The Pixel Building

Pixel Building by Studio 505

Featuring a distinctive pixelated façade, the Pixel Building - designed by studio505 - is Australia’s first prototype carbon neutral office building.

C.Wonder opens in New York City

C.Wonder is a new women's lifestyle shop on Spring Street in SoHo, New York City. Founded by Chris Burch, co-founder of women's apparel brand Tory Burch, C. Wonder shares stylistic similarities to the contemporary brand, but includes housewares and retails at lower prices, from $10 - $200.

The Dog House at The Marvel Room

Mungo & Maud Rope Collar

Taking residence on the first floor of the Brown Thomas flagship store in Dublin, The Marvel Room is showcasing The Dog House: a boutique collection of dog accessories, coats, leads and collars.

To officially launch the opening of The Dog House at The Marvel Room, a dogwalk was held at the store - where pampered canines modelled the new collection down a dog-friendly runway.

HBL Blog of the Week: How To Be A Retronaut

How To Be A Retronaut

Vintage style blog How To Be A Retronaut comes with the tagline, "The past is a foreign country. This is your passport." You can browse by time period (from 0-1800, through the world wars up to the 2010s), by cluster (including Victorian, miniature and steampunk) or simply by browsing through new posts. Each is dated as precisely as possible, with recent gems including a 1993 Apple catalogue and a Rolls-Royce Phantom III Cabriolet from 1939.

HBL loves: the atmospheric interiors shots from an Abandoned Russian School.

HBL News: Design for 97.5% by Ford

Ford have announced that they are changing the proportions of their cars - as research shows that humans are growing significantly larger and taller. Ford engineers are now using 3D body data to design the new Focus to fit 97.5 percent of the global population behind its wheel.

HBL Tradeshows: Live from Design Tide Tokyo, Japan

Yard Design at Design Tide Tokyo 2011

WGSN-homebuildlife reports live from Design Tide Tokyo, presenting three emerging trends from the fair:

Fondant pastel shades: These saccharine sweet shades range from chalky through to mid-tones, and are seen across a range of interior products.

Slotted & stacked: Designers are creative and resourceful in their approach to construction, using slot, stack and fold techniques to assemble products.

Transforming furniture: Designers make furniture that is compact, multifunctional and more durable, giving cutomers better value for money.

Subscribers can read the full live report here, and access our full report from the fair next week.

WE MAKE CARPETS for Dutch Design Week 2011

Photography by Amy Kouwenhoven

During Dutch Design Week 2011, Dutch design collective WE MAKE CARPETS presented an exhibition of small-scale carpets crafted from unique materials such as staples, matchsticks and confetti. The carpets were made to fit into a miniature model home, put together using the combined skills of twelve designers and the WE MAKE CARPETS team.

Chaos Sunline Hotel

Chaos Sunline Hotel

Dedicated to anime fans is Chaos Sunline Hotel – also known as Chaos Lounge – in Kamata, Japan. Created by Japanese architect Shogo Kawada, each room has been restyled by a famous manga artist with murals, quirky soft toys and manga paraphernalia.

HBL Book of the Week: Artists' Handmade Houses

The home of Michael Kahn and Leda Livant in Arizona, in Artists' Handmade Houses. Image via The New York Times

Artists' Handmade Houses by Michael Gotkin and Don Freeman (Abrams, 2011) presents 13 artists' homes, photographed by Freeman and each accompanied by a house history written by Gotkin. Freeman is a regular photographer for World of Interiors and the book has been praised for the detail of its content, with the homes within it spanning 75 years from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century.

HBL loves: The spectacular, unique interiors that have been created by some of America's most renowned artists and craftsmen.

Condiment Junkie technologies for Selfridges' Christmas windows

Using breakthrough technology by sound design company Condiment Junkie, London's Selfridges is turning its windows into oversized carol-singing music boxes for Christmas 2011, with the glass of the windows acting as a loudspeaker.

HBL Blog of the Week: Rua 2

Written by Brazilian journalist Fernanda Peruzzo, Rua 2 documents "everyday inspiration from the streets" - of Paris (where Peruzzo lives) and beyond. Coffee shops, public spaces and cultural institutions are favourite locations.

HBL loves: Peruzzo's eye for detail, and straight-forward naming system. For example, a whole post is devoting to exposed tubing, and is named accordingly: Paris, in a café... a tubing to see and appreciate.

HBL Exhibitions: Meet Design, Turin

The outdoor: Dror Benshetrit (Tron Armchair for Cappellini) and Philippe Starck (Archimoon for Flos)

After a successful exhibition in the breathtaking scenery of the historic Market of Trajan in Rome (as pictured here), Meet Design is coming to Turin. From 4th November 4 until 25th January 2012, at Palazzo Bertalazone di San Fermo in Turin, the exhibition will take place - coinciding with celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy.