This week's Dezeen Mail includes grocery-delivering robots, the Ole Scheeren-designed World Building of the Year and a Chilean housing block featuring a textured facade of zigzagging bricks (pictured).
More about Dezeen Mail issue 279 features a selection of this week's best stories and discussions
Fashion brand COS has opened its first Canadian store, concealing a minimal-looking interior behind a blackened cedar facade (+ slideshow). More about Blackened cedar planks cover the facade of COS Toronto store
The trend for open-plan living may be over say architects, as families now favour "broken-plan" homes that offer more privacy for using mobile devices. More about Smartphones and tablets spell the end for open-plan living, say UK architects
Designer Greg Haji Joannides used historic photographs as a guide when creating a new contemporary interior for this earthquake-damaged house on the Greek island of Nisyros (+ slideshow). More about Greg Haji Joannides restores interior of ruined 17th-century Greek island house
Japanese studio Nendo has designed a minimal emergency kit for those affected by earthquakes, containing a whistle, radio, raincoat, lantern, water container and multipurpose case in a slender tube (+ slideshow). More about Nendo's MINIM+AID kit contains emergency supplies for earthquake victims
Robots are set to completely transform the construction industry, according to BIG partner Kai-Uwe Bergmann and Austrian architect Wolf D Prix.
From affordable robotic arms to self-driving grocery delivery pods and a bridge that will be 3D-printed by robots, 2015 has seen big jumps in the use of programmable machines in design. See all of our stories about robots »
More about Today we like: robots
Overlapping cylinders make up this crematorium in northern France, designed by a collective of Parisian architects with walls of ribbed concrete and golden-framed glass (+ slideshow). More about Curvaceous concrete crematorium by Plan 01 offers "dignified and serene setting" for mourners
A biometric bike lock that opens using the owner's thumbprint has been launched on Kickstarter by a pair of Canadian engineers. More about Keyless Grasp bicycle lock uses fingerprint data to unlock
New York firm Alloy has completed a row of skinny houses in Dumbo, with a concrete, wood and steel facade that is meant to reference the Brooklyn neighbourhood's industrial character (+ slideshow). More about Alloy completes skinny townhouses in Brooklyn's most expensive neighbourhood
Italian design studio Pininfarina has launched a tractor that takes its cues from sport cars to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Czech agricultural machinery manufacturer Zetor. More about Pininfarina unveils Ferrari-like tractor design for Zetor
Opinion: controversial computer game Prison Architect offers a grim lesson for real-world architects, whose good intentions often count for nothing, says Will Wiles. More about "Prison Architect is a graveyard for the utopian spirit where noble ambitions go to die"
Danish architecture firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen has teamed up with American artist James Turrell to design a domed extension to one of Denmark's most-visited museums (+ slideshow). More about James Turrell and Schmidt Hammer Lassen unveil extension for ARoS art museum
A proposal by architects SelgasCano to turn a south London car park into 800 creative workspaces has been rejected by the local council. More about Plans for 800 new London art and design studios rejected
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has partnered with a London jewellery gallery to create "wearable sculptures" designed to look like reinforcing bars used in construction (+ slideshow). More about Ai Weiwei's first jewellery collection is cut from a rod of gold rebar
The industrial harbour of Swedish city Gothenburg is the setting for this sauna by Raumlabor, which features a rusty steel exterior and a warm timber-lined interior (+ slideshow). More about Raumlabor builds industrial-looking sauna above the waters of Gothenburg port
London-based designer Peter Marigold is launching a remouldable bioplastic card that can be used to make new tools and modify or repair broken objects (+ movie). More about Peter Marigold's pocket-sized FORMcard melts into mouldable plastic glue
Roman artefacts will be housed in this museum and archaeology centre by Foster + Partners, which is now under construction in France (+ slideshow). More about Foster + Partners' Roman history museum begins construction in south of France
New Yorkers are speaking out against a rash of super-tall skinny skyscrapers by architects including SHoP and Robert AM Stern, which they say will overshadow Central Park. More about Wave of super-tall towers in Manhattan sparks protests over shadows
Today is Diwali, the festival of lights celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists. Marked by displays of brightly-coloured lights and fireworks, the festival celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and good over evil.
To mark the occasion, we're revisiting some of the best lighting design from our archives, including an immersive installation that mimics the movements of fireflies and a spinning disk that created glowing light inside a dark gallery (pictured). See all our lighting design stories »
More about Today we like: lights
Dutch Design Week 2015: British designer Allison Crank has created a virtual reality shopping centre that allows users to commission bespoke objects within a world of floating neon signs and stray zoo animals (+ movie). More about Virtual reality mall lets consumers shop alongside digital giraffes and zebras