Competition: Dezeen and Areaware have teamed up to give readers the chance to win one of five white Balancing Blocks sets of wooden toys, signed by the designers Fort Standard. More about Competition: five sets of Balancing Blocks by Fort Standard to give away
News: Apple is to bring its hardware and software design teams closer together as part of a major shake-up of its management team. The move follows claims that the company is "a little bit behind" in integrating industrial and digital design and criticism of its attachment to skeuomorphic design. More about Jonathan Ive to lead both hardware and software design at Apple
A simple uniform of Irish blue limestone dresses these four mono-pitched extensions to a rural cottage on the south coast of Ireland by London firm Niall McLaughlin Architects (+ slideshow). More about House at Goleen by Niall McLaughlin Architects
Dozens of square windows puncture the corrugated steel shell of this barn-like Buddhist meditation centre in a rural part of the Netherlands by Dutch architects Bureau SLA (+ slideshow). More about Buddhist Meditation Centre Metta Vihara by Bureau SLA
London firm Zaha Hadid Architects has completed a 330,000-square-metre retail, office and entertainment complex in Beijing (+ slideshow). More about Galaxy Soho by Zaha Hadid Architects
World Architecture Festival: in this movie we filmed, architect Vo Trong Nghia explains how the house he designed with a vertical garden on its facade incorporates natural daylighting and ventilation systems that are invaluable in Vietnam, which experiences heavy rain and high temperatures, but often suffers day-long power shortages. More about "In Vietnam we have problems with energy" - Vo Trong Nghia on Stacking Green
In the next movie filmed for the Stepney Green Design Collection we curated, east London designer Donna Wilson talks about the knitted tree with creatures nestled inside it that she contributed. More about Donna Wilson on her knitted tree for the Stepney Green Design Collection
Japanese studio Schemata Architecture Office cast concrete in a fabric bag to give the counter of this confectionary kiosk in Tokyo the texture of a boiled sweet (+ slideshow). More about Papabubble at Tokyo Daimaru by Schemata Architecture Office
News: the yacht that Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs designed for himself before he died this time last year with interiors by French designer Philippe Starck is now complete and has been unveiled at the Dutch shipyard where it was built. More about Steve Jobs' yacht completed
Designers including Marco Dessi, Tomáš Král and Adrien Rovero created experimental mirrors for an exhibition organised by Adam Štěch of Czech design firm OKOLO and curator Klára Šumová during Designblok 2012 in Prague this month. More about The Mirror exhibition by OKOLO and Klára Šumová
News: Finnish design company Marimekko's classic floral print will appear on the livery of two Finnair aeroplanes as part of a collaboration that also includes a range of textiles and tableware for use onboard. More about Marimekko makeover for Finnish airline
News: Sebastian Wrong has resigned as design director of Established & Sons, becoming the fourth of five founding partners to exit the British design brand. More about Sebastian Wrong resigns from Established & Sons
The tree-like sculptures growing out of the tables in this canteen by Spanish architects Estudio Nômada are meant to remind diners of eating outdoors. More about A Cantina by Estudio Nômada
Visitors to this installation in northern Denmark by German artist Thilo Frank are invited to walk through a contorted loop of timber while listening to the sounds of their voices and footsteps played back to them (+ slideshow). More about EKKO by Thilo Frank
Dutch Design Week: designer Doreen Westphal has created a lamp with a metal stem that can be positioned upright or at an angle against its magnetic concrete base, currently on show at Dutch Design Week. More about Magno Tube Lamp by Doreen Westphal
Hungarian studio Budapesti Műhely has restored the interior of one of Budapest's oldest bathhouses by replacing the vaulted walls of the warm water hall and shower room, leaving the bubble-shaped backs exposed (+ slideshow). More about Renovation of the Rácz Thermal Bath by Budapesti Műhely
Interieur 2012: French designer Matali Crasset has created a collection of concrete furniture, including a lamp shaped like an interwar military listening device. More about Concrete collection by Matali Crasset for Concrete by LCDA
Shoes that undergo physical changes to represent stages in a life cycle - from floating in amniotic fluid to rebirth through fire - form this collection by London designer Benjamin John Hall (+ movie). More about Birth, Life, Death and Resurrection shoes by Benjamin John Hall
In this final instalment of clips that Dezeen filmed for the Design Museum Collection App, director of the Design Museum Deyan Sudjic discusses a wide variety of objects including the Singer sewing machine, Shepard Fairey‘s Obama Poster, the AK-47 rifle and the Mothercare nappy. More about Movie: Design Museum Collection App
This hill-top house by Portuguese architect Jorge Graca Costa was designed for a professional surfer and his family (+ slideshow). More about U-House by Jorge Graca Costa