Black-painted timber contrasts with clean white window frames on the walls of this cube-shaped weekend home in Normandy, France, by Paris studio Beckmann-N'Thépé Architectes (+ slideshow). More about House in Normandy with blackened timber walls by Beckmann-N'Thépé Architectes
Trees line the protruding balconies of this concrete house in Tokyo by Japanese studio Ryo Matsui Architects (+ slideshow). More about Four-storey house with tree-lined balconies by Ryo Matsui Architects
A faceted roof made from a shimmering copper-bronze alloy covers this extension by British firm Emrys Architects to a pair of Georgian townhouses in London (+ slideshow). More about Office extension with a faceted copper roof by Emrys Architects
An angular steel canopy covered in plants wraps around this refurbished youth and community centre in the Sydney suburb of Waterloo by Australian architects Collins and Turner (+ slideshow). More about Angular steel canopy covers refurbished community centre by Collins and Turner
Architecture studio Juri Troy has designed this eco-friendly timber house as a family home in rural Austria (+ slideshow). More about Passive timber house in Austria by Juri Troy Architects
We've reached the final edition of our festive A-Zdvent calendar of architects, which wouldn't be complete without Zaha Hadid. The architect's recent built projects include the Heydar Aliyev Centre in Azerbaijan (pictured) and a new exhibition space for the Serpentine Gallery in London, but she is also working on a stadium for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and a Miami skyscraper.
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Ma Yansong of Beijing studio MAD is the penultimate architect to appear in this year's A-Zdvent calendar. Featured here is his blob-shaped Ordos Museum in the Gobi desert, which is clad in polished metal tiles to resist sandstorms. The firm also recently presented a masterplan for China where buildings are designed to look like mountains and public spaces overlap with the natural landscape.
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We've reached the final day of our festive countdown, so in the first of three final posts today here's Chinese architect Li Xiaodong, whose projects include a school that bridges a creek between two castles and a library clad with firewood (pictured).
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Japanese firm Atelier HAKO Architects used concrete dotted with formwork impressions for both the internal and external surfaces of these stacked residences in a suburb of Tokyo (+ slideshow). More about Concrete homes patterned with formwork holes by Atelier HAKO Architects
Panoramic views of the dramatic Icelandic landscape are offered from this holiday home near Reykjavik by local studio PK Arkitektar (+ slideshow). More about Árborg House by PK Arkitektar overlooks an Icelandic glacial valley
Behind today's A-Zdvent calendar window is Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld, who we recently interviewed about his new monograph and exhibition in New York. We've also featured a string of impressive São Paulo residences by the architect, including a house with a floating spiral staircase made from Brazilian ironwood and a home made up of seven boxy volumes, all made using different materials (pictured).
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Japanese practice k/o design studio has designed a bulbous silver building that adjoins a red-tiled rectilinear tower at the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music in Kawasaki (+ slideshow). More about Silver dome constructed at a Japanese music college
Today's A-Zdvent calendar features Rafael Viñoly and his Firstsite gallery wrapped in golden metal. New York architect Vinoly also made the headlines this summer after reports surfaced that his Walkie Talkie skyscraper in London was reflecting light intense enough to melt cars.
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Architects Takero Shimazaki and Charlie Luxton have renovated a 1960s house outside London to create a modern home that features black-painted brickwork, large windows and a new angular roof (photographs by Edmund Sumner + slideshow). More about Black brick house in the woods by Takero Shimazaki and Charlie Luxton
The next letter in our A-Zdvent calendar is U, for Dutch architecture firm UNStudio. Pictured is Galleria Centercity, a department store in South Korea, and the architects have also recently completed a shopping centre in China with over 42,000 shiny silver balls attached to its facade.
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News: Amazon has gained planning permission for a new Seattle headquarters that will feature a trio of glass orbs containing a jungle of mature trees and tropical plants (+ slideshow). More about Amazon wins approval for Seattle headquarters inside giant orb-shaped greenhouses
News: Rem Koolhaas' OMA has won the competition to design a new bridge across the river Garonne in Bordeaux with plans for a 44-metre-wide structure that will accommodate traffic and pedestrians, but could also be used for hosting events. More about OMA wins Bordeaux bridge competition
American firm Johnston Marklee has designed a circular house with a paddling pool on the roof as part of a series of inventive holiday homes proposed by architects including Sou Fujimoto and Didier Faustino for a national park in Spain (+ slideshow). More about Johnston Marklee designs rotunda residence for series of Spanish holiday homes
T is for Japanese architect Toyo Ito, whose Tama Art University Library is behind today's advent calendar window. Completed in 2007, the library comprises slender concrete arches that span lengths of up to 16 metres. Ito was also this year's Pritzker Prize laureate and his other projects include the Za Koenji Public Theatre in Tokyo.
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Hungarian art and design collective Szövetség'39 has unveiled a concept to reduce the impact of rising sea levels in the world's delta regions by introducing a modular structure that will cultivate mangrove forests to form natural dams. More about Modular CALTROPe structure reduces impact of rising sea levels by cultivating mangrove forests