Architecture
Oscar Niemeyer 1907-2012
News: Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer has died in Rio de Janeiro aged 104. More about Oscar Niemeyer 1907-2012
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Design
UK designers fight plans to "smash" creative education
News: over 150 UK designers, brands and organisations have joined a campaign to get the government to rethink plans to remove design and other creative subjects from the school curriculum. More about UK designers fight plans to "smash" creative education
Architecture
"Scum villages" planned for Amsterdam
News: Amsterdam's problem families are to be moved to isolated caravans or shipping containers in the outskirts of the city under new plans announced by mayor Eberhard van der Laan. More about "Scum villages" planned for Amsterdam
Architecture
"For us, Asia is in the centre" - Aric Chen
News: Aric Chen, curator of design and architecture for the new M+ museum for visual culture in Hong Kong, says the museum will take an unprecedented stance in "placing Asia at the centre" of design history, rather than on the periphery as western curators have done (+ audio + transcript). More about "For us, Asia is in the centre" - Aric Chen
Architecture
House in middle of Chinese motorway demolished
News: a five-storey house that had stood for over a year at the centre of a Chinese motorway has finally been demolished. More about House in middle of Chinese motorway demolished
News
Registration opens to exhibit at Ventura Lambrate 2013
News: Dutch company Organisation in Design has issued a call for entries to designers and brands to show at Ventura Lambrate 2013 during Salone de Mobile in Milan next April. More about Registration opens to exhibit at Ventura Lambrate 2013
Architecture
Winning masterplan will turn central Shenzhen into "Garden City of Tomorrow"
News: international firm SWA Group has been selected to redesign Futian District in Shenzhen, China - an area that's larger than Manhattan (+ slideshow). More about Winning masterplan will turn central Shenzhen into "Garden City of Tomorrow"
Design
V&A museum opens new furniture gallery
News: this Saturday the V&A museum opens its new permanent gallery for furniture, displaying objects from the middle ages to the present day by designers including Thomas Chippendale, Charles and Ray Eames and Ron Arad. More about V&A museum opens new furniture gallery
Architecture
"Built environment more beautiful than nature" – UK planning minister
News: buildings can be "more beautiful than nature" according to the UK's planning minister, who is calling for an area of countryside twice the size of Greater London to be built on in order to solve the housing crisis. More about "Built environment more beautiful than nature" – UK planning minister
Design
"Social responsibility has been forgotten" - author of book on Ulm School of Design
News: social responsibility has fallen down the agenda of today's designers and design schools, according to the author of a new history of Ulm School of Design, the German institution that reshaped design education in the 1950s and 1960s. More about "Social responsibility has been forgotten" - author of book on Ulm School of Design
News
Removal of design from school curriculum is "insanity" - Neville Brody
News: plans to remove creative subjects from the UK curriculum are “short-sighted insanity”, according to incoming D&AD president Neville Brody (+ interview). More about Removal of design from school curriculum is "insanity" - Neville Brody
Design
Yves Behar's "denigrating" SodaStream ad banned in UK
News: industrial designer Yves Behar believes his revamped SodaStream can save 2000 bottles a year - but a TV advert promoting its green credentials has been banned in the UK for alleged "denigration" of rival products (+ watch the ad). More about Yves Behar's "denigrating" SodaStream ad banned in UK
News
Maurizio Ribotti acquitted of drug trafficking
Italian prosecutors have dropped charges against the former CEO of Milan's Zona Tortona design district, two years after he was arrested at his office on suspicion of receiving a parcel containing cocaine. More about Maurizio Ribotti acquitted of drug trafficking
News
Dezeen highly commended for digital service of the year at IBP Journalism Awards
News: Dezeen has been highly commended in the digital service of the year award at the International Building Press National Journalism Awards. More about Dezeen highly commended for digital service of the year at IBP Journalism Awards
Architecture
World's tallest building will be constructed in 90 days
News: construction is set to begin next month on the world's tallest building in Changsha, China, which will be completed in just 90 days. More about World's tallest building will be constructed in 90 days
Design
Makerbot photo booth prints 3D models of faces
News: 3D printer manufacturer Makerbot has opened a photo booth in its New York City store offering customers the chance to print out a model of their own face. More about Makerbot photo booth prints 3D models of faces
Design
Royal College of Art risks becoming a "Chinese finishing school"
News: the Royal College of Art will end up as a "Chinese finishing school" unless the UK government does more to encourage young people to study art and design, according to writer and broadcaster Andrew Marr. More about Royal College of Art risks becoming a "Chinese finishing school"
Design
"The Olympic Games is phenomenally religious" - Thomas Heatherwick
News: the lighting of the London 2012 Olympic Cauldron was conceived as a religious ceremony, designer Thomas Heatherwick has explained. More about "The Olympic Games is phenomenally religious" - Thomas Heatherwick
News
UK overtakes US as nation with strongest cultural influence
News: the UK has become the most powerful nation in the world in terms of cultural influence following the success of the London 2012 Olympics, according to Monocle magazine's annual Soft Power Survey. More about UK overtakes US as nation with strongest cultural influence
Design
IKEA says sorry for using East German forced labour
News: Swedish furniture retailer IKEA has apologised for selling products manufactured by East German political prisoners in the 1970s and 1980s. More about IKEA says sorry for using East German forced labour