London

According to Alain de Botton, religion shouldn't get to claim the most beautiful buildings, so he proposes a temple for anything else "positive and good," right in the center of London.

Rowan Moore judges the return of the "huge" housing estate in the shape of the 2012 Olympics Athletes' Village in London.

Known as 'The Shard', the new skyscraper being built in London will have 72 floors, and stand 1,017 feet. Both opponents and critics agree: The building will "change London -- for centuries."

British entrepreneur Roger Wade has built "[t]he most environmentally friendly shopping mall ever built." 'Boxpark,' which recently opened, is composed of 60 standard size shipping containers stacked two stories high by five rows wide.

In the summer of 2010, London launched a new program that had established bright blue bike lanes known as 'Cycle Superhighways' alongside main roads. These initiatives are intended to provide the quickest routes into the city centre.

During WWII, thousands of bicycles were stolen from the Dutch by occupying Germans, leaving them unable to get around. In Britain, however, strict patrol rationing meant bicycle use rose considerably because it was the only way to get around.

It may seem counter-intuitive, but "shared space" advocates say cars and bikes will get in fewer accidents if barriers and traffic lane markets are removed. London's Exhibition Road will open next month using this design concept.

Foster + Partners reveal a utopian transit master plan so massive that it requires us to consider it "on a level that transcends appearance." The design seeks to streamline connections to the rest of the world through subterranean engineering.

Olympic Planners have just ten months left to prepare for an anticipated 15 million trips a day during the event in an already congested city. So far, about 6.5 billion pounds ($10.2 billion) has been invested.

How is the City of London incentivizing bike and ped commuters for helping improve the air? There's an App for that.

In order to lighten the footprint of the 2012 Olympics, Britain's architects and event planners are aiming to "reduce, reuse and recycle" venues so that they can be repurposed or taken down when the games are over.

Aurash Khawarzad looks at three projects that turned crude into gold, as old gas stations are quickly updated into a movie theater, a cafe and a restaurant.

The benefits of building a new $52-million HSR that connects London to northern England are plausible but not persuasive, says The Economist.

The success of the 2012 Olympics in London likely won't be evident until after the event, which is seeking to repurpose a down-and-out part of town into a new neighborhood.

Intelligent Life magazine asks what city would be the capital of the world.

Leading up to the 2012 Olympics, a group in London is taking advantage of stalled building projects to create 2,012 public gardens in the city before the sporting event.

Five architects dissect the role the built environment plays in the riots. Joseph Rykwert says cities incite riots, while Robert Tavernor says that the riots are "a sobering reminder that cities are for people, that people make cities."

This interactive map from The Guardian overlays recent incidences of rioting in greater London with levels of poverty.

London's King's Cross train station's western concourse showcases a 140-meter wide canopy, the largest single-span station structure in Europe. New technology like solar cells and old infrastructure blend together to enhance the station.

London's preparations for next summer's Olympic Games have been widespread, but the event's economic returns are harder to see.