Transparent resin blocks peppered with flowers form the seat and arms of the Miss Blanche Chair by Shiro Kuramata – letter M in our alphabetical Christmas countdown. More about Dezeen's A-Zdvent calendar: Miss Blanche Chair by Shiro Kuramata
Behind the aluminium facade of this innovation centre for the University of Toronto Mississauga, local office Moriyama & Teshima Architects has converted a courtyard into a rotunda with a glass roof (+ slideshow). More about Courtyard becomes rotunda inside Toronto university building by Moriyama & Teshima
This week we reported on MoMA's acquisition of a "4D-printed" dress, MAD's first European project (pictured) and 2015's AIA Gold Medal recipient. Read on for more architecture and design highlights, plus our regular track of the week. More about This week on Dezeen
Dezeen and MINI Frontiers: engineering student Martijn Lammers, part of the team behind the world's "first solar-powered family car," claims most vehicles could be powered by the sun in future. More about Solar-powered cars could become standard "within 30 years"
News: the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in Manhattan reopens to the public today after a three-year renovation project including new fittings by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro (+ slideshow). More about New York's Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum reopens
Opinion: why have architects and designers been so quiet about America's recent clashes over race and police violence? asks Mimi Zeiger. More about "Koolhaas may think we're past the time of manifestos, but that's no reason to play dumb"
Competition: Dezeen has teamed up with German design label L&Z to give away five colourful multipurpose containers by Michel Charlot that fold to different heights depending on the needs of the user. More about Competition: five Roll-Up Bins by Michel Charlot and L&Z to be won
MenoMenoPiu Architects says its concept to reinvigorate the Seine with a string of capsule homes on stilts could help prevent Paris from becoming a "city museum" (+ slideshow). More about MenoMenoPiu Architects proposes capsule hotel along the Seine
Nineteen London-based designers including Dominic Wilcox and Paul Priestman have created miniature fantasy rooms for an exhibition of Dolls' Houses at the city's Museum of Childhood. More about London designers create tiny dream rooms for Museum of Childhood exhibition
This week's job of the week on Dezeen Jobs is for an interior designer at Joyce Wang Studio, whose restaurant in Hong Kong (pictured) was named World Interior of the Year at the Inside Festival in Singapore. Visit the ad for full details or browse other architecture and design opportunities on Dezeen Jobs.
More about Job of the week: interior designer at Joyce Wang Studio
One-minute movie: Dutch sculptor Theo Jansen has created huge moving sculptures to prevent the erosion of sand dunes, which he claims are evolving without his help. More about Theo Jansen creates giant wind-powered Strandbeest sculptures
Brazilian designers Fernando and Humberto Campana have created an indoor "forest" of flax and wood at the Bildmuseet in Umeå – their first project in Sweden (+ slideshow). More about Campana brothers bring "nature indoors" with bristly installation
Interview: Dutch sculptor Theo Jansen has spent the last 24 years developing a series of wind-powered machines called Strandbeests that he describes as "a new species on Earth". Dezeen caught up with him on Miami Beach last week, where he explained how his creations are now evolving without his help (+ movie). More about "I try to make new forms of life," says Strandbeests creator Theo Jansen
Stockholm studio Jägnefält Milton has designed a leaf-shaped pavilion for a woodland site – taking advantage of a new Swedish planning stipulation that allows structures under a certain size to be built without permission. More about Jägnefält Milton's Forest Pavilion tests new Swedish building law
The next instalment in our A-Zdvent calendar is the welded aluminium and fibreglass Lockheed Lounge by Australian designer Marc Newson. More about Dezeen's A-Zdvent calendar: Lockheed Lounge by Marc Newson
Mirrors create a reflective facade on this pair of holiday homes in the South Tyrolean Dolomites, but have been coated with a glare-reducing film to help prevent bird collisions (+ slideshow). More about Peter Pichler's mirror-clad guesthouses are designed to be visible to birds
Interview: after building the most talked-about urban development in Buenos Aires, Argentinian hotelier and property developer Alan Faena has now turned his attention to Miami Beach, where he has commissioned architects including Rem Koolhaas and Norman Foster to create the Faena District Miami Beach. In a rare interview, he told Dezeen about his plans (+ slideshow). More about Alan Faena is working "with the best minds" in architecture to bring Argentina to Miami Beach
Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde has developed a bespoke projection lens that "unravels light" to turn an arc-shaped section of Amsterdam's Centraal Station into a rainbow (+ movie). More about Daan Roosegaarde lights up Amsterdam station with rainbow projection
Plastic-munching fungi that could solve world hunger, Zaha Hadid's reaction to criticism of her Tokyo Olympic stadium design and Ikea's refugee shelters (pictured), feature in Dezeen Mail issue 232. Click through for all the latest news, jobs and reader comments from Dezeen.
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News: Ma Yansong's Beijing studio MAD has been granted permission to drastically remodel a 1970s block in Rome, to create a residential complex featuring tree-covered terraces and translucent metallic walls. More about MAD wins approval for first European project after four years of negotiations