A Tokyo townhouse fronted by a stack of gardens (above) and a conceptual extension to the Guggenheim Museum in New York lead Dezeen Mail issue 137, which also features the latest news, jobs, competitions and reader comments from Dezeen.
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Opinion: in this week's column, Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs wonders why London's Design Museum is so reluctant to talk about money, arguing that design classics "aren't theoretical exercises but sophisticated appeals to the wallet." More about "Why wouldn't a contemporary museum use eBay?"
News: five buildings have been shortlisted for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, the Mies van der Rohe Award 2013, including a nursing home in Portugal (above) and the Harpa Concert and Conference Centre in Iceland. More about Mies van der Rohe Award 2013 shortlist announced
Competition: it's coming up to Valentine's day so we're giving readers the chance to win one of ten packs of Little Romance paperclips by London designer Lee Washington. More about Competition: ten packs of Little Romance paperclips to be won
This stark concrete house in Spain by Alcolea+Tárrago Arquitectos features richly stained timber shutters that fold back to reveal large glass doors (+ slideshow). More about Casa MP in Sesma by Alcolea+Tárrago Arquitectos
News: an exhibition of the Design Museum's permanent collection has opened at the museum in London. More about Design Museum's permanent collection goes on show
Product news: lights that hang from criss-crossing wires and a lamp shaped like a grain silo are among the new designs from Swedish lighting brand Zero. More about Lighting collection by Zero
Korean architects AND imagined this hotel on Geoje Island as a hand of outstretched fingers, with rooms and balconies pointing out in different directions (+ slideshow). More about Aggrenad hotel by AND
Troika founding partner Eva Rucki explains the studio's large-scale immersive light installations in this movie filmed by Dezeen at our Designed in Hackney Day. More about "We use software programming controls as well as physical design" - Troika
News: American brand Emeco has reached a settlement in its legal dispute with Restoration Hardware after claiming the fellow US company's Naval Chair (below) is a rip-off of its classic Navy Chair (above). More about Emeco settles dispute over Navy Chair copy
Brazilian firm Studio Arthur Casas has clothed a family house in São Paulo in a shimmering layer of perforated golden metal. More about Casa K in São Paulo by Studio Arthur Casas
News: a major retrospective of the work of celebrated architect Le Corbusier is to open at the Museum of Modern Art in New York this June. More about MoMA announces major Le Corbusier retrospective
Maison&Objet 2013: French designer Benjamin Graindorge has created a series of vases with tops that loop over the flowers to frame them. More about Heirloom by Benjamin Graindorge for Moustache
London firm Alison Brooks Architects used dark-stained timber and sloping rooftops to reinterpret the rural architecture of Essex for this suburban housing development (+ slideshow). More about South Chase housing by Alison Brooks Architects
Maison&Objet 2013: Swedish designer Mattias Ståhlbom of TAF has created an uplighter for Danish brand Muuto that can be adjusted by rotating the shade. More about Up by TAF for Muuto
A perforated plastic skin casts spotty shadow patterns onto the facade of this office building in Albacete, Spain, by Cor & Asociados (+ slideshow). More about Confederation of Employers of Albacete headquarters by Cor & Asociados
Dutch graphic designer Jacques Le Bailly has designed a typeface of impossible shapes inspired by the optical trickery of artist M.C. Escher (+ slideshow). More about Macula font by Jacques Le Bailly
Product news: Danish design studio KiBiSi used a compound of stone and resin to produce these candle holders for Danish design brand Menu (+ slideshow). More about Weight Here by KiBiSi for Menu
The world's largest underwater hotel is being planned for Dubai, with rooms both on the seabed and on stilts above the surface (+ slideshow). More about Water Discus underwater hotel by Deep Ocean Technology
A row of colourful louvres wraps around classrooms and playgrounds at this concrete kindergarten near Pamplona in Spain (+ slideshow). More about Nursery School in Berriozar by Javier Larraz, Iñigo Beguiristain and Iñaki Bergera