Stilts allow architects to build on difficult terrains, or to simply offer their clients better views of the surroundings. Recent examples include a woodland writer's cabin and a student-built viewing platform, while popular projects from the archive include a clifftop house near Sydney and an elevated tea house in Japan. See more buildings on stilts »
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A 3D-printed bionic hand designed by prosthetics startup Open Bionics is the recipient of the 2015 UK James Dyson Award for design engineering innovation. More about 3D-printed robotic hand wins 2015 UK James Dyson Award
Canadian company CycleLabs has launched a smart device for bicycles that is designed to help navigate and track routes, and prevent theft (+ movie). More about SmartHalo bicycle accessory combines navigation, activity tracking and alarm system
Comments update: a crowdfunding campaign for "modular parasitic sleeping pods" for homeless people generated the most debate this week. Read on for more on this and explore our comments page to keep up to date with the latest discussions. More about "Perhaps we could give the homeless actual homes to live in"
Later this week, 70,000 people will converge on a temporary city in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada. Burning Man founder Larry Harvey told Dezeen about the "stunning achievement" of creating a high-density, car-free festival in a remote and inhospitable landscape (+ slideshow + transcript). More about Burning Man "needed urban design because it's a city" says founder Larry Harvey
British designer John Pawson has unveiled his plans to convert a former convent and hospital in Tel Aviv's Jaffa port into a hotel and apartment complex for the W hotel brand (+ slideshow). More about John Pawson to convert Jaffa convent and hospital into W's first hotel in Israel
Graduate students of a Colorado university design-build programme have completed a pair of cabins on the Navajo reservation made of rusted steel and reclaimed barn wood (+ slideshow). More about University graduates design and build cabins on Navajo reservation in Utah
Transport for London is seeking a designer and supplier to introduce a "new generation" of bicycles to the city's public hire network. More about Transport for London calls for "Boris Bikes" redesign
A grid of near-identical doors and windows punctures all three visible facades of this seemingly cube-shaped house in Okinawa by architecture studio Rhythmdesign (+ slideshow). More about House in Tomigusuku by Rhythmdesign features 36 openings across three facades
Maison&Objet 2015: French technology retailer Orée is launching a ballpoint pen that can digitally record and store notes and sketches made in a companion notebook (+ slideshow). More about Orée launches copper Stylograph ballpoint that digitally records handwitten notes
Behind the crumbling exterior of a 100-year-old cowshed in Japan's Tokushima Prefecture, architect Issei Suma has inserted a glass and steel office for a computing company (+ slideshow). More about Glass and steel office by Issei Suma inserted into century-old Japanese cow barn
This concrete painting studio by Santiago studio Felipe Assadi Architects is half-submerged in the cliffside gardens of a house on the Chilean coastline (+ slideshow). More about Concrete painter's studio by Felipe Assadi nestles into a rocky hillside on the Chilean seafront
Pomo summer: Montreal designers Marie-Pier Guilmain and Maud Beauchamp of MPGMB have created a trio of stacked pedestals influenced by the work of Memphis Group founder Ettore Sottsass (+ slideshow). More about MPGMB creates pedestals inspired by work of Postmodern master Ettore Sottsass
US firm Ross Barney Architects has completed a transit station for an emerging Chicago neighbourhood, featuring a tubular structure made of stainless steel and polycarbonate panels (+ slideshow). More about Ross Barney Architects wraps a Chicago rail station in a perforated tube
Our US job of the week on Dezeen Jobs is for a full-time faculty position in designed objects at the School of Art Institute of Chicago, which is partly housed in the Chicago museum that was extended by architects Renzo Piano Building Workshop (pictured). Visit the ad for full details or browse other architecture and design opportunities on Dezeen Jobs.
More about US job of the week: faculty position at School of Art Institute Chicago
Pomo summer: Memphis Group designer Martine Bedin's Super Lamp can be trailed along like a dog on a leash, demonstrating the collective's playful style. This next article in our summer series on Postmodernism tells the story behind one of Memphis' most comical products. More about Postmodern design: Super Lamp by Martine Bedin
Berlin architecture firm Atheorem has used dark grey curtains and metallic fixtures to update an apartment that dates back to the late 1800s in the city's Mitte district. More about Atheorem refurbishes compact apartment in Berlin's Mitte district
This pavilion in Holon, Israel, designed by New York-based architects MODU with Geotectura, has a dynamic canopy made of mesh fabric and small balls that move with the wind (+ movie). More about Cloud Seeding Pavilion by MODU features canopy made of 30,000 plastic balls
Australian design brand Page Thirty Three has released a range of homeware, including objects that owners are encouraged to "complete" themselves. More about Page Thirty Three launches customisable Tactile Equations homeware collection
Sheltered beneath an oversized roof, this tiny timber cabin by AA graduate Nozomi Nakabayashi stands on stilts among the oak trees of a wood in Dorset, England (+ slideshow). More about Nozomi Nakabayashi creates writer's hut on stilts in the Dorset woods