This week the UK government announced "automatic" permissions as part of planning reforms

This week on Dezeen, the UK government came under fire as it announced its plans to deregulate and automatically grant planning permission for housing in England.

Alongside housing, the new planning system will also see schools, hospitals, shops and offices "automatically secured" planning on land that is designated for growth.

The regulations have been described by prime minister Boris Johnson as "radical reform unlike anything we have seen since the second world war" and are intended to facilitate quicker development, but UK architects claim the idea is "shameful" and that it fails to address the root causes of England's housing crisis.

Among the architects voicing their concerns was Charles Holland, who told Dezeen that "while the government has identified a lack of affordable housing as a major problem, this isn't an effective plan to deal with it", adding that "this is unlikely to be either beautiful or affordable."

The Royal Institute of British Architects warned that the system will lead to poor quality housing, with its president Alan Jones calling for "urgent reconsideration".

Jones claimed that "these shameful proposals do almost nothing to guarantee the delivery of affordable, well-designed and sustainable homes."

In design, Czech firm Studio 519 took centre stage with its plywood module called Nestbox that it has developed to transform cars into campers.

The product is available in four different sizes and designed to slot neatly into the boot of a car to be expanded into a double bed or a fully fitted kitchen.

Other transport design included Aerospace brand Virgin Galactic's concept for a high-speed passenger aircraft called Mach 3 that could travel at three times the speed of sound.

In Italy, the 1,100-metre-long Genoa San Giorgio Bridge was unveiled by Renzo Piano, replacing the Morandi Bridge that was destroyed in a storm almost two years ago.

As the Coronavirus pandemic continues, German jewellery designer Saskia Diez became the latest designer to put her own spin on face masks, revealing a collection adorned with detachable silver and gold chains.

Diez' intention is for the masks to feel like an accessory rather than some medical that "you're being forced to wear".

In the architecture world, John Pawson and David Chipperfield were among the eighteen designers to reveal visuals of private villas that will be built in Ibiza as part of a development called Sabina.

Dezeen reported on Zaha Hadid Architects proposal for the CECEP Shanghai Campus in China that will utilise renewable energy technologies and recycled materials in an attempt to become the "greenest building" in Shanghai.

Popular projects on Dezeen this week include a house built with perforated bricks in Vietnam, a gabled house in Wyoming, and a wooden garage built in Vancouver.

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