Pakistani artist Hamra Abbas uses a wide range of media – paper collage, painting, ephemeral soft plasticine sculptures and video are all a part of her cunning toolkit. I am particularly drawn to her Idols series in which Abbas mixes miniatures with exaggerated forms, and realism with pop art. This impressive collection of work in progress are blown-up digital photographs of miniature clay sculptures…

If there’s one thing Australian architects are really bloody good at, it would have to be The House. Houses Awards recently announced their 2013 shortlist for 125 residential projects across the eight categories. So many fantastic projects by amazing local architects, beautifully captured by our talented photographers. Australia’s got (some serious) talent! Here are just a few of my favourite projects…

If I had to nominate a favourite typology in domestic architecture (it’s a question we’re all asked most days), it would be the courtyard house. And this one, by São Paulo’s UNA Arquitetos, is a cracker. A good courtyard house does many things at once – holds the edges of a site, opens up a kernel of space in the middle, cradles privacy within, permits views across into other rooms and in so doing enlivens opposite ends of the home. I could go on…

During the recent Milan Design Week, Danish Chromatism presented a selection of traditional and contemporary designs from 30 Danish companies in a playful and unusual chromatic interpretation. The exhibition was curated by Signe Byrdal Terenziani, designed by GamFratesi, and presented at the Triennale di Milano design museum, allowing visitors to experience a different relationship between classic and modern products…

Inspired by the ghosts of the former inner city nightclub’s first patrons, Captain Melville in Melbourne was recently refurbished and re-invented as a restaurant and bar by the local studio Breathe Architecture. Previously known as Mac’s Hotel, the building dates back to 1853 – the time when the first settlers descended on Australian shores. In the spirit of this historic narrative, the fit-out is conceptually based on the scene of mass occupation of Australia in the 1850′s by immigrants chasing gold in the Australian Gold Rush…