The Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein is hosting a major retrospective exhibition of work by late Finnish Modernist architect and designer Alvar Aalto, a year after Vitra's acquisition of Aalto's furniture company Artek (+ slideshow). More about Vitra Design Museum hosts Alvar Aalto retrospective
This lamp by Swiss design studio Big-Game couples a hammered metal shade with a modern aluminium stand. More about Big-Game's Hammer Lamp combines traditional and contemporary metalwork
Beijing architecture firm Remix Studio has literally outlined its plans for the renovation of an ancient hutong residence by marking proposed structures with illuminated white strings (+ slideshow). More about Remix Studio outlines hutong house renovation plans with UV installation
Described as an update of the "classic string shelf", this customisable shelving system by Berlin design firm Studio Hausen comprises a series of steel and ash wood modules. More about The Link Shelf offers an update on a classic modular shelving system
There are few designers who haven't relied on a caffeine fix to get them through a long night before a major deadline. So in honour of the under-celebrated International Coffee Day we've collected together 11 of the best coffee-related designs from the pages of Dezeen. More about 11 of the best designs for coffee-lovers
London Design Festival 2014: this angular steel chair by Georgian designer Sandro Lominashvili has a seat with four corners, but only three are attached to the frame. More about Chair 3/4 by Sandro Lominashvili looks like an optical illusion
London design studio PostlerFerguson has collaborated with Viennese jewellers A.E. Köchert to make a set of bespoke microphone accessories for DJ Ken Hayakawa, being presented for Vienna Design Week. More about PostlerFerguson partners with Viennese jewellers to design bespoke microphone accessories
American brand Proper Coffee has developed a machine that can take up to four hours to brew one pot of coffee – a process expected to improve the richness and reduce acidity. More about Proper Coffee's Imperial Drip machine brews drinks slowly to improve flavour
Bratislava-based MEJD Studio has developed two new lights that look like objects sliced in half – the first features a pendant lamp and bowl that together resemble a water jug, while the second is a table lamp comprising two halves of a brass globe (+ slideshow). More about MEJD Studio slices traditional objects in half to create contemporary lighting
Fashion and technology: a Dutch team is presenting a garment that purifies the polluted air surrounding the wearer, at this week's Beijing Design Week. More about BB.Suit 0.2 is an outfit that cleans polluted air
Each piece in this "unnecessary" cutlery set by Israeli designer Lee Ben David has been shaped for use with just one specific type of food. More about Very Specific cutlery by Lee Ben David designed for specific foods
London Design Festival 2014: Swedish designer Jomi Evers Solheim has created a collection of porcelain vases, using moulds formed around balloons that were filled with water. More about Jomi Evers Solheim creates ceramics using water-filled balloons
Tratti by Inga Sempé's eponymous Parisian design studio is a collection of tiles in eight patterns that can be used individually, or in any combination to create endless compositions (+ slideshow). More about Inga Sempé launches mix-and-match tile collection for Mutina
Design studio Artefact Group has created a conceptual smart locket that wirelessly interacts with social networks to display a digital memento of friends or family. More about Purple locket is a digital version of the traditional heirloom
This jewellery collection by Peruvian architect Diego Delgado-Elias comprises small but fully functional brushed-silver set squares, protractors, spirit levels and scale rulers, all set onto rings. More about Architects' Jewellery collection is made up of miniature draughting tools
Fashion and technology: the digital revolution presents the "biggest challenge for fashion brands" according to digital fashion pioneer Francis Bitonti who asks: "How will an industry where value is communicated by exclusivity and craft cope with this new space?" (+ interview) More about "Technology is going to turn the entire fashion industry inside out"
Dutch designer Teresa van Dongen has filled a glass tube with octopus bacteria to create a zero-electricity lamp that glows blue when disturbed (+ movie). More about Bioluminescent lamp by Teresa van Dongen glows blue with octopus bacteria
Fashion and technology: New York fashion designer Francis Bitonti has used a mathematical model to "grow" pairs of shoes with gradients of colour on a 3D printer. More about Francis Bitonti creates pixellated 3D-printed shoes using cellular automation
London Design Festival 2014: Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto presented his Spring/Summer 2014 collection on chunky wooden garment rails by product designer Torsten Neeland during the London Design Festival (+ slideshow). More about Torsten Neeland creates wooden framework for new Yohji Yamamoto collection
Austrian designer Robert Stadler has concealed the furniture of a 19th-century house beneath fabrics that camouflage with the historic interior, but also feature distortions reminiscent of digital glitches (+ slideshow). More about Robert Stadler drapes furniture in patterned "invisibility cloaks" for MAK museum installation