Opinion: in this week's column, Sam Jacob explains why YouTube movies of consumers ritualistically unpacking their purchases "bring a sharp eye to the designed world". More about "Unboxing videos represent a form of design criticism"
Designer Emmanuelle Moureaux has brought her trademark colour spectrum to a fourth bank branch in Japan by surrounding the facade with brightly coloured sticks (+ slideshow). More about Sugamo Shinkin Bank, Ekoda by Emmanuelle Moureaux
News: a fuel-efficient 3D-printed car is set to hit the road in two years, according to its US-based manufacturer RedEye On Demand. More about Road-ready 3D-printed car on the way
Milan 2013: in this movie by Gwenael Lewis, Canadian lighting company Bocci's creative director Omer Arbel describes how bubbles in the firm's latest chandelier look like an "internal universe" when illuminated. More about 57 Series by Omer Arbel for Bocci
Shanghai studio Neri&Hu has reinterpreted traditional Chinese architecture and courtyard typologies for the design of a 300-room hotel in one of China's oldest cities (+ slideshow). More about Xi'an Westin Hotel by Neri&Hu
Competition: we're giving readers the chance to win one of five copies of a book about the Golden Lion-winning Torre David project presented at last year's Venice Architecture Biennale. More about Competition: five Torre David books to be won
London's Battersea Power Station is transformed into a museum of architecture and surrounded by a giant roller coaster in these competition-winning proposals by French studio Atelier Zündel Cristea (+ slideshow). More about The Architectural Ride at Battersea Power Station by Atelier Zündel Cristea
News: Dutch design collective Droog will turn the notion of piracy in China on its head by unveiling its own copies of Chinese objects in a Guangzhou shopping centre next week. More about Droog copies China
Lighting projectors and cables hang from the spindly branches of chunky black trees inside this penthouse bar and nightclub in Paris by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur (+ slideshow). More about Electric by Mathieu Lehanneur
The animated animals in this app by illustrator Christoph Niemann react to prodding fingers (+ movie). More about Petting Zoo app by Christoph Niemann
Two-in-one dresses that transform with a single tug were shown as part of London-based fashion designer Hussein Chalayan's Autumn Winter 2013 collection at Paris Fashion Week (+ slideshow). More about Rise by Hussein Chalayan
This angular rural house in Greece by Athens studio Tense Architecture Network has over half of its concrete body buried beneath the ground (+ slideshow + photographs by Filippo Poli). More about House in Sikamino by Tense Architecture Network
A polished steel canopy reflects visitors walking underneath at this events pavilion in Marseille's harbour by UK firm Foster + Partners (+ slideshow). More about Vieux Port pavilion by Foster + Partners
Manhattan studio SHoP Architects has designed a masterplan of hollow skyscrapers surrounded by gardens for the site of the former Domino Sugar refinery in Brooklyn. More about Domino Sugar by SHoP Architects and James Corner Field Operations
Researchers at the University of Stuttgart programmed a robot to wind 60 kilometres of carbon and glass fibre filaments into this pavilion inspired by a lobster's exoskeleton (+ movie + slideshow). More about Research Pavilion by ICD and ITKE
Architect Frank Gehry has revisited the rippled form of his recent New York skyscraper for the design of a 22-storey tower in his hometown of Santa Monica, California. More about Ocean Avenue Project by Frank Gehry
News: a library dedicated to design has opened in South Korea's capital city, offering access to over 11,000 books chosen by an international team of curators and critics. More about Design library opens in Seoul
Product news: the lids of these pans by New York designer Karim Rashid have large, brightly coloured hooks for handles. More about Hook pans by Karim Rashid for TVS
Dezeen promotion: lighting designer Ulrike Brandi is offering a series of lighting design classes for students and professionals this year in Hamburg, Germany, including guest lecturers from Snøhetta and MVRDV. More about Lighting design classes at the Brandi Institute
Here are the latest renderings of BIG's combined power plant and ski slope that blows smoke rings, which commenced construction in Copenhagen yesterday (+ slideshow). More about Amager Bakke Waste-to-Energy Plant by BIG