Dezeen Magazine

This week British designer Terence Conran passed away

This week on Dezeen, Habitat and Design Museum founder Terence Conran passed away and London Design Festival took place.

Conran died at the age of 88 at his home in London. Tributes to the designer were lead by former Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic who said: "No one has done more to create modern Britain than Terence Conran."

Thomas Heatherwick was among the numerous designers to have paid their respects to Conran. "I feel so privileged to have had Sir Terence Conran as a mentor and lifelong friend and will miss him greatly," he said. 

Hothouse by Studio Weave at London Design Festival
Studio Weave fills Hothouse with tropical plants to highlight London's rising temperature

London Design Festival (LDF) began this week with a reduced schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic. As part of the event, Studio Weave created an arched greenhouse filled with tropical plants that could soon grow outdoors in the UK due to climate change.

During LDF Dezeen teamed up with Planted, a new design show dedicated to reconnecting cities with nature, to present a virtual showcase of sustainable design brands and products.

Sabine Marcelis designs work-from-home cubicle with bright yellow interior

LDF also saw Sabine Marcelis design a work-from-home cubicle that hides its contents inside a pale wooden shell when they are not in use as part of the Design Museum's Connected project.

London studio Boano Prišmontas also focused on the growing number of people working from home by creating a prefabricated timber home office that can be built in a garden within a day.

Ace Hotel London Shoreditch to close permanently
Ace Hotel London Shoreditch to close permanently as building owners plan new venture

Also in London, this week saw the news that the Ace Hotel in Shoreditch will close permanently.

The Ace Hotel London Shoreditch, which was closed its doors temporarily in March, will not reopen under the Ace name as the building's owners are planning to open a hotel under a different name.

Circular public toilet by Tadao Ando
Tadao Ando creates circular public toilet surrounded by cherry trees in Tokyo

In architecture news, the Tokyo Toilet continued with Tadao Ando being the latest high-profile architect to design a public toilet in the city.

Japanese architect Takenosuke Sakakura also unveiled his contribution to the project, a toilet block that lights up at night like a lantern.

Louis Vuitton unveils face shield
Louis Vuitton unveils face shield that doubles as a cap

As the global pandemic continues, French fashion house Louis Vuitton has become the latest brand to create a facemask.

Named the LV Sheild and complete with the signature LV monogram print, the face shield can be flipped up and used as a sun visor.

Onexn Architects squeezes Shenzhen micro cafe into gap narrower than a parking space

Popular projects on Dezeen this week include a cafe squeezed into a space less than 2.6 metres wide in Shenzhen, a hotel built in an 18th-century English mansion and a children's hospital in Thailand with slides and a pool

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.