Comments update: readers joined the chorus of criticism aimed at the interiors of Pininfarina's Eurostar redesign this week and questioned whether the cross-channel rail service has lost its design direction.

Derailed: Pininfarina's Eurostar redesign returned to the headlines after influential names from the fashion industry, including Vanity Fair's Virginie Mouzat and British Fashion Council ambassador Sarah Mower, took to Instagram to criticise it. Commenters were quick to agree with their observations.

"Every single one of the above images could be from any sad commuter train anywhere in the world," said Archi, while Jon blasted the interior's lighting and colour palette.

Others suggested the London-to-Paris service sorely missed French designer Philippe Starck's design involvement, who offered the company an "exciting vision" when it was launched.

"Calling this a timeless design is a joke," concluded a guest commenter. Read the comments on this story »

BIG cheese: Bjarke Ingels was at the centre of the architecture community's attention again this week after he was announced as the designer of this year's Serpentine Gallery Pavilion. Dezeen columnist Aaron Betsky used the occasion to explain why he's a BIG fan, prompting one of this week's liveliest discussions.

"BIG are not just revelations in architecture, but in how architecture presents itself," wrote a guest commenter. "BIG has obtained a mastery over media optics and has a consistency that extends across all of the office's efforts."

"Design has been replaced by narrative, process has been replaced by presentation, and architecture has been replaced by public relations," hit back Heywood Floyd. "In the information age it will always be more important to be interesting than to be good."

"The profession needs architects like BIG to question the status quo and help progress, question and reimagine the canon of architecture," replied a commenter who jokingly called themselves Le Corbusier. Read the comments on this story »

Block life: a proposal for a "crowd-built" megastructure split the opinion of readers, who argued over the drawbacks and potential merits to such a scheme.

"What a brilliant example of rethinking what architecture means beyond mere form making," wrote Aaron. " We need to see more of this kind of thing if architecture is to become relevant again to people other than architects."

"Most high-density projects squeeze people into conformity," said Tsi Nikayen' Enonhne. "Creating various facades, shape and texture is a great way of promoting individualism and a stylised sense of identity."

However, the design was attacked by other readers for being too complex and therefore too expensive to build. Read the comments on this story »

Green light: Google's self-driving car system was officially recognised as a driver in the US, but could this initial step to towards the legalisation of autonomous vehicles have unforeseen consequences?

"Could terrorists load Google cars with explosives and press go?" asked one commenter, while another reader pointed out that autonomous vehicles could eradicate human enjoyment of driving.

"This is the first step towards a very controlled future," concluded Jess. Read the comments on this story »