Opinion: sci-fi films, comic books and wild hypothetical ideas by architectural theorists like Archigram and Cedric Price have helped shape the world we live in today. Darran Anderson identifies the next wave of unwitting futurists who could change the way architecture functions. More about "Architecture's eccentrics and outsiders can be retrospectively recast as prophets"
Chicago City Council members have voted in favour of MAD Architects' controversial design for the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art on the shore of Lake Michigan. More about Chicago approves MAD's George Lucas Museum plans
Dutch Design Week 2015: Dutch furniture designer Piet Hein Eek has joined the debate about whether non-architects should design buildings, saying most architects are "not interested" in construction. More about "Most buildings are drawings filled in by engineers" says Piet Hein Eek
This week's Dezeen Mail features David Chipperfield's "village" of stone dwellings in China (pictured), Renault's Le Corbusier-inspired concept car and a clockwork dildo. There's also the latest news, jobs and reader comments from Dezeen.
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More about Dezeen Mail issue 277 features a selection of this week's best stories and discussions
London designer Michael Anastassiades has continued his use of circular shapes and balanced elements in lighting designs to create a new lamp for Italian brand Flos. More about Michael Anastassiades' Copycat lamp for Flos comprises a pair of balanced spheres
London startup Onomo has launched a Kickstarter campaign to support the release of its Haize compass, which uses flashing and colour-changing lights to direct cyclists to their destination (+ slideshow). More about Onomo's "magic compass" uses LEDs to guide cyclists
Architectural illustrator Federico Babina has created his own version of the Kama Sutra, where buildings rather than people demonstrate sexual positions. More about Kama Sutra reimagined as architecture by illustrator Federico Babina
Movie: designer Dror Benshetrit and winemaker Patrick Materman explain how the craft of winemaking informed Studio Dror's geometric sculpture for Brancott Estate in this movie by Dezeen for the New Zealand brand. More about Studio Dror's installation for Brancott Estate reflects the landscape of vineyards
Spanish designer Jaime Hayón has turned a paulownia tree planted by Modernist architect Le Corbusier at his Villa Le Lac into a collection of wooden objects for Cassina. More about Jaime Hayón creates decorative wooden objects using Le Corbusier tree
The São Paulo Museum of Art is recreating a 1968 exhibition design by Brazilian Modernist Lina Bo Bardi, with updated versions of her glass and concrete easels. More about Lina Bo Bardi’s "radical" glass easels revived for exhibition of Brazilian art
The glazed living space of this cedar-clad cabin near Montreal projects over a woodland slope to optimise views of a nearby lake (+ slideshow). More about Faceted cedar cabin completed by Paul Bernier beside a lake in the Montreal woodland
Dutch Design Week 2015: Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Pim van der Mijl's De Voorkamer project proposes a communal meeting space to help break down barriers between refugees and local communities in Holland (+ slideshow). More about Pim van der Mijl designs "living room" to bring refugees and locals together
People appear to be dancing, jumping and skating behind the seemingly translucent facade of this public restroom, which has just been named Japanese Toilet of the Year (+ movie). More about Japan's "toilet of the year" by Klein Dytham Architecture seems to offer no privacy
German auto brand Mercedes-Benz has released images of its Vision Tokyo – a self-driving concept vehicle created for "young, urban trendsetters" that showcases how future car designs could be transformed into "hip living spaces". More about Mercedes-Benz unveils autonomous concept car designed for urban hipsters
Fledgling design brand Norlan and Icelandic designer Sruli Recht have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funding for a whiskey glass that creates waves in the alcohol to aerate it. More about Norlan glass uses biomimicry to improve whiskey-tasting experience
Canadian studio Scott & Scott has "brightened up" the interior of a mid-century property north of Vancouver, adding simple wooden surfaces, white-washed walls and a marble sink (+ slideshow). More about Scott & Scott updates Canadian mountain house interior using timber and marble
Chinese studio People's Architecture Office used metal air conditioning pipes to create giant Chinese characters on the facade of the Tubular Baitasi visitor centre during Beijing Design Week 2015. More about People's Architecture Office uses ventilation pipes to create typographic installation
British architect David Chipperfield has refused to attend the opening of his Museo delle Culture museum and gallery complex in Milan, and is seeking court action over "defects" in the project. More about Chipperfield boycotts opening of his Milan museum amid legal proceedings
Dezeen promotion: entries are open for architects and designers to submit proposals for the inaugural Exhib-it! architecture contest 2015. More about Call for entries to the Exhib-it! 2015 competition
Business news: London is set to lose 3,500 creative workspaces by 2020 according to mayor Boris Johnson, who is asking planners and developers to prioritise culture as well as housing. More about London to lose a third of creative workspace unless developers step in, warns Boris Johnson