News: this Saturday the V&A museum opens its new permanent gallery for furniture, displaying objects from the middle ages to the present day by designers including Thomas Chippendale, Charles and Ray Eames and Ron Arad. More about V&A museum opens new furniture gallery
News: buildings can be "more beautiful than nature" according to the UK's planning minister, who is calling for an area of countryside twice the size of Greater London to be built on in order to solve the housing crisis. More about "Built environment more beautiful than nature" – UK planning minister
London studio Nicholas Hare Architects used a palette of yellow brick, bronzed aluminium and unfinished timber to construct this secondary school in Essex, England (+ slideshow). More about Cornelius Vermuyden School by Nicholas Hare Architects
News: the lighting of the London 2012 Olympic Cauldron was conceived as a religious ceremony, designer Thomas Heatherwick has explained. More about "The Olympic Games is phenomenally religious" - Thomas Heatherwick
News: the UK has become the most powerful nation in the world in terms of cultural influence following the success of the London 2012 Olympics, according to Monocle magazine's annual Soft Power Survey. More about UK overtakes US as nation with strongest cultural influence
When Zaha Hadid Architects' 330,000-square-metre Galaxy Soho complex opened in Beijing last month our readers were left guessing how it relates to the surrounding neighbourhood. This set of images by photographers Hufton + Crow shows just that (+ slideshow). More about Galaxy Soho by Zaha Hadid Architects photographed by Hufton + Crow
French artist Olivier Grossetête used three enormous helium balloons to float a rope bridge over a lake in Tatton Park, a historic estate in north-west England. More about Pont de Singe bridge by Olivier Grossetête
News: UK firm Zaha Hadid Architects has been selected to design the new national stadium for Japan. More about Zaha Hadid to design Japan National Stadium
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
The locker room at the London School of Economics is now a village of cabinets with house-shaped profiles and bold graphics. More about The Locker Room by Belsize Architects
To prove that germs aren't all bad, Paris-based studio Bold-design came up with an activity kit that uses bacteria to turn sand from the beach into stone souvenirs (+ slideshow). More about Memorabilia Factory by Bold-design
News: journalist Kieran Long has been appointed senior curator of contemporary architecture, design and digital at the V&A museum in London. More about Kieran Long appointed senior curator of architecture, design and digital at V&A
A home and studio for a photographer are contained inside this Corten steel bunker that Undercurrent Architects has squeezed beside and beneath the arch of a railway viaduct in south London. More about Archway Studios by Undercurrent Architects
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
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
News: architect David Adjaye has topped a list of Britain's most influential black people, ahead of Olympic athlete Mo Farah, the shadow business secretary and the Archbishop of York. More about Architect David Adjaye tops list of UK's most influential black people
Hackney studio Levitt Bernstein has won a housing design competition with a proposal to turn disused parking garages into tiny pop-up homes. More about Pop-up housing in garages by Levitt Bernstein
News: architect Maurice Shapero has released plans for a cross-shaped skyscraper on the waterfront in Liverpool, England. More about Cross-shaped skyscraper planned for Liverpool
Product news: these candle holders by French designer Marie Dessuant come with handy inner compartments and were designed for British furniture brand Another Country. More about Another Ceramic Candlestick by Marie Dessuant for Another Country
This terrace of eight houses by Peter Barber Architects is clad with timber shingles to match the neighbouring fences and sheds of a housing estate in east London (+ slideshow). More about Hannibal Road Gardens by Peter Barber Architects