Here’s yet another refined and bookishly elegant house set in tropical India from Studio Mumbai. Like their award-winning Palmyra House, it is innovatively designed for natural cooling in a hot land.

The  Zen-like sparse and delightful courtyard space almost makes you forget that it’s based on bare earth, which is not usually thought of as one of the most refined of landscaping materials. But, as with many designs by Mumbai Studio, a rethink happens. The simple ground brings a refined sensuality to this very organized courtyard with its modulated light and hand crafted stairs — via Home Design Find

Leatherworker Tom Banwell makes amazing masks, costumes, and mad inventions with a steampunk bent. I own one of his rayguns and it’s one of my favorites. His blog has really thorough build notes on his projects, as well as many examples of his lovely, lovely work — via Boing Boing

The site is 600 square meter land area which located in medium dense, semi detached, without any physical and building typology from one and another.

The client came to TWS & Partners with a particular vision of garden house, which can maximize a correlation to outdoor space from within. From client’s brief of room program, come to quite huge area of 800 square meter, which should be located within limited site — via ArchDaily

The housing project, designed by Barré Lambot Architectes, continues and finishes the existing residential area, consisting of – The creation of an urban courtyard North / South to organize the site into two blocks and provide continuity in inter-district connecting the two existing ways – The creation of a public footpath through the operation – Creating a common courtyard to contain parking spaces and garages needed for the housing – Construction of a kindergarten, dedicated to the neighbourhood and located at the corner of two streets – The establishment of thresholds or gardens, before all the individual units also avoiding air parking — via ArchDaily

The major Italian watchmaker Officine Panerai did not present anything revolutionary at SIHH 2011. Instead, they kept building on success of their last year’s exhibition. Among such successful updates was the new Panerai Radiomir 8 Days Ceramica PAM 384 hand-wound watch.

The new model is presented in a large black case, which is made of zirconium oxide powder — a material, widely used not only by watchmakers, but also by automotive and aerospace industries — via World Watch Review

This Japanese house is as easy-looking as it gets – at least from the outside. This modest-seeming project is stunningly executed, using minimal materials with a strategic precision that surpasses their ordinary potential and just keeps going — via Dornob

The Swiss watchmaker has issued another iteration of its cash-cow — the Bell & Ross BR 123 Vintage Original Carbon automatic pilot’s watch.

The model has undergone a number of face-lifts, and now its 41.00 mm round case is delivered in a black PVD-coated stainless steel — via World Watch Review

The New World Centre, part of the New World Symphony America’s Orchestral Academy, opened its doors this week. Located in the heart of Miami Beach, the music education and performance facility is the first purpose-built home for the New World Symphony founded by artistic director Michael Tilson Thomas.

In terms of design the building’s exterior portrays a quiet, almost tamed Frank Gehry. The rectangle shaped white building expresses Gehry’s well known bends and folds within its interior — glimpses of which are visible through the main entrance east facade 80 foot high glass curtain wall — via ArchDaily