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…

Hiroshima based UID Architects studio was founded in 2003 by Keisuke Maeda. Clearly an advocate of designing in section and 3D, every project pushes the boundaries of solid and void, inside and outside, public and private. I think this is what happens when architecture and landscape architecture make babies…

How’s this for an impressive temporary structure? The architects at modulorbeat, along with students from the Münster School of Architecture, designed then physically built this urban jewel in just six weeks. The brief was to design a temporary pavilion to sit beside the LWL State Museum. The pavilion hosted workshops discussing the craftsmanship of the gold artifacts being exhibited in the Museum…

Humble materials considered beautifully, intricate patterns on the shopfront, pristine joinery pieces that double up as room dividers – these are just some of the reasons I was instantly drawn to the IRO hair salon in Osaka, Japan. Designed by Reiichi Ikeda in collaboration with graphic designer Yuma Harada of UMA/design farm, this deceivingly simple and elegant interior is the epitome of Japanese design – where everything is perfectly balanced, restrained, elegant, honest and “just so”…

Melbourne-based artist Kylie Stillman creates mesmerising three-dimensional works carved from layered paper and wood. Her sculptures are crafted from the discarded materials which have their own predetermined textures, forms, sizes and past lives. There’s a clear reference to nature in all Stillman’s pieces which portray shapes of birds, plants and trees…