A white spiral staircase that contrasts with the surrounding stone walls is one of several modern interventions that architect Elisabete Saldanha has added to this converted farmhouse in Portugal (+ slideshow). More about Elisabete Saldanha combines historical features with contemporary details at House in Guimarães
German design studio Ding3000 has created a cast-iron candle holder for Danish brand QDO that holds six coasters within its base. More about Ding3000's Coasterlight holds drink mats beneath a candle
With Rem Koolhaas curating the Venice Biennale and Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry and Moshe Safdie pulling no punches, 2014 was a busy year for opinionated architects. Dezeen's editor Anna Winston chooses her architecture quotes of the year. More about Dezeen's top architecture quotes of 2014
Dezeen's design editor Dan Howarth picks 10 of his favourite gadgets from this year, including a fish that steers its own tank and a vaginal activity monitor. More about Dezeen's top 10 gadgets of 2014
An elevated bicycle highway for London, a "bike in a bag", and a glow-in-the-dark cycle path were among Dezeen editor Anna Winston's favourite cycling-related designs on Dezeen this year. More about Dezeen's top 10 cycling designs of 2014
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all our readers! More about Merry Christmas from Dezeen
The owners of this brick house in the Netherlands, by Reitsema & Partners, can drive their car up a shallow ramp into a sheltered parking area that frames a view of the low-lying landscape. More about Villa SR by Reitsema & Partners has a parking space driven through its middle
Dutch architect and designer Gerrit Rietveld's Zig-Zag Chair is the final entry in our alphabetical advent calendar of iconic chairs. More about Dezeen's A-Zdvent calendar: Zig-Zag Chair by Gerrit Rietveld
Here is a selection of our favourite Christmas cards, movies and gifs we've received this year, including this tiny skier racing down a balustrade from London studio Nicholas Hare Architects. More about Designer Christmas cards 2014
As 2014 draws to a close, we're looking back at the year's most memorable events, parties and people through pictures our team has posted on Instagram. More about Dezeen's most memorable Instagram moments from 2014
Our special festive edition of our Dezeen Mail newsletter contains a Christmas quiz about architecture and design in 2014. See how many questions you can answer without clicking the links!
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The letter Y in our festive A-Zdvent calendar is represented by Hans J Wegner's CH24 chair, which is also known as the Y Chair because of its characteristically shaped back. More about Dezeen's A-Zdvent calendar: "Y Chair" by Hans J Wegner
These four "finger-like" extensions to a Vienna restaurant, by PPAG Architects, feature mirrored walls that reflect the surrounding parkland, and windows that slide up above the roof (+ slideshow). More about PPAG Architects adds mirrored extension to restaurant in Vienna's Stadtpark
The criss-crossing metal frame that gives this 1968 design the name X-Chair has helped it find its way into our A-Zdvent overview of classic chairs. More about Dezeen's A-Zdvent calendar: FK 82 X-Chair by Preben Fabricius and Jørgen Kastholm
It's rare to find new houses in Japan that haven't been designed by Japanese architects – but this Tokyo residence with a textured glass facade is the work of Dutch architect Wiel Arets (+ slideshow). More about Glass-coated Tokyo house by Wiel Arets looks like it's been shrink wrapped
Architecture studio Brut Deluxe has designed this year's Christmas lights in Madrid to work like a "flip book on an urban scale", taking spectators on a trip to the moon as they walk through the city (+ movie). More about Madrid installs moon-themed Christmas lights
Comments update: with Christmas just a couple of days away, readers have been scouring the pages of Dezeen for gift ideas – including this all-white Lego kit for architects that was released in Europe this year. More about "Lego for architects? Yes please Santa"
Dezeen promotion: cotton was the material of choice for design studio Barkow Leibinger when forming an undulating canopy in the centre of Marrakech (+ interview + slideshow). More about Barkow Leibinger chose "strong and elastic" cotton for tensile installation in Marrakech
Interview: as Nike prepares to reissue Marc Newson's Zvezdochka footwear, the sportswear brand's president and CEO spoke to Dezeen about how the shoes "helped pave the way for other breakthroughs" in manufacturing, aesthetics and sustainability. More about Marc Newson helped trigger a "manufacturing revolution" at Nike, says CEO Mark Parker
News: Google has updated its prototype self-driving vehicle to make it road worthy, adding headlights and manual steering and braking to comply with road rules in California. More about Google's driverless car is now "fully functional"