Opinion: in his latest column, Dan Hill examines what services like the Uber taxi app mean for cities and asks whether the designers of public services can learn something from them. More about "Can public enterprises adopt the popular dynamics of private enterprises?"
There aren't many architects whose names begin with Q, so our seventeenth A-Zdvent calendar entry is Belgian artist Arne Quinze, who built this 20 metre-high installation in Germany in 2009. Other architectural structures by Quinze include The Sequence, a canopy of tree-like forms installed outside the Flemish Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.
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Portuguese architect José Carlos Cruz claims to have built the world's first cork-clad hotel, located amongst the olive and cork trees of Portugal's Alentejo region (+ slideshow). More about José Carlos Cruz completes "world's first cork-clad hotel"
The interior of Dutch fashion house Viktor & Rolf's first flagship store in Paris has been covered in grey felt by French studio Architecture & Associés. More about Viktor & Rolf's first flagship boutique is covered with grey felt
News: London architecture office FAT has announced that it will shut down its studio next summer, after "exploring the potential of the projects as much as possible". More about FAT architects announce studio closure
Japanese architect Kazuhiko Kishimoto designed the ground floor of this house in Yokohama with barely any walls so it can function as a gallery and seating area for members of the local community (+ slideshow). More about House by Kazuhiko Kishimoto has a public seating deck and gallery underneath
The Brazil headquarters for retail conglomerate Walmart's online division by Estudio Guto Requena has colour-coded levels and a terrace with a miniature golf course (+ slideshow). More about Walmart office in Brazil has a crazy golf course on the roof
Design Miami 2013: architects OMA and Foster + Partners will work alongside Hollywood power-couple Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin to create a new ocean-side cultural quarter at Miami Beach in Florida, it was unveiled during Design Miami earlier this month (+ slideshow). More about OMA and Foster to work alongside Hollywood duo on Miami Beach
Dutch architecture studio Inbo has completed a transparent house in the Netherlands and has hidden it behind a grove of trees to protect the privacy of its residents (+ slideshow). More about Dutch studio Inbo hides a transparent house behind a grove of trees
These plates and dishes made of cellulose by Swedish design studio Tomorrow Machine have a special self-cleaning coating that means they never need washing up. More about Cellulose tableware that never needs washing up
P is for Peter Zumthor in today's A-Zdvent calendar window. The Swiss architect designed a Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London in 2011, and was also responsible for the Brother Klaus Field Chapel in Germany (pictured) and a memorial to commemorate suspected witches in Norway.
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Visitors to this lakeside concrete tower in the Netherlands can scale its walls, jog up to an observation deck on its roof, or sail a zip wire across the water from a balcony (+ slideshow). More about Ateliereen Architecten's concrete observation tower features a climbing wall and zip line
This range of flat-packed furniture by Benjamin Vermeulen does away with little bags of screws, fastenings or Allen keys and simply snaps together with super-strong magnets (+ movie). More about Flat-pack furniture assembled with magnets by Benjamin Vermeulen
Dezeen Music Project: London artist Di Mainstone is developing an electronic instrument that enables performers to make music from the subtle vibrations of suspension bridge cables (+ movie). More about Di Mainstone's Human Harp creates music from suspension bridges
Following our exclusive interview with architect Jacques Herzog of Herzog & de Meuron last week on the studio's recently completed Pérez Art Museum Miami, our new Pinterest board focuses on the Swiss firm. See our new Herzog & de Meuron Pinterest board »
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Montreal designer Loïc Bard has created a wooden stool to add to his collection of furniture with gaping mouths that store magazines inside the top. More about Wooden stool with a gaping mouth stores a magazine within its seat
Following our exclusive interview with Rem Koolhaas last month, Dutch office OMA is the fifteenth entry to our A-Zdvent calendar of architects. Koolhaas' firm recently completed De Rotterdam, a 44-storey group of interconnected glass towers in the architect's home city, and has also built two skyscrapers in China - the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (pictured) and the CCTV Headquarters building in Beijing.
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Georgia is using architecture to rebrand itself and "show that there's a change going on" according to architect Jürgen Mayer H, who has built a range of striking border checkpoints, airports and service stations in the country (+ slideshow). More about Georgia is investing in architecture "like post-war Germany" says Jürgen Mayer H
The life and work of Modernist architect Charlotte Perriand is referenced in this womenswear collection by French fashion house Louis Vuitton. More about Louis Vuitton fashion collection influenced by Modernist architect Charlotte Perriand
British architect Alex Graef has combined two art deco apartments in Vienna to create a home with clean white walls, restored oak floors and a row of artificial skylights (+ slideshow). More about Viennese apartment with pretend skylights by Alex Graef