Those lamenting the fact that the introduction of the Bologna Reform has sounded the death knell of the good old German diploma certificate can rest assured. It is manifestly still going strong. Take the Half-Timbered Guide Certificate, for example, which was introduced in 2010. Germany’s veteran comedian institution Loriot would have gone to town on the oh-so-typical moniker of Half-Timbered Guide Certificate. Precisely because the matter is hardly wooden.

In Göteborg in Sweden, the free port is gradually being transformed into a new district – complete with a sauna designed by Raumlabor.

Love, pretensions and four deaths: A new book and two films tell the story of Eileen Gray and her legendary villa E.1027.

The exhibition “Radically modern - urban planning and architecture in 1960s Berlin” on show at Berlinische Galerie compares and contrasts the architectural heritage and urban planning in East and West Berlin. And yet it misses the city’s most important structure: the Wall.

There are countless reasons and the one or other ghastly story why you immediately recognize a building. So how should one deal with this? And what does it have to do with Berlin’s Municipal Palace?

A pity that tunnels cost so much money. And involve so much work. Because actually they are perfect problem-solvers. What you’re not supposed to see simply disappears. Above them flowers bloom, trees grow, sometimes new “urban” districts arise, at others existing quarters grow together. But sometimes they also collapse and among other things take down the illusion of a perfect world with them.

And the winner of this year’s “Mies van der Rohe Award” is…: the Philharmonic Hall in Szczecin, Poland, designed by Barozzi Veiga. First prize in the “Emerging Architect” category goes to Arquitectura-G for its “Casa Luz” in Cilleros, Spain.

Rem Koolhaas and his Office for Metropolitan Architecture have converted a former distillery in the south of Milan on behalf of Fondazione Prada – and created an anthology of diverse spaces and materials.

An expo is not just a spectacle, an event, where everything gets torn down afterwards. Since the very first World Exposition in London key milestones in architecture have been created specially for such great occasions – and many were indeed great in size and stature. Some of them are still standing. Others mere ruins.

Somewhere between studio, lab, and manifesto: Contemporary architecture has rediscovered textiles’ countless properties and possibilities.

Textile research institutes and corporations have in recent years researched fiber-based alternative construction materials and developed products ready for market destined to replace classic materials like steel.

Vitra Design Museum is devoting not just one, but two exhibitions to Africa. While the one suggests the "re-maker culture" is a blueprint for design in the Global North, the other explores how to achieve architectural independence.

In revamping 250-year-old Haus Thuneke, architect Peter Grundmann concentrated on making just few specific changes – albeit to great effect. Now the stodgy farmhouse structure proudly boasts a delicate extension.

How a society deals with people with impairments says a lot about the prevailing social climate. Mind you, the way in which bureaucracy’s quaint logic often succeeds in thwarting aspirations for an ideal barrier-free world is just as insightful.

Berlin architects Augustin + Frank have built a kind of ur-house: Marvelously positioned on the shore of Scharmützelsee and surrounded by pines – it’s as though the countryside glides through the concrete structure.

Is building in the countryside different to construction work in towns? Do rural edifices possibly need to have more character? Florian Heilmeyer talked to architect Thomas Kröger about three projects in the Uckermark.

Come to Brandenburg with us! For behind its fences and trees, in the meadows and on the lakes we have discovered amazing architecture well worth exploring.

The former worsted yarn spinning mill in Brandenburg an der Havel is in for a makeover – the brick building is going to be home to studios, office space, a children’s daycare center, and some unusual apartments.

Not only in nature has the force of water created impressive landscapes. With the help of water people have also designed wonderful spaces. Both are places of inspiration and calm.

The country is something fundamentally different from the city. It is a different type of settlement, there is social control, people have more space, but shopping opportunities are not as good. In one respect though, the country is thoroughly urbanized, namely in the way we perceive it. In the country too people are viewing it the way previously only city dwellers did. And they build things the same way.

The documentary on the Böhm family is a masterpiece on the psychology of a family in which more or less everything revolves around architecture.

Gottfried Böhm’s oeuvre is immense and even with 95 work still has a firm hold on him. We congratulate the first German Pritzker Prize winner to his birthday and take you on a journey in time through five of his buildings in Cologne.

Its construction costs tripled, it was a good two years behind schedule, and eventually it opened before it was even completed: Jean Nouvel’s Philharmonie de Paris. All about good intentions and an architecture that reaches for the stars but sadly gets dragged down to earth by its own vanities.

Initially there were not enough people talking about ecological architecture and resource-saving building, and then suddenly too many were. The debate about the energy reform and ecological responsibility didn’t do architecture in Germany any good.

Africa’s cities are growing super-fast. So what can the small and ingenious architectural solutions contribute that many commentators so applaud? Jeremy Gaines did a reality check and explains what Africa’s cities need most.

Bogotá, a place for design? And the answer is clearly "yes". Above all as regards the many service providers in Colombia’s capital.

Africa is urbanizing faster than any other continent. But tends to be forgotten in the debates on ubran mobility. Perhaps because the challenges are too great? Or perhaps because we aren’t being imaginative enough.

Would anyone think that bad performances in a provincial theater are a reason to issue laws stating that plays can only be staged in the big theaters? Things are different in architecture. In our new column on “Building in Germany” Christian Holl sets out to find out why.