Fed up with the beauty ideals portrayed in the media, designers are challenging body image with products, clothes and accessories that distort the figure and face, highlight preconceptions and poke fun at unrealistic trends. Here are 10 of the best we've seen. More about 10 designs that challenge ideas about body image and idealised beauty
Apollo Architects & Associates has completed a top-heavy building in Japan's Aichi Prefecture containing both an art gallery and a family residence (+ slideshow). More about Gaze house in Japan also contains a gallery for displaying the client's art collection
Comments update: unrealistic body-image expectations are the hot topic this week, after Soo Kyung Bae created a collection of jewellery designed to highlight the area between a woman's thighs. More about "Let's stop attacking thin people as the enemy"
Layers of compacted earth form walls for this house by architecture studio Blaanc, which is set in the middle of a vineyard in Portugal's Montijo municipality (+ slideshow). More about Blaanc uses rammed earth to build house in a Portuguese vineyard
Adult sex toys are in the midst of a design revolution, says Rita Catinella Orrell, who has written a book on the subject called Objects of Desire. More about Erotic toys are "an incredible opportunity for new designers"
US design studio Brook&Lyn has used pastel-coloured panels and a huge circular mirror to create the first physical showroom for Everlane, at the online clothing retailer's San Francisco headquarters (+ slideshow). More about Brook&Lyn creates minimal fashion showroom at Everlane offices
London design studio Bompas & Parr has used bioluminescent algae to create a collection of orb-shaped necklace pendants that glow when shaken. More about Bompas & Parr uses algae to create glowing Mermaid's Lunchbox jewellery
A slatted wooden screen wraps around the extended living space of this 1960s bungalow in Sydney, forming a protective surface that shields the interior from direct sunlight and views from the street (+ slideshow). More about Bijl Architecture adds slatted sun-shading screen to a refurbished Sydney bungalow
US designers Yitan Sun and Jianshi Wu have proposed transforming Manhattan's Central Park into a sunken landscape encircled by a below-grade megastructure with office, housing, retail and cultural space. More about Sunken "sidescraper" bordering New York's Central Park wins skyscraper competition
American consumers who learned about design through Ikea are starting to appreciate other brands and are "very ready and ripe" for online retailers like Ahalife, according to Shauna Mei, founder of the e-commerce site that has just hired former Net-A-Porter director Christopher Colfer to drive the brand's global expansion (+ exclusive interview). More about "Americans are not savvy when it comes to design brands" says Ahalife founder Shauna Mei
London studio APA Architects has created a set of collaborative offices for credit card company Barclaycard at its headquarters in Northampton, England, which are designed for a specific way of working (+ slideshow). More about APA designs "raw and robust" collaborative office space for Barclaycard
Business news: Ahalife, the design marketplace that acquired e-commerce site Bezar earlier this year, has appointed online fashion retail expert Christopher Colfer to its board to help it become the first global design store on the web. More about Ahalife appoints former Net-A-Porter head to help it become "Neiman's for design"
Concrete boxes are arranged on either side of a long glazed corridor to form this concrete house by Belgian studio Sculp IT, which is made up of both indoor and outdoor spaces (+ slideshow). More about Sculp IT organises concrete boxes around glass corridor to create Belgian woodland home
Milan 2016: Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto explains why he has chosen light rather than physical objects to create his Milan design week installation for fashion brand COS (+ movie). More about Sou Fujimoto will use "only light" to create COS Milan installation
The black and white geometric forms hanging from the ceiling of this boutique in Kuwait are intended to entice costumers into the store (+ slideshow). More about Massive Order adds monochrome "stalactites" to Kuwait boutique interior
German designer Nils Holger Moormann has transformed a Volkswagen T6 bus into a mobile home away from home (+ slideshow). More about Nils Holger Moormann designs minimal interior for "inconspicuous" Volkswagen Bus
Four matching staircases lead up to the rooftop terrace of this Algarve hotel by Portuguese studio PAr, offering guests views out towards a nearby lagoon (+ slideshow). More about PAr's rural Portuguese hotel has a row of staircases leading up onto its roof
Global Architects has transformed the interior of a 1980s Dutch residence, by inserting a house-shaped volume that provides cosy bedrooms and secluded bathrooms (+ slideshow). More about Global Architects builds house-shaped volume inside 1980s Dutch residence
Photo essay: a shark in a corridor and a toad seated on a filing cabinet are among the scenes found by Austrian photographer Klaus Pichler when he went backstage at the Natural History Museum Vienna (+ slideshow). More about Klaus Pichler goes behind the scenes of Vienna's Natural History Museum
Canadian studio Architecture Microclimat has created a simple athletic facility in Quebec with a lofty ceiling that enables gymnasts to hang high in the air (+ slideshow). More about Architecture Microclimat completes Canadian fitness centre for body builders and gymnasts