News: Spanish design brand BD Barcelona Design has commissioned designer Jaime Hayón to hand-paint 40 unique vases in celebration of its 40th birthday. More about BD Barcelona Design celebrates 40th birthday with hand-painted vases by Jaime Hayón
A museum of contemporary art designed by Zaha Hadid for Michigan State University opened to the public this weekend (+ slideshow). More about Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum by Zaha Hadid Architects
Designer Magnus Pettersen talks about his Locker side table and how he was attracted to east London because it has a "good vibe for any creative industry" in this movie filmed by Dezeen. More about "East London has a good vibe for any creative industry" - Magnus Pettersen
Architecture studio Neri&Hu has opened a design gallery, shop and event space in a former colonial police station in Shanghai’s Jingan district. More about The Design Republic Commune by Neri&Hu
Buro Ole Scheeren has unveiled a pair of skyscrapers with concave walls for Singapore's historic Kampong Glam district. More about DUO skyscrapers by Buro Ole Scheeren
Product news: Hackney designer Ed Carpenter has created a countryside version of his London design classic, the Pigeon Light, this time shaped like a pheasant. More about Pheasant Light by Ed Carpenter for Theo
Courtyards punch through the walls and roof of this bungalow that Japanese studio Kazuya Saito Architects designed for an elderly couple in Sendai (+ slideshow). More about House Yagiyama by Kazuya Saito Architects
Translucent polycarbonate sheets screen off the kitchen and office of this baking school in Seoul (+ slideshow). More about Una's Kitchen by Nordic Bros Design Community
Playing on these swings outside an arts centre in Guimarães, Portugal, generates electricity to power lighting under the floor (+ movie). More about Swing by Moradavaga
Dutch designer Chris Kabel has wrapped this house and studio in Amsterdam with a facade of perforated hexagons that catches the light like a hanging sheet of fabric. More about Bent by Chris Kabel with Abbink X de Haas
Designer Gitta Gschwendtner talks about making her Bodge Bench for the Stepney Green Design Collection and east London's "great creative atmosphere" in this movie filmed by Dezeen. More about "East London has a great creative atmosphere" - Gitta Gschwendtner
Product news: the repeating arches of these colourful chairs designed by Spanish architecture studio Arquitectura-G were inspired by the use of forced perspective in Renaissance paintings. More about Claudio Chair by Arquitectura-G
To create a full-length running track inside this refurbished gym in the Czech Republic, Prague studio QARTA Architektura added a translucent extension that projects out on stilts (+ slideshow). More about Tyršův Stadion by QARTA Architektura
Product news: Austrian designer Robert Stadler's update on the classic bentwood bistro chair by Thonet, synonymous with cafe culture since it appeared in the nineteenth century, has gone into production. More about 107 Chair by Robert Stadler for Thonet
Competition: we're giving readers the chance to win one of five calendars for 2013 featuring illustrations of modern superstitions. More about Competition: five Unfortunately013 calendars to give away
This ridged limestone house by Athens studio decaArchitecture faces out over the edge of a cliff on the Greek island of Milos (+ slideshow). More about VNC House in Milos by decaArchitecture
Italian designer Guido Garotti worked with traditional ceramicists to create a hand-painted vase with the appearance of a stereoscopic image and a pair of road signs that look like decorative plates (+ slideshow). More about Deviazione and 3Dzionale by Guido Garotti
The top floor rooms of this house in Japan by Tato Architects are contained inside sheds that sit on the roof (+ slideshow). More about House in Yamasaki by Tato Architects
Product news: Berlin-based designer Uli Budde placed a flat disc above the bulb of this lamp so that it looks like a hot air balloon taking flight. More about Balloon by Uli Budde for Vertigo Bird
News: China will produce as many world-class designers as Japan within 20 years, according to Hong Kong-based industrial designer Michael Young. More about “China is a dream scenario for a designer” - Michael Young