This week on Dezeen, British architect Norman Foster said that the coronavirus pandemic will not fundamentally change cities.

Foster believes that the pandemic could accelerate the adoption of sustainable buildings, urban farming and monorails, but will not have a long-term impact on cities.

"Is Covid-19 going to change our cities?" asked the founder of London studio Foster + Partners. "I suggest that it might seem so now, but in the wider arc of history, the answer is no."

This week saw Scottish-Ghanaian architect Lesley Lokko resign as dean of the Spitzer School of Architecture at City College in New York.

Lokko, who resigned due to a crippling workload and a lack of empathy for black women, described the move as a "profound act of self-preservation".

Meanwhile, D&AD deputy president Ben Terrett declined to take on the role of president of the UK design and advertising body saying "there has not been enough diversity" in industry leadership roles.

In design news, Swedish furniture retailer IKEA unveiled a buy-back initiative that will see it buy back unwanted IKEA products for up to 50 per cent of their original price.

"Sustainability is the defining issue of our time and IKEA is committed to being part of the solution to promote sustainable consumption and combat climate change," country retail manager and chief sustainability officer of IKEA UK and Ireland Peter Jelkeby said.

"With the launch of Buy Back we are giving a second life to many more IKEA products and creating more easy and affordable solutions to help people live more sustainably."

In London, Joshua Abbott highlighted ten modernist architecture projects in the city's Metro-land.

The projects were taken from his recently completed book Guide to Modernism in Metro-Land, which focuses modern architecture in London's northwestern suburbs, which sprung up in the 1920s and 30s along the route of the Metropolitan Railway.

In architecture news, Danish studio BIG revealed its design for the Virgin Hyperloop Certification Center in West Virginia, which will be used for testing and certifying its high-speed transportation system.

Pritzker Prize-winning studio SANAA also unveiled its design for a major project – an extension to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, which will incorporate an underground world war two oil tank.

Popular projects on Dezeen this week include a hotel for cats and dogs in Portugal designed by Raulino Silva Arquitecto, a coffee factory in Tbilisi wrapped in folded concrete and a courtyard house in Washington designed by Wittman Estes.

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.