Most Loved: in the next movie in our exclusive video series, London designer Tord Boontje explains how the decorative paper lampshade he designed in 2004 challenged the dominance of Minimalist design. More about Tord Boontje wanted to make the home "softer and more humane" with 2004 Midsummer Light
Slides and climbing frames connect brightly coloured playrooms in this kindergarten and play space by Crossboundaries, set within a formerly derelict building in Zhengzhou, China (+ slideshow). More about Crossboundaries converts derelict building into kindergarten and play centre
Pressed plants and colourful petals are frozen within these glass plates by German designer Meike Harde. More about Meike Harde's Evergreen Platters contain pressed flowers
Canadian studio Cargo Architecture used a restrained materials palette for this woodland vacation cottage in Quebec, which has a swing seat and a wood store built into its facade. More about Cargo Architecture completes Scandinavian-inspired holiday home in Quebec
New images of architect Jeanne Gang's Vista Tower in Chicago have been released to entice buyers to purchase luxury condominiums within the supertall skyscraper (+ slideshow). More about Studio Gang's supertall Chicago tower will include .1 million penthouse
Bay Area illustrator Peter Berkowitz has constructed a tiny wooden bedroom for himself in a friend's living room to avoid paying San Francisco's "absurdly high" rents. More about Peter Berkowitz builds sleeping pod in friend's apartment to escape San Francisco rents
Belarussian designer Constantin Bolimond has created a modular sex gadget made up of elements that differ in shape, texture and colour, and provide a variety of vibration, rotation and temperature settings (+ slideshow). More about Inme stackable sex toy offers customisable sensations
Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron has completed a new gallery to house the permanent collection of the Frank Gehry-designed Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany. More about Herzog & de Meuron adds new gallery building to Vitra Design Museum
Opinion: temporary architecture is having a "moment" in Europe, and it has some serious lessons to offer architects that are still obsessed with permanence, says Aaron Betsky. More about "Let's hear it for temporary architecture"
A group of aviation experts has unveiled plans for a supersonic speed plane named Boom, which is being developed as a replacement for Concorde. More about Supersonic Boom aircraft will be the "fastest passenger plane ever"
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