Venice Architecture Biennale 2014: exhibition commissioner Kayoko Ota says Japan's pavilion celebrates the architects that "challenged the status quo" in the 1970s, in this movie filmed by Dezeen in Venice. More about Japan's biennale pavilion challenges architects to "face the real world"
Writer Geoff Manaugh and designer John Becker have imagined a scenario in which genetically modified bees could be trained to print detailed concrete structures rather than produce honey (+ interview). More about Bees could 3D-print "concrete honey" to form architectural structures
Bamboo architects: groundbreaking bamboo architect Simón Vélez, who describes the material as "vegetable steel", has built a trio of experimental structures at Domaine de Boisbuchet in France (+ slideshow + interview). More about The architecture of Simón Vélez pioneers "new ways of using giant bamboo"
Dezeen and MINI Frontiers: artist Lucy McRae explains how she plans to vacuum-pack visitors at the Dezeen and MINI Frontiers exhibition in September to prepare their body for long-haul space travel. More about Lucy McRae to vacuum-pack exhibition visitors to "prep the body to go to space"
Bamboo architects: a new movement led by architects Kengo Kuma, Shigeru Ban and Vo Trong Nghia is putting bamboo construction back in the spotlight, according to Chris Precht of Austro-Chinese practice Penda (+ slideshow + interview). More about Leading architects are "turning the focus back on bamboo"
Bamboo architects: architects in China are turning to bamboo as a cheap and sustainable building material, according to Dylan Baker-Rice, principal at Hong Kong studio Affect-T (+ interview). More about Bamboo "becoming increasingly popular" in Chinese architecture
Dezeen Book of Interviews: our new book featuring conversations with 45 of the most talented and inspiring people from the global design scene.
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Bamboo architects: bamboo is the "green steel of the 21st century," according to Vietnamese architect Vo Trong Nghia, one of the leading exponents of bamboo architecture (+ interview + slideshow). More about Bamboo "will replace other materials" in architecture says Vo Trong Nghia
News: one of the world's biggest architecture practices has split in two so it can focus on bringing Asian-style high-density urban design to Seattle, New York, LA and London (+ interview). More about Aedas dumps UK business to focus on "high-density urban high-rise"
News: the world "needs a food revolution" according to designer Marije Vogelzang, who is to head up a new food department at Design Academy Eindhoven (+ interview). More about Food is "the most important material in the world" says Marije Vogelzang
Dezeen Watch Store: designer Sam Hecht of Industrial Facility has spoken to the Dezeen Watch Store blog about Bottle, a new watch based on the "graphic folly" of a beer bottle base. More about Bottle watch is based on "graphic folly that intrigued me" says Sam Hecht
Architect Zaha Hadid has described her Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, Azerbaijan as an "incredible achievement" while project architect Saffet Kaya Bekiroglu said the project expressed the "soft, romantic side" of Azeri culture (+ interview + movie). More about Heydar Aliyev Center was "an incredibly ambitious project" says Zaha Hadid
News: London studio ScanLAB has worked with fashion brand Vivienne Westwood to produce the first fashion shoot created with 3D laser scanners instead of cameras (+ movie + interview). More about ScanLAB and Vivienne Westwood collaborate on first laser-scanned photoshoot
Facebook, Instagram and Flickr are posing a serious challenge to professional photographers and changing the way architects work, says architectural photographer Cristobal Palma (+ interview + movie). More about "Everyone is becoming an expert in image-making" says photographer Cristobal Palma
Interview: millionaire businesswoman Zita Cobb has used cutting-edge architecture and design to revitalise the economy of remote Fogo Island in Newfoundland, the place of her birth. She told Dezeen how she got international designers to work with local craftspeople "to preserve some of the things we were afraid of losing" (+ slideshow). More about Fogo Island projects were "an opportunity to use architecture to preserve tradition"
News: most collaborations between fashion houses and industrial designers fail because of the "terrible snobbery" between the two industries, according to Marc Newson (+ interview). More about Architects and designers "don't have a clue about fashion" says Marc Newson
Venice Architecture Biennale 2014: the late English architect Cedric Price is "one of the most important figures in all disciplines in the 20th century" and comparable to Marcel Duchamp in terms of his influence, according to curator Hans Ulrich Obrist (+ interview + slideshow). More about Cedric Price is "like Marcel Duchamp" says Hans Ulrich Obrist
Venice Architecture Biennale 2o14: the curators of the Belgian Pavilion visited 260 homes around the country, using their findings to produce a minimal recreation of common domestic architecture within their Venice biennale exhibition (+ slideshow + interview). More about Belgian Pavilion at Venice biennale exhibits components of modern domestic interiors
Interview: with the Design Miami/Basel fair opening next week, new executive director Rodman Primack discusses the rise and fall of the collectible design market, from the "speculative craziness" of the noughties to the return to "traditionally luxurious" materials. More about The crash was "very healthy" for collectible design, says Design Miami's Rodman Primack
News: Italian design brands lack the innovation and marketing flair of their northern European rivals, according to the head of new Milan-based furniture brand Discipline. More about "There's not much innovation" in Italian furniture design says Discipline's Renato Preti