The stories Bdonline visitors have read the most over the past 12 months include tales of civil war, ‘aggressive and banal’ buildings and the skyscrapers of the future

1/ Carbuncle Cup winner 2013: a triumph for the dark side

This year’s worst new building, 465 Caledonian Road by Stephen George & Partners, offers a prison-like experience for student residents

Source: Gareth Gardner//UCL’s student block, 465 Caledonian Road by Stephen George and Partners

2/ The 10 books every architecture student should read

BD selects 10 architecture books from the last 50 years that every student should read

Source: Shutterstock/Paul Prescott

3/ The architects most admired by other architects

We asked the biggest architecture practices in the world who they most admired. The results may surprise you

The new corporate headquarters for the Banco Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina, will occupy an entire city block in the neighbourhood of Parque Patricios. The energy-efficient building will echo its park-side setting with landscaped courtyards and shaded walkways and will provide a distinctive new presence for the bank in the city.

4/ The top 10 world’s tallest skyscrapers of the future

Which will be first to break the 1,000m mark?

Source: Emporis

5/ Civil war breaks out at RMJM

Europe chief says: ‘I no longer have a role at RMJM’

6/ Francis Golding killed in cycling accident

Tributes pour in for architectural expert

Source: Matt via Wikimedia Commons/A Ghost Bike - bicycles painted white are left chained to railings where cyclists have been killed as a memorial

7/ ‘Aggresive and banal’ - Zaha Hadid’s Serpentine Sackler Gallery

“For an institution whose programme of summer pavilions has done so much to promote new architectural talent, it seems neither a wise or ambitious piece of commissioning.”

Source: Luke Hayes/The Serpentine Sackler Gallery by Zaha Hadid

8/ Thomas Heatherwick ‘outraged’ by Olympic plagiarism row

The British designer categorically denied plagiarism and dubbed the claims “spurious nonsense”.

Source: London 2012

9/ Carbuncle Cup nomination - 465 Caledonian Road, London by Stephen George and Partners

“It is one of the worst facade retention schemes that I have seen.”