Marc Newson's samurai sword, a pared-back mosque featuring a "cave-like" prayer room (pictured) and photographs of "ugly" Belgian houses feature in this week's Dezeen Mail. Click through for the latest news, jobs and reader comments from Dezeen.
More about Dezeen Mail #248
Competition: Dezeen has teamed up with London design label Buster + Punch to offer readers the chance to win one of six LED Buster bulbs in the colour of their choice. More about Competition: six Buster + Punch LED light bulbs to be won
Milan 2015: designer Hella Jongerius and theorist Louise Schouwenberg are to launch a manifesto calling for an end to "pointless products, commercial hypes and empty rhetoric" in design. More about Jongerius and Schouwenberg launch manifesto against "depressing" design industry
A staircase formed of wooden boxes and platforms, and supported by a black metal framework, rises up through this Sicilian residence that was recently renovated by Milanese architect Francesco Librizzi. More about Sculptural staircase connects two mosaic floors in an old fisherman's cottage in Sicily
Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects has been selected to design a new branch of one of Sweden's most important art galleries, which will form an extension of a century-old regional museum in Östersund. More about Henning Larsen Architects to design outpost for Swedish National Museum
This London house extension features a red brick exterior thought to look like a profile of a fox and a multi-hued interior that references Adolf Loos' Modernist houses of the 1920s (+ slideshow). More about David Kohn's Sanderson House extension conceived as a fox in the garden
Milan 2015: Belgian brand Indera will launch this modular sofa system by London designer Benjamin Hubert in Milan next week. More about Benjamin Hubert slots Inlay sofa's legs inside opened corner seams
Japanese studio Schemata Architects has converted an old warehouse in Tokyo into a cafe and roastery for a Californian coffee company (+ slideshow). More about Schemata Architects inserts coffee shop and roastery into a Tokyo warehouse
Opinion: more and more design weeks take place around the world each year, but as brands flock in to woo designers, these are in danger of losing sight of their purpose, warns Lucas Verweij. More about "Marketing efforts surrounding design festivals create an oddly temporary gentrification"
Milan 2015: Swedish designer Markus Johansson used a full-size 3D-printed model to create the mould for this chair that looks like it was squeezed from a tube (+ slideshow). More about Markus Johansson creates fibreglass Loop Chair from a 3D-printed model
Snøhetta has unveiled plans to build a new kitchen for The French Laundry – a prestigious California restaurant that is often listed as one of the best in the world. More about Snøhetta designs a new kitchen for The French Laundry in Napa Valley
Dark grey bricks alternate between protruding and receding rows to give a ribbed texture to the facade of this family house near Brussels by Belgian studio Lezze (+ slideshow). More about Protruding brickwork gives a ribbed facade to Lezze's House VR in Belgium
Less than a fortnight after moving into its new Frank Gehry-designed California campus, Facebook has presented plans for two neighbouring office buildings by the Canadian architect. More about Facebook pushes ahead with plans for two new Gehry-designed buildings
Milan 2015: French designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have used the ancient technique of iron forging to create frames for a range of chairs and tables (+ movie). More about Bouroullec brothers forge wrought-iron frames for Officina furniture
This house in the Utah desert is covered in sheets of rusty Corten steel to match the colour of the earth, while its four glazed gables are designed to take in views of the mountainous landscape (+ slideshow). More about Imbue Design completes a rusty steel dwelling in the Utah desert
Milan 2015: computer-controlled cutting was used to shape the curves of this solid wood chair by Made in Ratio founder Brodie Neill. More about Made in Ratio uses CNC cutting to create an A-shaped chair
Over three years after completing their first prefabricated dwelling, architects Mário Sousa and Marta Brandão have now installed modular homes all across Portugal. Their latest is a summerhouse in scenic Alentejo (+ slideshow). More about MIMA House in Alentejo is the latest in a series of prefabricated Portuguese homes
Crimson aluminium triangles hang above garments and in front of windows at Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka's latest store for Issey Miyake in Tokyo (+ slideshow). More about Tokujin Yoshioka installs giant red triangles for Tokyo Issey Miyake store
Comments update: is Richard Rogers right to gift his seminal Wimbledon home to the Harvard Graduate School of Design? Read on for more on this and other most-commented Dezeen stories this week. More about "Thanks for supporting British architecture schools, Richard"
Designer Marc Newson has created a series of 10 katana swords, modelled on the traditional weapons used by Japanese samurai warriors and each carrying a price tag of $300,000 (+ slideshow). More about Marc Newson designs limited-edition samurai sword