Hong Kong

This past weekend China opened the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, a new cross-sea tunnel and bridge system located in Guangdong Province, South China. The architectural marvel apparently breaks 10 world records – albeit very specific ones.

Snøhetta has completed work on an ambitious new skyscraper in Hong Kong named Airside that's inspired by textiles and tailoring. It also incorporates an impressive degree of sustainable design, including solar power and rainwater collection.

Zaha Hadid Architects, in collaboration with local firm Leigh & Orange, has unveiled its design for new student residences in Hong Kong. Due for completion in 2023, the project will incorporate solar panels and overcome a tricky hillside site.

Envisioned as an orchid tree about to blossom, the ZHA-designed 2 Murray Road is under construction in Hong Kong. It will feature sustainable design and enable workers to get to their desk without touching any doors or elevator controls.

Despite advances in new battery designs, good old lithium-ion batteries are still the frontrunner. There’s plenty of room for improvement though, and now researchers have identified a new cathode coating that could make them safer and longer lasting.

Sim-Plex has recently converted an open two-bedroom apartment into a smart, space-saving family home. The Smart Zendo apartment boasts smart technology, multi-purpose zones and draws on the traditional Chinese philosophies of Zen and Feng Shui.

Urban Density is an extraordinary photographic series from travel photographer Dietrich Herlan. The series primarily examines high-density government apartment blocks in Hong Kong, finding profoundly symmetrical compositions in architecture that is often considered ugly, impersonal and Brutalist.

MVRDV recently completed an all-glass office building in Hong Kong. Featuring glass walls, a glass floor, and glass tables, it's conceived as a new working space for the business with nothing to hide.

Hong Kong-based architects LAAB describes the city as "one of the most expensive places in the world to live." So keen were one couple to live in the city's Central district, though, they bought a 309-sq ft (29-sq m) apartment and had LAAB squeeze in a host of full-size features.

A novel study undertaken by an international collaboration of universities aims to assess the impact of toxic fumes and other pollutants on the residents of high-rise buildings. Such studies are becoming increasingly important to metropolitan areas where real estate is scarce.

In a bid to ease the plight of Hong Kong's homeless, Hong Kong-based architectural studio AFFECT-T recently designed the Bamboo Micro-House prototype. The tiny bamboo dwellings can be placed nearby other units to form small communities within disused industrial buildings.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University is to release details of a 7-year program to monitor a 36-km stretch of rail line using special fiber optic sensors. The system has detected "anomalous vibrations" 30 times, allowing the early rectification of problems that could have gone on to cause accidents.