We all know the world is a complex place and this week’s Design Line sees everyone, from governments and funding bodies to art collectives and AI, grappling with how to navigate this complexity – some, we feel, are doing a far better job than others.

Snøhetta’s workers file for a union in New York, a discovery of microbes that can digest plastic, and Norman Foster by Norman Foster feature on Design Line.

Questions of race, gender and representation are discussed in Design Line this week, as design discusses racism at Milan Design Week and architecture honours Yasmeen Lari and Diébédo Francis Kéré.

Designer Ineke Hans shares what she learnt from the second life of her recycled plastic chair Rex in Learning from Failure.

Disegno reveals the secrets of Forward, Nike’s years-long confidential research project culminating in a new material made from plastic bottles.

What will the Anthropocene leave behind? From Disegno 33, Lara Chapman unearths the fossils of the future.

Another major fashion house rebrands, the UN makes a declaration on architecture and climate change, and 3D-printed balance benches feature on Design Line this week.

Material design studio Polyfloss is working with recyclers, artists and craftspeople in Antananarivo, Madagascar, to spin waste plastic into a soft and flexible textile.

Here comes the Design Line, featuring news from 3 Days of Design, the story of the scandal rocking The Bartlett, and the discovery of worms that eat plastic waste.

Designer Ineke Hans has teamed up with furniture newcomer Circuform to relaunch her injection-moulded REX chair as a closed loop product made from recycled plastic.