Out of America: Swearing eternal fealty to Reagan, presidential candidates try to outdo each other in an insane stampede to the right – leaving Obama delighted

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Deals of the week: Bilbao, Avoriaz skiing, Antigua

Less than £200...Basque break

Bilbao offers playful modernity in the form of Frank Gehry's landmark Guggenheim Museum, along with Gothic churches such as the Basilica de Begoña and a terracotta-roofed Old Town. EasyJet Holidays will fly you out to this intriguing Spanish city next weekend with three nights' B&B at the Petit Palace Arana, for £192 per person. The deal includes flights from Stansted departing Friday 25 November. Holidays.easyjet.com

Abu Dhabi museum island hit by more delays

Branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim art museums being built as part of an ambitious cultural district in Abu Dhabi could now open at least a year later than planned, the developer and an official with knowledge of the projects said today.

Guangzhou tower: The sky's the limit

It's the ninth tallest building in the world, with 400ft on The Shard and room for the dome of St Paul's in its atrium. Jay Merrick climbs the Guangzhou tower

Last Night's TV: The Secret Life of Buildings/Channel 4<br />One Man Walking/Channel 4<br />Great Thinkers: In Their Own Words/BBC4

If the cover star of the current issue of the Radio Times happened to be watching the box last night, he doubtless enjoyed what he saw. The Secret Life of Buildings was right up Prince Charles's avenue, with the architectural critic Tom Dyckhoff skewering a variety of extravagant modern buildings for being soulless novelties rather than functional spaces. Top of his hate list, the building that he thinks made it acceptable for architects around the world to indulge their fantasies at the expense of what actually works, was Frank Gehry's famously outlandish Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Dyckhoff thinks that "architects have forgotten the purpose of social buildings" and that "the Bilbao effect" has produced an epidemic of Guggenheim clones, turning this memory lapse practically into a credo.

Why bad design is cramping our style

A new TV series explores the impact the built environment has on the way we live. By Yvonne Cook

Serpentine Gallery Pavilions, By Philip Jodidio

The opening of the 11th annual Serpentine Gallery Pavilion on Friday marked what has become a celebrated event in London's summer diary.

Can interiors heal?

Why Maggie&rsquo;s is the charity of the design industry, by Annie Deakin

Jay Merrick: Serpentine commission is a real coup for gallery

A handful of living architects – notably Frank Gehry, Oscar Niemeyer and Alvaro Siza – can be described as unique. The word seems crude when applied to Peter Zumthor. With him we are, to borrow a Van Morrison album title, into the mystic.

Ten top...cultural hotspots

1 Miami

A visit to the Frank Gehry New World Center (nws.edu) will be as much about admiring Gehry's architecture as the music made within.

In Miami, even the car parks are interesting

Frank Gehry's New World Center is the latest example of culture regenerating Miami's streets

Parisian residents halt Gehry building

A strange sense of architectural déjà vu has gripped the French capital. Parisians, who in their day loathed the Eiffel Tower, the Pompidou Centre and the Louvre Pyramid, are campaigning once again to defeat a revolutionary new building.

Cultural desert: Will Abu Dhabi censor its new museums?

The world's leading architects are building museums in Abu Dhabi as the emirate pours a fortune into trying to become one of the art capitals of the world. But will the works inside be censored?

V&amp;A brings the spirit of Bilbao to Dundee

Dundee might not be the first place you'd think to open a new cultural institution. Paris, yes, Venice, definitely, but not Dundee, home of marmalade, Dennis the Menace, and little else.

Watch a selection of videos from the Guggenheim/YouTube shortlist

125 videos have been shortlisted by New York's Guggenheim Museum and YouTube for 'YouTube Play. A Biennial of Creative Video', a survey of notable work in the ever-expanding world of online video. On 21 October, up to 20 videos from this list will be selected by a panel of experts to be presented at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and at simultaneous presentations in Berlin, Bilbao and Venice.

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Day In a Page

Grotty no more: How Lanzarote upgraded its appeal

How Lanzarote upgraded its appeal

Lanzarote has been quietly changing its fly-and-flop holiday image, discovers Andrew Eames.
Traveller's Guide: Montenegro

Traveller's Guide: Montenegro

It's one of Europe's smallest countries, but it packs in spectacular landscapes and glittering beach resorts.
48 Hours In: Verona

48 Hours In: Verona

Summer opera returns to the Roman arena, says Charles Hebbert.
Ten things we’re looking out for at E3 2012

Ten things to look out for at E3 2012

From Wii U to The Last of Us we consider this year's show
Come dine (online) with me

Come dine (online) with me

Move over TV chefs, hello YouTube stars
Next in line – but public just can't warm to idea of Charles in charge

Next in line – but public just can't warm to idea of Charles in charge

'Independent' poll finds less that half want him to take throne as ministers moan of interference
Nothing's sacred: the illegal trade in India's holy cows

Nothing's sacred: the illegal trade in India's holy cows

Andrew Buncombe reports from Kaharpara on a bloody war between rustlers and border guards
Mogul grounded: Desmond gives up his jet deal

Mogul grounded: Desmond gives up his jet deal

Media tycoon's company pays £1m to cancel his order for a £36m private jet after drop in profits
How Ai Weiwei built a pavilion in London – by remote control

How Ai Weiwei built a pavilion in London – by remote control

The artist tells Clifford Coonan how he used Skype to escape confinement in Beijing
Nature, nurture... or neither? The new twist in an age-old argument

Nature, nurture... or neither?

The new twist in an age-old argument
Radio 4 to shed its cosy image with a 'sexy' Ulysses drama

Radio 4 to shed its cosy image with a 'sexy' Ulysses drama

New station controller wants to reflect the current period of 'turmoil and uncertainity'
Alcohol: I drink therefore I am

Alcohol: I drink therefore I am

New guidelines warn Britons to drastically reduce their boozing. But is a life without liquor worth living? Hell no, says John Walsh
The Cable News Nightmare: CNN (and Piers Morgan) in audience crisis

The Cable News Nightmare

CNN (and Piers Morgan) in audience crisis
Like a barbie, but better: The Big Green Egg can griddle, roast, and smoke food - and even make pizza

The Big Green Egg: Like a barbie, but better

It can griddle, roast, and smoke food - and even make pizza...
The 10 Best chopping boards

The 10 Best chopping boards

Whether you want to dice veg, chop meat, or just slice up a salad, there’s a surface here to suit every culinary need.