, including a social housing development for seniors and the renovation of London's Elizabeth Tower.

All located in England, the other projects competing for the prize are the campus for the London College of Fashion, a glass-clad research facility and a pair of private homes.

Colourful buildings in Iran — A colourful domed retreat received an Aga Khan Award for Architecture

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture announced its seven winners this week, which included projects located in China, Egypt, Palestine, Bangladesh and Iran.

Among the winners was a tourist retreat made up of colourful domes by Iranian practice ZAV Architects, and Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum's lightweight buildings designed for people displaced in Bangladesh due to flooding.

Green wall on a residential building — Some green wall systems in the UK are marketed with fire safety claims based on non-standardised testing

Also this week, we reported on the questionable fire safety claims of green wall systems in the UK, which are raising concerns among fire experts and insurers.

According to documents, one UK green wall system was fire tested after being soaked in water, and the fire performance of another system was tested without any plants in place.

Humanise Wall under construction in Seoul — Heatherwick Studio's Humanise Wall is under construction in Seoul

In other architecture news, construction of the 90-metre-long Humanise Wall designed by Heatherwick Studio, which will form the centrepiece of the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism later this month, is underway.

The wall's chunky, red steel structure twists over a central opening and will be covered in large-scale text, artworks and images of buildings.

Hyphyn vinyl — Plastic-eating enzymes help speed up biodegradation in Hyphen's vinyl

New materials brand Hyphyn launched a biodegradable performance vinyl fabric that decomposes almost twice as much as traditional vinyl, thanks to plastic-eating enzymes embedded into the material.

According to an international standard test, the Hyphyn material broke down over 90 per cent in two years in landfill conditions without leaving behind microplastics or toxic chemicals, while traditional vinyl broke down just 49 per cent.