Shanghai office Four O Nine has converted a glass building in Beijing into a cafe, adding walls of plants to purify polluted air. More about Four O Nine transforms greenhouse into plant-lined coffee shop
Opinion: while many architects are designing slippery "architexture", Norman Foster and Alejandro Aravena are unlikely allies in the pursuit of real architecture, says Will Wiles. More about "Foster and Aravena are moving architecture out of the shallows and into deeper water"
Open-source chairs made of puzzle pieces and 3D-printed furniture based on bone growth feature in an exhibition of work by Dutch designer Joris Laarman Lab retrospective at the Netherlands' Groninger Museum (+ slideshow). More about Joris Laarman opens first major solo show at the Groninger Museum
Japanese studio SANAA has seen off competition from Norwegian firm Snøhetta to design a new national gallery in Budapest's City Park. More about SANAA chosen over Snøhetta in Budapest gallery competition
To celebrate the first Thanksgiving since we founded our New York office in May, we've collected together five of the most popular US stories from this year, including the new Google campus and Tadao Ando's first New York building. More about Five of the most popular US projects on Dezeen
This week's Dezeen Mail includes the competition-winning design for a new bridge across London's River Thames, bird-flu furniture and a Swiss mountainside home (pictured).
Read Dezeen Mail issue 281 | Subscribe to Dezeen Mail
More about Dezeen Mail issue 281 features a selection of this week's best stories and discussions
Jay Bargmann of Rafael Viñoly Architects has designed a house for his family in the Catskill Mountains, featuring glass walls that reflect the scenic landscape (+ slideshow). More about Jay Bargmann nestles glass-box home into hillside in rural New York
A white chocolate shell forms a calendar on top of this year's Häagen-Dazs Christmas cake by Italian interior designer Paola Navone. More about Paola Navone designs edible Christmas calendar for Häagen-Dazs
Plane manufacturer Airbus has continued its run of unusual patent filings, proposing a detachable passenger cabin designed to speed up embarkation. More about Airbus patents removable aeroplane cabins for faster boarding
The shapes and proportions of local agricultural barns informed the design of this monochrome house in Northern Ireland, designed by British firm McGonigle McGrath (+ slideshow). More about Barn-like house by McGonigle McGrath features pale walls and asymmetric gables
Happy Thanksgiving! Tuck into our archive of designs that could make your dinner table more interesting, including teardrop-shaped plates, stackable tea sets and cutlery that is deliberately difficult to eat with. See more tableware »
More about Today we like: tableware
A house clad in pieces of flint, designed for one of the world's richest families, has been named the best new house in the UK by the Royal Institute of British Architects. More about Skene Catling de la Peña's Flint House named UK House of the Year
Railway sleepers form the walls of this extension to a library in Azkoitia, Spain, which is located at the town's former railway station. More about Estudio Beldarrain uses reclaimed railway sleepers to extend Spanish library
Brazilian studio Rain has created a collection of six tables designed to look like miniature swimming pools. More about Swimming pool-shaped tables by Rain include removable ladders
Japanese studios Sandwich and Team Low-Energy used three truckloads of timber to create the sculptural facade of this Tokyo house that also boasts a two-storey-high library and an indoor swing (+ slideshow). More about Kyodo House features a sculptural wood facade and an indoor swing
The roof of this extension to a Copenhagen cultural centre is shaped like an elongated S, and it appears to ramp up over the roof of one of the buildings it adjoins (+ slideshow). More about S-shaped extension links two sides of Copenhagen's Mariehøj Kulturcenter
South Korean designer Seung Jin Yang has coated brightly coloured balloons in resin to create these inflated seats. More about Seung Jin Yang's Blowing chairs are made from party balloons
The RCA is set to expand with another new campus near its existing buildings in Battersea, after the UK government pledged to contribute funding for the project in its autumn spending statement. More about Royal College of Art to build £100 million design and technology campus in south London
New York studio Apparatus has unveiled a marble lantern and vessel that embody "the visual language of ceremonial objects" (+ slideshow). More about Apparatus creates Neo Marble collection influenced by ancient rituals
Danish firm Bystrup has been selected to design a new pedestrian and cycle bridge across the River Thames in west London – the same day another crossing was unveiled for the other side of the city. More about Bystrup triumphs in Nine Elms to Pimlico bridge contest with "elegant and simple" design