Interview: after completing Europe's largest public library in Birmingham, architect Francine Houben of Dutch studio Mecanoo spoke to Dezeen about the role of the library in the digital age and claims libraries are as central to society as cathedrals once were. More about "Libraries are the most important public buildings" - Francine Houben
Architectural drawings of a small workers' shack that featured in an exhibition in Shanghai, China, have been enlarged and used to create a full-scale replica in Auckland, New Zealand. More about Model Home 2013 by Michael Lin and Atelier Bow-Wow with Andrew Barrie
Europe's largest public library in Birmingham, UK, leads Dezeen Mail issue 167, which also features all the latest news, jobs, competitions and reader comments from Dezeen.
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News: a student housing block in London with a retained brick warehouse facade has been named Britain's worst building of the year. More about "Prison-like" student housing wins Carbuncle Cup 2013
News: architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox has unveiled plans to surround the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles in a cloak of steel ribbons as part of major refurbishment. More about KPF to wrap steel ribbons around LA's Petersen Automotive Museum
London Design Festival 2013: German designer Samuel Treindl has made a clock, lamp and other products from shapes cut out of existing furniture (+ slideshow). More about Parasite Production by Samuel Treindl
Japanese firm Naruse Inokuma Architects has designed a shared occupancy house in Nagoya with communal areas for eating, cooking and relaxing that encourage the residents to interact in different ways (+ slideshow). More about Share House LT Josai by Naruse Inokuma Architects
Dutch studio Mecanoo has completed Europe's largest public library in Birmingham, England, with a sunken amphitheatre, rooftop gardens and a shimmering facade clad with interlocking metal rings (+ slideshow). More about Library of Birmingham by Mecanoo
Spanish architecture studio Ábaton has developed a micro home that can be transported on the back of a lorry and placed almost anywhere (+ slideshow). More about Casa Transportable ÁPH80 by Ábaton
A series of new cultural venues has sprung up along the waterfront in Marseille, including the contemporary art centre by Kengo Kuma we featured yesterday and a mirrored pavilion by Foster + Partners (+ slideshow). More about Special feature: Marseille Capital of Culture 2013
Dezeen and MINI World Tour: San Francisco designer Yves Behar, who recently launched a keyless lock controlled by a smartphone, discusses his vision for how technology can be successfully integrated into the home in this movie filmed in Milan. More about The home of the future will "know where you are" - Yves Behar
The MuSe Museum by Italian architect Renzo Piano has opened to the public in Trento, Italy, and features angled profiles that echo the shapes of the nearby Dolomites mountains (+ slideshow). More about MuSe Museum by Renzo Piano Building Workshop
News: architecture firm OMA has won an international competition to masterplan a 275-hectare mixed-use development in the Colombian capital, Bogotá (+ slideshow). More about OMA to masterplan civic centre in Colombia's capital
American studio Qastic has created an inflatable pavilion with a floating roof held down by fabric veils (+ slideshow). More about Floatastic by Qastic
Competition: Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs has updated his book full of the best designs from the 21st century and we're giving away five copies to readers before the official release. More about Competition: five copies of 21st Century Design to be won
Vietnamese architects Sanuki + Nishizawa have adapted the prototypical Vietnamese tube house to create a tall, narrow residence that lets daylight penetrate its walls and floors (+ slideshow). More about ANH House by Sanuki + Nishizawa
Upside-down plant pots, bare lightbulbs, exposed ducting and raw materials feature in this São Paulo restaurant by Suite Arquitetos (+ slideshow). More about Bien! Restaurant by Suite Arquitetos
Danish designer Trine Kjaer has created a chair with a backrest and seat wrapped in thick lengths of cord intertwined with thin strands of copper. More about Haptic Chair by Trine Kjaer Design Studio
Dutch architects Jetty and Maarten Min have completed their own house and studio in North Holland with an arched rooftop, tiled walls and exposed tree-trunk columns (+ slideshow). More about The Dune House by Min2
Designer Ron Arad compares the overuse of 3D printing today to how musicians "abused" synthesisers in this movie made by Alice Masters for London's Design Museum. More about "3D printing is abused" - Ron Arad