News Feed

Dezeen Wire: Elle Decoration editor Michelle Ogundehin has declared British furniture brand Habitat “as good as dead” in an article on the magazine’s blog, stating “I give it two years max” – read the blog post Ogundehin says that the retailer, which closed all but three of its UK stores earlier this year, failed to react to competition within the market and “increasingly misunderstood ‘Lifestyle’,” its key selling point. She claims that Habitat has lost its original focus on innovation and simplicity, and rubbishes plans by current owners the Home Retail Group to sell Habitat products at Argos and Homebase outlets, adding that their one remaining interest is to “flog s…

Drivers along a coastal road in Iceland can now stop at a curved concrete service station styled like an American diner by architects KRADS of Iceland and Denmark. (more…) View the full article

Dezeenwire: UK retailer Marks & Spencer has hired Dutch designer Marcel Wanders to create a range of gifts and homewares, the Financial Times reports. Read the article | All our stories about Marcel Wanders </img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

An exhibition of work by Italian design maestro Ettore Sottsass is on show at Friedman Benda gallery in New York. (more…) View the full article

London studio Gundry & Ducker have completed the interior for a Thai restaurant in Soho, London, featuring moulded oak panelling. (more…) </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

Dezeenwire: London mayor Boris Johnson plans to disolve the London Development Agency - Financial Times </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

Photographer Roland Halbe has sent us his photographs of a chemical laboratory at the Universidad de Alcalá by Madrid architect Héctor Fernández-Elorza. (more…) </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

Product news: Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta showed this range of blankets in New York. (more...) View the full article

Systematic racism is prevalent in architecture, says Sylvia Aehle, a Part 2 architectural assistant in London, who describes her experience as a black female in the profession. Read more View the full article

This beauty salon with faceted walls is located within a hotel in central Singapore, and was designed by Japanese studio Isolation Unit. (more…) </img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

Plants adapted to thrive in rocky crevices will take over the facade of this tower for Nantes by French architect Edouard François. (more…) </img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

Dezeenwire: Jonathan Glancey interviews architect I. M. Pei, who was recently awarded the Royal Gold Medal for architecture - Guardian. See also: our Dezeenwire story announcing the award. </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

Milan 2010: with half the design world stuck in Milan thanks to the volcano and the other half unable to get there, we thought this would be a good time to republish The Regional Blanket by Vík Prjónsdóttir of Iceland. (more…) </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

Designed in Hackney: accessories like lamps and dividers attach to this desk system by Tomás Alonso through a gap in the surface of the table. (more…) View the full article

Milan 2010: Slovenian designer Nika Zupanc presented a chair decorated with rose patterns in Milan earlier this month. (more…) </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

Cologne 2011: designer François Dumas of the Netherlands presented this collection of chairs made from bent plastic rods as part of [D3] Design Talents at imm cologne in Germany. (more…) </img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

Architects Gundry & Ducker created a pub inside a cardboard box inside the crypt of a London church. (more…) </img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

Architects Grimshaw have completed an installation for London department store John Lewis that’s made of suspended cardboard tubes. (more…) </img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

London studio 42 architects have created an installation of spiralling black tubes for UK fashion retailer Topshop. (more…) </img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

We’ve now got the full range of the Uniform Wares 100 series watches in stock on Dezeen Watch Store, including black and red (above), dark green and teal (below), and grey and yellow (bottom). (more…) </img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

Milan 2010: at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile last week French designer Matali Crasset presented a guest bed that folds into a coat stand for Italian brand Campeggi (more…) </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

Slideshow: the concrete walls of this church in Tenerife are roughly lined with crushed volcanic rocks. (more…) </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

Dutch designers Tjep. have reduced part of a mass produced Ikea chair to a skeletal form to evoke the receding state of the global economy. (more…) </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

An exhibition about the work of structural engineer Cecil Balmond of Arup is on show at the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery in Japan. (more…) </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article

Greek architect Aristeide Antonasto has designed a metal-clad extension on stilts for a courtyard in central Athens. (more…) </img></img> </img> </img> </img> </img> </img> View the full article