Today we like: sex toys

A bright pink sex toy-cum-furniture piece that can be mounted like a vaulting horse is among this week's most-read stories on Dezeen. Other popular pleasure devices in our archives include a blown-glass clockwork vibrator, a dildo with a compartment for storing the ashes of a deceased partner and a device that doubles as a pendant necklace. Explore more design for sex »

Today we like: champagne

It's Global Champagne Day, so we're raising a coupe to designs created for the bubbly beverage. Our archive includes a Hong Kong bar, a combined champagne and canapé holder, and a glass moulded from Kate Moss' left breast. See more design for champagne »

Today we like: coffee

Today is International Coffee Day, so celebrate by browsing the unusual and innovative designs for caffeinated drinks on Dezeen. A set of cups made from used coffee grounds, a concrete espresso machine and packaging for coffee-flavoured beer all feature in our archive. See more design for coffee »

Today we like: design using bacteria

Designer Ori Elisar has developed a bacterial ink and grown typographical symbols in a petri dish. Here are more stories featuring microbes, including a lamp powered by glowing octopus bacteria (pictured), clothes grown from single-cell organisms and cheese made from the sweat and tears of celebrities.

See all our stories about design using bacteria »

Today we like: buildings on stilts

Stilts allow architects to build on difficult terrains, or to simply offer their clients better views of the surroundings. Recent examples include a woodland writer's cabin and a student-built viewing platform, while popular projects from the archive include a clifftop house near Sydney and an elevated tea house in Japan. See more buildings on stilts »

Today we like: floating architecture

Floating architecture is becoming more common as architects explore ways to make the most of picturesque locations, deal with rising floodwaters, and alleviate pressure on available land. Examples range from tiny cabins to entire cities, and include the UK's "first amphibious house". See more stories about floating architecture »

Today we like: weathering steel

Weathering steel – often known by the brand name Corten – continues to remain popular with architects. The pre-rusted metal, which is created when chemicals are used to speed up the oxidisation process, has recently been used to clad a Brisbane community centre and a mountaintop family retreat. The rust forms a weatherproof layer of protection. See all our stories about weathering steel »

Today we like: handmade bricks

Architects are beginning to rediscover the potential of handmade bricks, which offer wider variations of colour and texture than their industrially produced cousins. Recent examples include an asymmetric house in Belgium, a canal-side development in London and a housing complex in Rwanda. Explore more handmade brick architecture »

Today we like: perforated metal facades

Cladding a building with perforated metal is an easy way for architects to enliven the facade of an otherwise simple structure, like this honeycomb-patterned office in Germany.

Other examples on Dezeen include a truck-driving school in Paris, a water-cooling facility in Ohio and a parking garage in Miami. See all our stories about perforated metal facades »

Today we like: kinetic architecture and moving buildings

This week Bjarke Ingels unveiled plans to enliven Battersea Power Station with electric sparks (after designing a power plant that blows smoke rings) while Henning Larsen completed a building with a moving facade.

Here's a reminder of all our stories about architecture that moves, including a building that flaps its wings like a giant insect and a house with rotating bedrooms. See all our stories about moving architecture »