A combination of curved and diagonal beams gives an asymmetric profile to this home in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, by Tokyo studio International Royal Architecture (+ slideshow). More
Fashion designer Rick Owens' footwear line for sports brand Adidas features boots that combine blade-like soles with calf-high leather uppers (+ slideshow). More
News: Google has devised a way for smartphone users to make their own virtual reality headset using household items. More
Opinion: it's easy to criticise the Design Museum for awarding Zaha Hadid's Heydar Aliyev Centre the Design of the Year prize, but there are plenty of other celebrated projects that should be attracting the same scrutiny, says Owen Hatherley. More
Movie: next up in our series of exclusive video interviews with Alberto Alessi, the Alessi president says that Aldo Rossi's La Conica espresso maker defies the key principle of 20th century design that form should follow function. More
London practice Adam Richards Architects has refurbished a museum in the English village of Ditchling, adding pitched-roof structures to connect the buildings with a converted cart lodge containing a new entrance (+ slideshow). More
Patterns of woven natural fibres emerge from this milky resin furniture by Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Wiktoria Szawiel (+ movie). More
Herzog & de Meuron has completed its seventh project for Swiss herbal sweet manufacturer Ricola – a herb processing plant with rammed earth walls in the countryside surrounding Laufen. More
A folded fabric canopy helps to shade the interior of this glazed extension to a nursery in Paris by local firm h2o Architectes (+ slideshow). More
Kingston University graduate Jake Rich has redesigned the common household microwave – adding wheels, a domed removable lid and a light that changes intensity with the power (+ slideshow). More
