Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects has paid homage to the northern lights by constructing a titanium-clad cathedral that spirals up towards the sky (+ slideshow). More about Cathedral of the Northern Lights by Schmidt Hammer Lassen and Link Arkitektur
Competition: we're giving readers the chance to win one of five copies of Todd Saunders' new monograph of architecture, including artists' studio on remote islands and lookout points over Nordic fjords (+ slideshow). More about Competition: five Saunders Architecture books to be won
Bold blocks of colour at ground level contrast with the white upper storeys of this school in Mallorca by Spanish architects RipollTizon (+ slideshow). More about Binissalem School Complex by RipollTizon
A concrete wall supports the weight of this elevated house in southern Japan that points out like a giant rectangular telescope (+ slideshow). More about Scope by mA-style architects
This spiralling stone house in Vietnam by architect Vo Trong Nghia has grass on its roof and an oval courtyard at its centre (+ slideshow). More about Stone House by Vo Trong Nghia
Japanese studio FORM/Kouichi Kimura Architects references ecclesiastical architecture with this cafe in Hyogo, Japan, which has a concrete steeple (+ slideshow). More about Cafe Cross by FORM/ Kouichi Kimura Architects
This house outside Lisbon by architects GGLL Atelier has a grey base that nestles into the landscape and an angular white upper level that follows the incline of the hill (+ slideshow). More about Quinta dos Alcoutins by GGLL Atelier
Lisbon studio Atelier Data has converted a row of stables in rural Portugal to create a summer retreat for a family (+ slideshow). More about Sítio da Lezíria by Atelier Data
Chinese New Year begins today and celebrations in Hong Kong include Cantonese operas performed at a pop-up bamboo theatre in the new West Kowloon Cultural District. More about West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre by William Lim
Holly Lewis and Oliver Goodall of Hackney studio We Made That have been exploring architecture's "soft side" by planting flowers in the Olympic Park, as they explain in this talk filmed at our Designed in Hackney Day last year. More about "A soft side to architecture is coming to the fore" – We Made That
Hackney studio Gort Scott subtly added the outline of a cat's ears to the facade of this feline veterinary clinic outside Cambridge (+ slideshow). More about Cambridge Cat Clinic by Gort Scott
Bold primary colours punctuate this stark concrete extension to a secondary school outside Lisbon by Portugese architect CVDB Arquitectos (+ slideshow) More about Braamcamp Freire Secondary School by CVDB Arquitectos
Jay Gort from Hackney studio Gort Scott Architects argues that the beleaguered British high street is actually a thriving location of "collision and conflict" in this talk filmed by Dezeen at our Designed in Hackney Day last year. More about "High streets are places of collision and conflict" – Jay Gort
Rounded shingles create wooden scales across the walls of this small house in Hackney that architect Laura Dewe Mathews has built for herself (+ slideshow). More about Gingerbread House by Laura Dewe Mathews
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