News: the world's first mobile research facility, designed by British firm Hugh Broughton Architects, has officially opened on the floating Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica. More about World's first mobile research centre opens in Antarctica
News: Rem Koolhaas' OMA has won a competition to design a financial office tower in Shenzhen, China, the firm's second building in the city after the soon-to-complete Shenzhen Stock Exchange. More about OMA wins competition for second Shenzhen skyscraper
News: Swiss architect Peter Zumthor rejected architecture as form-making in his Royal Gold Medal lecture at the RIBA in London yesterday, explaining that he believes that light, materials and atmosphere are the most important aspects of architecture. More about "Architecture is not about form" - Peter Zumthor
This family house in Switzerland by Chinese architects EXH Design has a corner missing from its roof to allow space for a triangular roof terrace (+ slideshow). More about Private House Bellmund by EXH Design
German studio Fabi Architekten has stacked a black building on top of a white building to create this house in the Bavarian countryside (+ slideshow). More about Black on White by Fabi Architekten
News: architect and designer Michael Graves has been appointed by US president Barack Obama to a key administration post and says he will "provide national leadership on accessible design". More about Barack Obama appoints Michael Graves to advise on accessible design
The next intake of architecture students at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia will be accommodated in modular student housing with stark concrete interiors (+ slideshow). More about Student Housing in St. Cugat by H Arquitectes and dataAE
Competition: Dezeen and publisher Taschen have teamed up to give away three copies of a book containing 50 remarkable treehouses. More about Competition: three copies of Tree Houses to be won
This wooden folly cantilevers across a garden lake to create a meditation room and children's play den for a family living in Hampshire, England (+ slideshow). More about The Forest Pond House by TDO
Chinese studio Archi-Union has converted an office block in Shanghai into an art gallery with a concrete staircase twisting through its middle (+ slideshow). More about Jade Museum by Archi-Union
An entrance concealed behind a ceramic mural leads down into a sunken living room and courtyard at this house in São Paulo by Brazilian architects Terra e Tuma. More about Maracanã House by Terra e Tuma
The rippled aluminium cladding of this climbing centre in northern Italy is dotted with tiny perforations that allow the walls to become see-through after dark (+ slideshow). More about Vertikale Kletterhalle Brixen by Stadtlabor and Wolfgang Meraner
A living and dining room with six-metre high ceilings sits at the centre of this small white house in Japan by architects Shinichi Ogawa & Associates (+ slideshow). More about Library House by Shinichi Ogawa & Associates
London studio Bureau de Change has combined two terraced houses in London by punching through original walls and adding a glazed kitchen and a floating staircase (+ slideshow). More about HomeMade by Bureau de Change
London studio Alma-nac has staggered the floors of this extension to a 2.3 metre-wide terraced house in south London to help bring natural light in through a sloping roof. More about Slim House extension by Alma-nac
This yacht house on the southernmost tip of the Crimean coastline by Robin Monotti Architects includes four holiday apartments (+ slideshow). More about Foros Yacht House by Robin Monotti Architects
The View from The Shard tourist attraction inside Renzo Piano's 310-metre London skyscraper opens to the public today and these new shots by photographer Nick Guttridge show just how tall the building is compared with the rest of London's skyline (+ slideshow). More about The Shard by Renzo Piano photographed by Nick Guttridge
A square window protrudes from the gabled facade of this house in Germany by Stuttgart architects (se)arch (+ slideshow + photographs by Zooey Braun) More about Haus E17 in Metzingen by (se)arch
Italian studio Park Associati has overhauled a 1960s office block in Milan and added new glass and burnished aluminium facades (+ slideshow). More about La Serenissima office refurbishment by Park Associati
Manhattan-based firm SHoP Architects has sent us a movie and more images illustrating its masterplan for Konza Techno City, a new "silicon" city 40 miles from Kenya's capital Nairobi (+ movie). More about Konza Techno City masterplan by SHoP Architects