The holiday season is in full swing, and if you hadn’t noticed, we’ve been touting our deliciously favorite gingerbread structures—in addition to hosting our first-ever Gingerbread House Competition (have you entered yet?!). Of course, the edible edifices that really impress us are the unexpected interpretations of famed buildings and iconic scenes (did you see that Candycrane?) However, anyone who has attempted to build one of these tasty creations knows that it is a far more involved process than those sugary gum drops make it seem. Fortunately, for all those candy architects out there, the team at MOVOTO has developed a gingerbread calculator to aid in all of our cookie construction needs. Read more.

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Architizer is hosting the world’s definitive architectural awards program, with 50+ categories and 200+ jurors. As part of an ongoing series, we’re spotlighting projects that fit into “Plus” categories, including “Sound,” that tap into topical and culturally relevant themes. To see a full list of categories and learn more about the awards, visit architizerawards.com.

This past fall, sound expert Julian Treasure gave a TED talk in which he advocated that it was time “to start designing for our ears”. Communication and exchange, says Treasure, are contingent on the quality of architectural space which accommodate them. Poor architecture and design produce poor sound environments, which can prevent understanding and learning, raise stress levels, and stymie health recuperation. So what’s the answer? Architects must aim to design for all the senses; by doing so, they are not only opening up new ways to experience a building, but also outlining new ways that architecture can affect our lives.

We’re glad to hear that many architects have already taken up the challenge. Sound is an integral component of contemporary design, as these ten projects show. Click through for the best of architecture + sound.

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For those too lazy to plan your weekend activities by checking weather.com obsessively, Zürich-based Micasa LAB has developed the perfect product for you! Using meteorological data from MetOff, the Nebula 12, which dangles from the ceiling like a transparent light fixture, uses liquid nitrogen, WiFi, and high-powered vacuum suction to replicate outside weather patterns up to 48 hours in advance. Read more!

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If products looked anything like the natural resources they come from, we’d be going around in sheep-shaped sweaters and turning on lamps that look like veins of coal. The Swedish architects Anders Berensson and Ulf Mejergren of Visiondivision level out this relationship between raw materials and the designed environment with their design for Chop Stick, a whole-tree snack shack at the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park. Read more!

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Leda Chair

Dalí is known throughout the world as an impresario, iconoclast, and, of course, artist. Upon hearing his name, one pictures the twirled mustache, the eccentric gaze, and, maybe and only then, the sun-shelled, dripping clocks depicted in “Persistence of Memory”. What most people seem to forget, however, is that the Surrealist was much more than his mannered appearance or the fantastic nonsense of his canvases. Outside of the world of painting, Dalí built a repertoire of work ranging from film and literature to  fashion and furniture design, all of which can be seen at a new Dalí exhibition currently on display at the George Pompidou Centre (open until March 25, 2013). To commemorate the show, the My Design showroom in Paris will be exhibiting a line of Salvador Dalí-designed furniture, manufactured by BD Barcelona Design. Read more.

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Product: A set of gold-plated stainless steel Urban Grid earrings and necklace from AMINIMAL Studio. This “mnemonic “jewelry set, which reproduces the Manhattan grid and Central Park in flashy gold, will help you reminisce about great times spent in the Big Apple. The necklace is set on an 18″ chain, the perfect length to spice up any attire!

Designer: AMINIMAL Studio

Retail Price: $50 each ($100 for the set)

Click through to learn how to win!

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Building: Flip House
Architect: Fougeron Architecture
Location: San Francisco, United States
Why We Liked This:

The architects behind the Flip House must have had their hands full when they first  set their eyes on the run-of-the-mill San Francisco home they were charged with, well, flipping. Though they had they work cut out for them, they succeeded in every way, gutting the old house and reconnecting the residence to the city beyond. They did this by reorienting the focus of the house to the rear of the site, installing a new facade consisting of angled glass volumes that play off Frisco’s famous bay windows and which drink in light and views. The interiors were “rationalized” by the integration of an open floor layout and a single staircase core that linked all of the house’s three floors. See more of this project in the Architizer database here.

You think you’ve got a better project? Submit it for an Architizer A+ Award!

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In a city flush with all kinds of cultural outlets, New York has only one architecture bookstore. Just one, and that’s Van Alen Books. The handsome, compact bookshop lies at the foot of the Van Alen Institute’s headquarters on West 22nd Street in Chelsea. Step inside, and you’ll have to resist the urge to not buy everything in sight. Monographs, photography books, and career-spanning tomes abound, as do slimmer, attractive volumes on architecture, art, and aesthetics.

David Vanderhoff, manager of Van Alen Books, sent us this great gift guide featuring his best picks of the year, including books on Eero Saarinen’s career as a furniture designer and on how to design the quintessential Japanese home.  They’ll all make great gift for the architect/designer in your life. Don’t forget, all of the twelve volumes can be found at the bookshop! Click through for the complete gift guide!

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By John Cary, founding editor of Public Interest Design and research fellow at the University of Minnesota College of Design

PublicInterestDesign.org, in association with research partner the University of Minnesota College of Design and funding partner Tandus Flooring, introduces the Public Interest Design 100. This first-of-its-kind list highlights 100 individuals or teams working at the intersection of design and service in the U.S. (An international list will come out later.) Our selection not only includes architects, but also product developers, educators, policymakers, and promoters, whom we’ve selected from 10 different categories.

Although we made every effort to provide a balanced and unbiased view, lists of this sort are inherently imperfect and subjective, as well as far more representative than comprehensive. We understand and emphasize that. More than anything, however, we honor and thank these people for their commitment to dignifying design for all. Click through to see the Public Interest Design 100!

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As a part of the American Giving Awards, Chase selected 25 charitable groups to compete for the chance to win $2 million in grant funding. The organizations are divided into five categories: Heroes and Leaders, Educators and Mentors, Youth Developers, Champions of Health and Wellness, and Community Builders. In each category, the nonprofit that receives the most votes wins.

We’re happy to report that Architecture For Humanity’s ”Designed To Move“ campaign is currently in 2nd place in the “Community Builders” category, with voting ending tonight at 11:59 p.m. EST. Click through to read more and to learn how to vote!

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