Visitors to this lakeside concrete tower in the Netherlands can scale its walls, jog up to an observation deck on its roof, or sail a zip wire across the water from a balcony (+ slideshow). More about Ateliereen Architecten's concrete observation tower features a climbing wall and zip line
Following our exclusive interview with architect Jacques Herzog of Herzog & de Meuron last week on the studio's recently completed Pérez Art Museum Miami, our new Pinterest board focuses on the Swiss firm. See our new Herzog & de Meuron Pinterest board »
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Following our exclusive interview with Rem Koolhaas last month, Dutch office OMA is the fifteenth entry to our A-Zdvent calendar of architects. Koolhaas' firm recently completed De Rotterdam, a 44-storey group of interconnected glass towers in the architect's home city, and has also built two skyscrapers in China - the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (pictured) and the CCTV Headquarters building in Beijing.
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Georgia is using architecture to rebrand itself and "show that there's a change going on" according to architect Jürgen Mayer H, who has built a range of striking border checkpoints, airports and service stations in the country (+ slideshow). More about Georgia is investing in architecture "like post-war Germany" says Jürgen Mayer H
N stands for late Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in our fourteenth festive A-Zdvent calendar. This image by photographer Pedro Kok depicts the entrance to the Ibirapuera Auditorium in Sao Paulo, completed in 2005, while the architect's most famous projects include the National Congress of Brazil and the Cathedral of Brasília.
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Danish architects COBE and Transform have completed an aluminium-clad museum of maritime history in Norway with a zigzagging profile modelled on the shapes of local wooden buildings (+ slideshow). More about COBE and Transform complete the zigzagging Porsgrunn Maritime Museum
News: the American Institute of Architects has named Californian architect Julia Morgan as the first female recipient of the AIA Gold Medal, 56 years after her death. More about Julia Morgan becomes first woman to receive AIA Gold Medal
Japanese architect Tomohiro Hata planned this suburban house in Hyogo Prefecture as a cluster of three buildings around a courtyard, based on the traditional city residences of farmers, artisans and merchants. More about House N by Tomohiro Hata is based on a traditional Japanese vernacular
Dutch architect and MVRDV co-founder Winy Maas is the letter M in our daily A-Zdvent calendar. The firm's projects include the Balancing Barn (pictured), a house with a 15-metre cantilever, and a shop and office complex disguised as an old farmhouse, but which actually features walls made from glass.
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Bands of light shine through the perforated metal facade of this sports hall by French studio Ateliers O-S Architectes in north-west Paris (+ slideshow). More about Parisian sports hall by Ateliers O-S Architectes with bands of light on its walls
Faceted concrete blocks protrude from one side of this sports hall in Croatia, while its bumpy southern and western walls were made by casting concrete panels over a bed of stones (+ slideshow). More about Concrete-clad sports hall by Idis Turato features both faceted and bumpy facades
Swiss firm Haberstroh Schneider Architekten has extended a house in Basel by adding a chain of three rooms, creating a new semi-enclosed courtyard that is filled with stepping stones (+ slideshow). More about House extension with stepping stones leading inside by Haberstroh Schneider Architekten
This corrugated paper cabin designed by architect Mattias Lind is printed to resemble black marble on one side of the folds and white marble on the other so it looks different from either side (+ slideshow). More about Chameleon Cabin made from paper changes colour when viewed from either side
Daniel Libeskind is the twelfth addition to our A-Zdvent calendar of architects. Pictured here is the New York architect's extension to the Dresden Museum of Military History, which features a pointed steel and glass shard through the skin of the historic museum, but he also recently unveiled plans to build an angular apartment block in Berlin.
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Paris studio Marchi Architectes layered up timber slats of different thicknesses and proportions to give an irregular texture to the walls of this sunken house extension in Normandy, France (+ slideshow). More about Blackened timber house extension hidden in the forest by Marchi Architectes
Dezeen and MINI World Tour: Jacques Herzog of Herzog & de Meuron explains how the Pérez Art Museum Miami was designed so that everything is visible and there is no strict barrier between inside and outside, in our second movie from Miami. More about Jacques Herzog: The Pérez Art Museum "is a naked structure"
Paris architects Lacaton & Vassal have designed a translucent structure to house an international art collection that is a mirror image of the adjoining former shipbuilding workshop (+ slideshow). More about Art gallery and archive by Lacaton & Vassal mirrors an old shipbuilding workshop
News: American firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has revealed designs for a skyscraper in Jakarta that will be over 500 metres high and will harvest wind energy through an opening at its peak. More about SOM unveils Indonesian skyscraper that will harness wind power
This movie shows how a redundant Second World War bunker in the Netherlands was turned into a sculptural visitor attraction by slicing it down the middle to reveal its insides. More about Movie shows concrete bunker cut in half by RAAAF and Atelier de Lyon
Next up in our alphabet of architects is Kengo Kuma, the Japanese architect who has completed two contemporary art centres in France this year - the timber-clad art college and music school in Besançon and the FRAC arts centre in Marseille with a chequered glass facade (pictured).
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