伦敦cork clad阁楼扩建丨法国丨Marc Newson

This week on Dezeen, we spoke to elusive architect Smiljan Radić about his "surprise" Pritzker Architecture Prize win.

Radić explained how he was surprised by the win and didn't want his work to be seen as a blueprint for "good or bad" architecture.

"There is no message in what I do," he said. "I'm not interested in it becoming a kind of sermon about what is good or bad in architecture."

We spoke to Marc Newson

We also spoke to Australian designer Marc Newson about his 40-year career in an exclusive interview at his retrospective show at Château La Coste in the south of France.

Newson, who designed the most expensive work ever sold at auction by a living designer, talked to Dezeen about quality and affordability. "Anything good is kind of costly," he said.

The World Cup host countries revealed their kits

In other design news, the kits that the trio of host nations will wear at the World Cup later this year were revealed. The US home shirts have bold red stripes, while the jerseys for Mexico pay homage to Aztec sculpture.

We also revealed the England World Cup kits, which Nike described as "unapologetically English".

We reported on Africa's skyscraper mini-boom

As Africa experiences a mini-boom in skyscraper construction, we investigated why towers are rising across the continent in countries including Egypt, Ethiopia and Ivory Coast.

We asked – is this spate of construction cause for alarm?

Multiple construction contracts for work on Neom in Saudi Arabia have been cancelled

We also reported that multiple construction contracts for work on the Neom mega project in Saudi Arabia had been cancelled.

Steel company Eversendai, Italian contractor Webuild and Hyundai Engineering and Construction all recently announced that their contracts had been terminated.

A cork-clad loft extension was one of this week's most popular projects

Popular projects on Dezeen this week included a cork-clad loft extension in London, a timber-lined house in the Netherlands and a home on a Washington island.

Listen to our journalists talk about the key design and architecture stories of the past seven days on our Dezeen Weekly podcast, which this week focused on the AIA's legal action against Donald Trump.

This week on Dezeen

This week on Dezeen is our regular roundup of the week's top news stories. Subscribe to our newsletters to be sure you don't miss anything.