Why do we make houses out of bricks? Traditionally, it's because they are small enough to be made, carried and laid by hand. Thus a brick wall is inscribed with the energy and skill of its builders.

"When I’m working in textiles or ceramics, people never ask whether the work has a female touch," says Hella Jongerius. "But when I'm designing furniture, they suddenly start asking, 'Do you think this is a woman's approach?'"

Richard Serra has completed the world’s largest sculptural installation at the Guggenheim in Bilbao, and it forces us to see the building in an entirely new light.

Casa Poli – so called because it is a poly-purpose building – clings to a rocky peninsula on Chile’s Pacific coast, 500km south of Santiago.

"Bonjour. Jean Nouvel. Je suis l'architecte." And with that, the security guard raises the barrier, allowing Nouvel to drive his wife's ageing 3 Series BMW on to the construction site at Quai Branly, which lies beside the Seine and beneath the Eiffel Tower.

Antwerp's sex trade is not only legal, it's interior designed. Developer Franky De Coninck commissioned leading Belgian designer Quinze & Milan to fit out Villa Tinto; the first purpose-built brothel in the city's new "tolerance zone".

This year's biennale focused on the cultural significance of polders, which can apparently be seen in Vermeer, Johann Cruyff and Boney M...

Charles Jencks' latest book reinforces the idea of architecture as picture. But ultimately it's just finding shapes in clouds.

"New Yorkers, famed for our refined tastes and appreciation for the best of everything, are the perfect audience for New York Design Week, a showcase for contemporary society's highest quality and most innovative home furnishings."