David Adjaye’s seven-volume taxonomy of African cities covers settlements in forests, mountains, grasslands and deserts. But is this huge collection of the architect’s photographs guilty of overlooking the problems of mass urbanisation on this understudied continent?

French designer Sibylle Delclaux has stripped down high-tech electronics to their basic elements to create an elegant, functional and intuitive range of products that has educational as well as practical value.

Herzog & de Meuron’s sensitive yet experimental renovation has created a new identity for a museum in their hometown of Basel.

You’ve only got until Sunday to see Building the Revolution, the Royal Academy’s exhibition on Soviet art and architecture. The show, focused on the years between 1915 and 1935, surveys the monumental ambition of the Russian constructivists. Here’s our review.

Ryue Nishizawa has brought the outside indoors to create several new “worlds” in which to showcase the art work of a Japanese master.

A new exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York celebrates the Commissioners’ Plan for New York, now 200 years old, as a revolutionary document and a metaphor for openness

French designers Thibault Zimmerman and Lucie Thomas (Zim & Zou) made Icon a neon-coloured paper hamburger for issue 104: The Future of Food. We had to settle on just one shot for the cover, but you can see more photos of their incredible paper-craft creation by clicking here.

Fuse Atelier’s sculptural house on a narrow site makes clever use of cantilevered upper rooms to create a surprisingly large interior.

The February issue of Icon is devoted to ‘Food’. We look at the overlooked world of food design – why are there Alessi jugs and Starck lemon squeezers in MoMA’s design collection, but no Kinder Surprise eggs? – and at the architects and designers who ask important questions about why industrially produced food looks the way it does.

January marks a bright start to the year in design and architecture. Icon look forward to the Shenzhen and Hong Kong Biennale, Jerszy Seymour at the Vitra Design Museum, IMM Cologne and Maison & Objet, a display of artists’ zines at London’s ICA and a conceptual exhibition on recycling at MAXXI in Rome.

Daniel Libeskind drives a steel wedge through a museum and the heart of German history.

The Icon team are taking a break over the festive period but we'll be back in 2012 to bring you more of the very best in international design, architecture and culture. Happy holidays!