Venice Architecture Biennale 2014: architect Rem Koolhaas has today been confirmed as the director of the next Venice Architecture Biennale in 2014 and wants to use the opportunity to readdress the "fundamental elements of architecture". More about Rem Koolhaas confirmed as director of Venice Architecture Biennale 2014
News: a fork for dieters that vibrates when you eat too much or too fast is one of the most talked-about launches at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. More about Vibrating "smart fork" for weight loss launches at CES
Dutch designer Wouter Biegelaar used blocks of ice to sculpt a single piece of furniture for lounging, sleeping and dining inside a suite at the Icehotel in Lapland (+ slideshow). More about Iceberg by Wouter Biegelaar at Icehotel
Dezeen promotion: register here to attend Interiors UK 2013, taking place Sunday 20 January to Wednesday 23 January in Birmingham, where the winners of the New Design Britain awards will be announced. More about New Design Britain awards at Interiors UK 2013
Insects including a weevil and a wasp transform into cars and motorbikes in these lenticular prints by Canadian design studio Joe Jin. More about Taxi-Dermy Lenticular Prints by Joe Jin
Competition: we're giving readers the chance to win one of five copies of The New Wave in Danish Architecture, a book featuring contemporary projects by Danish architects such as BIG and NORD. More about Competition: five copies of The New Wave in Danish Architecture to be won
Garments hang from a wall-mounted wooden grid inside this Osaka fashion boutique that Japanese studio Ninkipen! has recently completed (+ slideshow). More about Ring Osaka by Ninkipen!
Japanese studio FORM/Kouichi Kimura Architects designed this concrete house in Shiga to be deliberately alien to its neighbours (+ slideshow). More about House of Silence by FORM/Kouichi Kimura Architects
Cologne 2013: industrial designer Konstantin Grcic has created a bench system based on the iconic Barcelona Chair by Mies van der Rohe (+ movie). More about B Bench by Konstantin Grcic for BD Barcelona Design
News: a project to bring cheap and easy-to-build mine detonators to Afghan minefields has just nine days left to raise the final £14,000 of its £100,000 goal on crowdfunding website Kickstarter. More about Wind-powered mine detonator on Kickstarter
These conceptual office units by American designer Victor Vetterlein are designed to be bought up by companies and sent out to employees' back gardens so they can work from home. More about MOSS office for working from home by Victor Vetterlein
This staircase concept by Canadian architect Andrew McConnell is based on a whale's backbone (+ slideshow). More about Vertebrae Staircase by Andrew McConnell
London firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners has completed Neo Bankside, a set of six-sided apartment blocks beside the Tate Modern art gallery on the edge of the River Thames. More about Neo Bankside by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
French architect Emmanuelle Weiss has added a contrasting dark brick extension to a red brick house outside Lille (+ slideshow). More about Maison D by Emmanuelle Weiss
Spanish studio M2arquitectura has renovated a Barcelona apartment by adding sliding partitions, bright green surfaces and furniture that folds out of the walls (+ slideshow). More about Apartment Refurbishment in Barcelona by M2arquitectura
The illusory shadows of burning candles and unexpected assemblages of decrepit furniture make up the latest collection by British designers JamesPlumb. More about To Have and To Hold by JamesPlumb
Product news: different modular elements stack up to make these pendant lamps by Croatian design studio Grupa (+ movie). More about ILI-ILI lamps by Grupa
A dark walnut staircase merges with a kitchen counter and a bathtub inside this renovated apartment in Mayfair, London, by architecture studio KHBT (+ slideshow). More about Balfour Place by KHBT
Product news: Paris design studio A+A Cooren has designed a table and a console with branching metal legs for French brand La Redoute. More about Y Collection by A+A Cooren for La Redoute
Reclaimed timber boxes are piled up to the ceiling to create a wall of shelves at the new San Francisco store for skin and haircare brand Aesop (+ slideshow). More about Aesop Fillmore Street by NADAAA