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Architects in Bury and elsewhere in the UK may be interested to go on a new tour of the UK being launched by the National Trust to celebrate Brutalist buildings in the country.

Dubbed Brutal Utopias, the project will feature behind-the-scenes tours of numerous buildings in cities across the UK, including the University of East England, Park Hill flats in Sheffield and London’s Southbank Centre.

In addition, guided tours will also be put on around London on board the organisation’s 1962 Routemaster Coach with cultural and architectural experts charting the visions and outcomes of this particular building style.

This year’s Carbuncle Cup Award goes to the Walkie Talkie, a skyscraper in the City of London that has had rather a chequered history since it was completed in April last year.

The 37-storey office block came under fire in 2013 for melting rather expensive cars on the streets below by reflecting light during the summer.

According to the BBC, Jaguar driver Martin Lindsay returned to his car after a two-hour absence to find that the badge and wing mirror had melted.

Members of the public are now being asked by the Bank of England to nominate their favourite architects, designers, painters, photographers and filmmakers, one of whom will be chosen to replace economist Adam Smith.

“There are a wealth of individuals within the field of visual arts whose work shaped British thought, innovation, leadership, values and society and who continue to inspire people today. I greatly look forward to hearing from the public who they would like to celebrate,” Mark Carney, governor of the Bank, said at the launch of the nominations period at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London this week (May 19th).

A new campaign has been launched by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) to draw attention to issues in the built environment, including developing flood-proof communities, building good quality homes, providing energy-efficient buildings and addressing the state of school buildings in the country – a scheme that any Manchester architect may like to get behind.

Dubbed #BuildaBetterBritain, the initiative is calling for the government to ensure that homes are built that people actually want to live in. In all, 300,000 properties must be built each year, with 1.5 million new homes required during the next parliamentary term.

As award-winning architects in Manchester, AWA understands the importance of sustainability in modern design. And it appears we’re not alone, with the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) recently calling on the government to put environmental issues first when constructing new-builds.

The CCC made a number of recommendations in a new progress report that highlighted the dangers of ignoring energy efficiency measures. One of the key suggestions was the development of new infrastructure that helps tackle encroaching climate change.

A new exhibition that Warrington architects and others around the UK might like to visit is Designs of the Year 2015, on at the London Design Museum between March 25th and August 23rd.

Now in its eighth year, the awards are intended to celebrate design that perfectly encapsulates the year in question’s spirit, extends design practice, enables access or delivers change, with 76 nominees over six categories – architecture, digital, fashion, graphics, product and transport.

The new report suggesting how the face of British architecture will change over the coming years, with high rise farms and floating cities predicted to take centre stage in the future.

New research from a think tank made up of Linda Aitken, Toby Burgess, Arthur Mamou-Mani and Dr Rhys Morgan of the Royal Academy of Engineering suggests that underground basements will become a reality as people seek to create additional space, the Independent reports.

Derek Walker, the chief architect and town planner for Milton Keynes, has died at the age of 85.

Born in Blackburn in Lancashire, Mr Walker grew up in Leeds, studying architecture at Leeds Arts School before distinguishing himself as head of architecture at the Royal College of Art in the 80s.

Here’s a news story that award-winning architects in Manchester will no doubt find interesting – Polish architect Krzysztof Kotala has come up with the idea of constructing an underwater tennis court with a curved roof so players and spectators will be able to see fish swimming all around them during a match.

Keen to build it in Dubai, which is famed for pushing the boundaries of architecture, 30-year-old Mr Kotala said his design will be something totally original and should be built somewhere where a tradition of tennis-playing already exists – hence Dubai.

German architect Frei Otto – best known for his work on site at Munich’s 1972 Olympic Games – has been posthumously awarded the 2015 Pritzker Prize.

The 40th laureate of the prize and the second from Germany, Otto learned that he would be receiving the prize in January but he sadly died before it could be presented to him.

He is renowned for his work on the roofing of the Munich Olympic Park main sports facilities, as well as the German pavilion at the 1967 International and Universal Exposition, a series of tent structures in the 50s for the German Federal Exhibitions and the Japan Pavilion at Expo 2000 in Hannover.