News: Google has unveiled a new prototype of its modular smartphone with swappable components, which the project's design head Gadi Amit says will allow users to "be the designer of their own phone" (+ slideshow). More about Google takes next step towards Project Ara modular phone launch
London fashion designer Christopher Raeburn has used material salvaged from an inflatable life raft to create outerwear and accessories for his Autumn Winter 2015 menswear collection. More about Christopher Raeburn transforms a life raft into brightly coloured coats
White vertical fins clad the glazed exterior of this Salt Lake City courthouse by Thomas Phifer and Partners, shading the interior from direct sunlight without restricting the views from inside (+ slideshow). More about Thomas Phifer's United States Courthouse is covered in vertical sun shades
Swedish designer Jonas Wagell has created a simple lamp with a concrete base and a brass dimmer switch for Danish furniture brand Menu. More about Jonas Wagell designs Concrete Lamp for Menu
This metal-framed extension to a clapboard house near Melbourne was left intentionally incomplete by architect Andrew Maynard to show off the "beautiful skeleton" of an unfinished building (+ slideshow). More about Andrew Maynard adds greenhouse-like extension to a Melbourne home – but leaves it unfinished
These glass pendant-lighting shades by Czech designer Jan Vacek are intended to look like contraceptive rubber sheaths. More about Jan Vacek designs lamps shaped like condoms
Experimental design agency The Future People has unveiled a prototype for a hybrid electric- and human-powered "car" at this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit (+ slideshow). More about The Zeppelin aims to fuse the best bits of car and bicycle design
News: French architect Jean Nouvel has issued a statement saying he will not attend the opening of his Philharmonie de Paris this evening, claiming it is "not finished" and defending his firm against allegations regarding cost overruns. More about Jean Nouvel boycotts opening of his Paris concert hall
News: a decade after the final beam was placed atop the Norman Foster-designed Hearst Tower in New York, the architect has returned to the building to mark its anniversary with a film captured using a drone (+ movie). More about Norman Foster narrates drone tour of New York's Hearst skyscraper
News: Swanke Hayden Connell Architects – the firm behind the Fifth Avenue Trump Tower and the Statue of Liberty restoration – has filed for bankruptcy, claiming that it is owed $2 million dollars by a Russian client. More about Century-old architecture firm Swanke Hayden Connell files for bankruptcy
News: Richard Rogers' Leadenhall Building has lost its third steel bolt in three months, developer British Land has revealed. More about Third bolt fractures on Richard Rogers' Cheesegrater skyscraper
News: American car manufacturer Ford has unveiled its new GT concept at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, signalling the company's return to designing race-ready supercars (+ slideshow). More about Ford launches first new GT supercar design in a decade
The blocks of colour that make up both the Microsoft logo and the Windows 8 interface formed the basis of this temporary pavilion in Russia, created for the technology giant by architecture studio Nowadays (+ slideshow). More about Microsoft Technology Pavilion takes its cues from the Windows 8 interface
New York City's skyscraper clusters and strict street grid are illustrated in these images taken from a helicopter by French-American photographer Vincent Laforet (+ slideshow). More about Vincent Laforet documents New York with aerial photographs
Cardiac radiographer and designer Brooke Roberts has used digital knitting technology to create garments with patterns based on MRI brain scans and medical imagery (+ interview). More about Brooke Roberts turns brain scans into knitwear patterns
Panels of gum wood in a variety of tones and textures cover surfaces in this Aesop store designed by Kerstin Thompson Architects for a Melbourne shopping centre. More about Dark Australian timber lines Aesop Melbourne store by Kerstin Thompson Architects
Wealthy art investors can enjoy their collections while avoiding tax thanks to a new duty-free storage unit at Luxembourg international airport by Atelier d'Architecture 3BM3 (+ slideshow). More about Atelier d'Architecture 3BM3 completes concrete tax haven for artworks in Luxembourg
This sofa by New Zealand design graduate Marvin Reber can be taken apart and reassembled to form play apparatus for children (+ slideshow). More about Marvin Reber's Inclusion Couch dismantles to create an indoor playground
A sauna is housed within this wooden hut by Andre Tchelistcheff Architects, which perches on a grassy knoll overlooking the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains in upstate New York (+ slideshow). More about Wooden cabin by Andre Tchelistcheff Architects houses a sauna in the Hudson Valley
Comments update: Tony Ash, managing director of furniture brand Vitra, says designers need protecting from copycats – but readers aren't sure that cheap rip-offs are the design industry's biggest problem. More about "I don't expect a bargain for good design, but fair prices would be a nice change"