This university library in Paris by French practice Beckmann-N’Thépé Architectes has a knobbly concrete facade that looks like blocks of earth. More about Marne-la-Vallée Central University Library by Beckmann-N'Thépé Architectes
World Architecture Festival 2012: Pan Yi Cheng of Singapore studio P.A.C won the award in the retail category at the World Architecture Festival with his design for a shop for furniture brand Herman Miller. In this movie we filmed, the architect explains how a recent emergence of young practices is helping Singapore become a "more vibrant" place that is starting to find its own identity. More about "We're trying to find a Singaporean context" - Pan Yi Cheng on Herman Miller at XTRA
News: architect David Adjaye has topped a list of Britain's most influential black people, ahead of Olympic athlete Mo Farah, the shadow business secretary and the Archbishop of York. More about Architect David Adjaye tops list of UK's most influential black people
MAYU Architects and de Architekten Cie designed eleven huge funnels to protect visitors from extreme weather conditions in the outdoor spaces of this cultural centre in Taiwan (+ slideshow). More about Dadong Art Centre by MAYU Architects and de Architekten Cie
French designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have designed all the furniture for the remodelled Faculty of Humanities at Københavns Universitet in Copenhagen, which is due to reopen in January. More about Bouroullec Collection by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Hay
News: WXY Architecture are the third and final studio with plans for the future of New York's Grand Central Terminal and have suggested a 380-metre skyscraper and a network of elevated cycling paths (+ slideshow). More about Third Grand Central Terminal proposal includes 380-metre skyscraper
News: a tool that lets businesses measure and predict the financial outcomes of investing in design is being developed by a research team in Finland, whose project leader says designers should talk numbers rather than aesthetics to appeal to prospective clients. More about Designers should persuade clients with numbers not aesthetics, says new report
SOM's proposal for a ring-shaped observation deck hovering over New York's Grand Central Terminal (above) leads this week's issue of Dezeen Mail, which also contains all the latest news, jobs, competitions and reader comments from Dezeen.
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Interieur 2012: Belgian designer Carl de Smet of Noumenon has developed high-tech foam furniture that can be squashed to 5% of its original size for easy transportation and then expanded "like popcorn" by heating it up (+ movie + interview). More about Memories of the Future by Carl de Smet
Competition: Dezeen is giving readers the opportunity to win one of ten Pin World or Pin City wall maps by designers Emanuele Pizzolorusso and Alessandro Maffioletti for Palomar. More about Competition: ten Pin World and Pin City maps to give away
Hackney studio Levitt Bernstein has won a housing design competition with a proposal to turn disused parking garages into tiny pop-up homes. More about Pop-up housing in garages by Levitt Bernstein
World Architecture Festival 2012: architects Kristen Whittle and Ron Billard explain how meerkats, fish and open-plan offices for consultants helped provide better care for sick children at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, the winner in the health category at the World Architecture Festival. More about "We convinced doctors to move to an open-plan wing" - Kristen Whittle and Ron Billard
Design Miami: artist and architect Vito Acconci is to receive the Designer of the Year award at Design Miami in December and has designed a playground (above) to be installed in the Miami Design District. See our recent interview with Acconci. More about Vito Acconci named Design Miami Designer of the Year
Product news: Hackney designer Paul Cocksedge has launched an invisible bookend to find out if people will buy an object for its function rather than its appearance. More about Invisible Bookend by Paul Cocksedge
News: Norwegian studio Snøhetta has won a competition to design a waterside opera house in Busan, South Korea. More about Snøhetta wins competition to design Busan Opera House
News: work is about to start on a high-density, car-free "satellite city" for 80,000 people that will be built from scratch in a rural location close to Chengdu and later replicated in other parts of China. More about Great City by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
News: French practice bureau faceB has won a competition to design a bridge across the Seine in Paris with plans for a wobbling crossing of stretched steel cables. More about Quivering wire crossing by bureau faceB wins Paris bridge competition
In this movie we filmed for the Stepney Green Design Collection, Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs introduces East London creatives Nicolas Roope, Lee Broom, Nina Tolstrup and Phil Cuttance, who explain why east London has become such a hub for designers and the creative industries. More about Stepney Green Design Collection: what is special about East London?
Interieur 2012: beams of light appear to bend into curved gothic arches above this illusory passageway by London design studio Troika at the Interieur design biennale in Kortrijk, Belgium, this week. More about Arcades by Troika
Danish architecture firm BIG has scattered miscellaneous street furniture from 60 different nations across a brightly coloured carpet of grass and rubber at this park in Copenhagen (+ slideshow). More about Superkilen by BIG, Topotek1 and Superflex