A glazed facade reveals the two-storey interior of a house-shaped hair salon by Japanese firm Ryo Matsui Architects in Chiba, Japan (+ slideshow). More about Ryo Matsui's Hairdo salon has a transparent house-shaped facade
Russian designer Anna Lotova slotted two layers of foam beneath the surface of this wooden desk to create squishy spaces for storing stationery and other objects. More about Oxymoron Desk by Anna Lotova stores stationery between cushioned layers
Trees line the protruding balconies of this concrete house in Tokyo by Japanese studio Ryo Matsui Architects (+ slideshow). More about Four-storey house with tree-lined balconies by Ryo Matsui Architects
We've reached the final week of the year and to get into the holiday spirit we've been publishing festive projects that include computer equipment and games consoles that sing Christmas carols and a series of geometric street lights in Berlin (pictured). More about This week on Dezeen
A faceted roof made from a shimmering copper-bronze alloy covers this extension by British firm Emrys Architects to a pair of Georgian townhouses in London (+ slideshow). More about Office extension with a faceted copper roof by Emrys Architects
Graduate designer Aaron Dunkerton has developed an expandable clothing airer that unfolds into a star shape to create more space for hanging wet garments (+ slideshow). More about Star-shaped clothes horse by Aaron Dunkerton
An angular steel canopy covered in plants wraps around this refurbished youth and community centre in the Sydney suburb of Waterloo by Australian architects Collins and Turner (+ slideshow). More about Angular steel canopy covers refurbished community centre by Collins and Turner
Rotterdam designer David Derksen has decorated a set of plates by employing the oscillations of a pendulum to drip patterns of paint (+ movie). More about Patterned plates decorated using a pendulum
Architecture studio Juri Troy has designed this eco-friendly timber house as a family home in rural Austria (+ slideshow). More about Passive timber house in Austria by Juri Troy Architects
Opinion: in this week's Opinion column, Lucas Verweij argues that as the design field expands to encompass all creative activities and designers try to solve all the world's problems, the discipline cannot possibly live up to expectations. More about "It's only a matter of time before the design bubble bursts"
Wire baskets cradle balls of light to create these lamps by Barcelona designer Martín Azú. More about Glowing orbs cupped in wire baskets to form pendant lamps
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all our readers! Here's a photograph our editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs took of snowy La Plagne in France. Love from the Dezeen team x
More about Merry Christmas from Dezeen
Here's a selection of our favourite Christmas cards and movies we've received this year, including a collapsible model snow globe from architecture firm Aedas (pictured). More about Designer Christmas cards 2013
The 365 wooden sledges used to construct this Christmas tree in Budapest by Hungarian designers Hello Wood will be given to a local children's charity following the festive period (+ movie). More about Christmas tree made from sledges
Dutch supermarket Spar's flagship store in Budapest features a series of undulating wooden forms through its interior by local firm LAB5 architects (+ slideshow). More about Spar supermarket displays groceries between curved wooden ribs
We've reached the final edition of our festive A-Zdvent calendar of architects, which wouldn't be complete without Zaha Hadid. The architect's recent built projects include the Heydar Aliyev Centre in Azerbaijan (pictured) and a new exhibition space for the Serpentine Gallery in London, but she is also working on a stadium for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and a Miami skyscraper.
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More about Dezeen's A-Zdvent calendar: Zaha Hadid
News: the Russian designer of the AK-47 assault rifle Mikhail Kalashnikov has died aged 94. More about Mikhail Kalashnikov 1919-2013
Ma Yansong of Beijing studio MAD is the penultimate architect to appear in this year's A-Zdvent calendar. Featured here is his blob-shaped Ordos Museum in the Gobi desert, which is clad in polished metal tiles to resist sandstorms. The firm also recently presented a masterplan for China where buildings are designed to look like mountains and public spaces overlap with the natural landscape.
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More about Dezeen's A-Zdvent calendar: Ma Yansong
We've reached the final day of our festive countdown, so in the first of three final posts today here's Chinese architect Li Xiaodong, whose projects include a school that bridges a creek between two castles and a library clad with firewood (pictured).
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More about Dezeen's A-Zdvent calendar: Li Xiaodong
Japanese firm Atelier HAKO Architects used concrete dotted with formwork impressions for both the internal and external surfaces of these stacked residences in a suburb of Tokyo (+ slideshow). More about Concrete homes patterned with formwork holes by Atelier HAKO Architects