Milan 2016: Dutch designer Bastiaan Buijs' latest sex-inspired furniture piece is a BDSM version of Gerrit Rietveld's iconic Red and Blue Chair, which aims to "shine light" on sexual taboos. More about Bastiaan Buijs turns Rietveld chair into kinky BDSM device
Opinion: initiatives like What Design Can Do's Refugee Challenge encourage designers to believe that they can solve international problems that go far beyond their reach, says Ruben Pater. More about "Treating the refugee crisis as a design problem is problematic"
Brooklyn's first supertall skyscraper by New York studio SHoP Architects has received the go ahead for construction. More about SHoP's supertall Brooklyn tower gets green light
Milan 2016: food and drinks giant PepsiCo is expanding its design team from 100 to 160 and opening studios around the world, following the success of its inaugural studio in New York (+ slideshow). More about PepsiCo to hire more designers to build "a critical mass of design people"
Architecture studio S Plus One has built a pair of matching micro homes in a Japanese village, one clad in cedar and the other clad with pine. More about Twin micro homes by S Plus One are both finished in different woods
MVRDV has used a pioneering glass technology to replace the brick facade of a former townhouse in Amsterdam with a transparent replica, more suited to the building's new use as a Chanel boutique. More about MVRDV replaces Chanel store's traditional facade with glass bricks that are "stronger than concrete"
Milan 2016: plans for an oversized armchair that would be formed inside a growing tree trunk and a massive logo that changes colour with the seasons featured in Dutch designer Maarten Baas's New! Newer! Newest! exhibition (+ slideshow). More about Maarten Baas proposes tree-grown armchair at New! Newer! Newest! exhibition
New York's Museum of Modern Art is closing its architecture and design galleries for refurbishment, but the institution is unable to confirm that they will reopen in the same format. More about Future uncertain for MoMA's architecture and design galleries
Milan 2016: Italian design studio Tipic has created a smart kitchen countertop that integrates various interactive functions including a sink that appears out of the surface with a simple gesture (+ movie). More about Tipic's smart Tulèr kitchen features a sink that appears with the wave of a hand
Milan 2016: students at Design Academy Eindhoven no longer aspire to be famous designers and instead want to work in industry, according to designer Andrea Trimarchi of Formafantasma, who teaches at the school. More about Design Academy Eindhoven students no longer seek fame, says Andrea Trimarchi
Milan 2016: Dutch designer Bertjan Pot has created a colourful textile to upholster Cassina's Utrecht armchair, designed by Gerrit Rietveld in 1935. More about Bertjan Pot designs bespoke Jacquard textile for Cassina's iconic Utrecht armchair
Seven skyscrapers with flower-shaped plans are dotted across this residential complex in Singapore, which was completed by Zaha Hadid's firm before her untimely death last month (+ slideshow). More about Zaha Hadid's D'Leedon complex in Singapore features towers with petal-shaped plans
Beverly Hills City Council has unanimously approved plans for a driverless-car programme that could replace the affluent Los Angeles neighbourhood's public transport system. More about Beverly Hills to replace public transport with self-driving cars
Comments update: Pritzker Prize-winning architect Philip Johnson was an impassioned supporter of Nazism, according to a new book, but should this change our appreciation of his architecture? More about "You can easily be a bad person and a great architect"
Swiss firm Christ & Gantenbein has added a new gallery building to the Kunstmuseum Basel, featuring a graduated grey-brick facade and a monumental marble staircase (+ slideshow). More about Christ & Gantenbein completes new monochrome building for Kunstmuseum Basel
Milan 2016: British designer Jasper Morrison's new collection for Swiss brand Vitra includes a modular sofa, a cubic-looking armchair and a simple plastic chair (+ slideshow). More about Jasper Morrison presents "super-normal" furniture collection for Vitra
Zaha Hadid Architects has announced it will continue to practice without its late founder and figurehead, who died suddenly last month. More about Zaha Hadid Architects to carry on without its founder
The architecture college at Washington University in St Louis has announced it plans to prohibit students from using styrene in their models, citing health risks related to the chemical that is used to make foam boards. More about US architecture school intends to ban use of styrene in model-making
Vietnamese studio HA has completed a monastery-inspired home for a Buddhist family, featuring concrete-brick walls that are animated by patterns of light and shadow (+ slideshow). More about Zen House is a home for three Buddhists organised around a light-filled atrium
Milan 2016: this cordless lamp generates its own electricity from bio ethanol, creating enough power to additionally charge a smartphone. More about Candela light by Francisco Gomez Paz combines eco-friendly fuel with LEDs and a phone charger