News: Here are the latest images of architect Jean Nouvel's Philharmonie de Paris, set to become the world's most expensive concert hall after surviving the French government's recent cull of major cultural projects (+ slideshow). More about Jean Nouvel's Paris concert hall spared the axe
News: Scientists at a Spanish university are developing a new type of concrete that captures rainwater to create living walls of moss and fungi. More about Researchers develop "biological concrete" for moss-covered walls
This concrete house in Tokyo by Japanese architect Hiroyuki Ito has a glazed stairwell that splits the building into two distinct halves. More about Takanawa House by Hiroyuki Ito and O.F.D.A. Associates
Jagged copper balconies emulate the topography of surrounding landscape as they fold around the exterior of this apartment block in north-east Italy by architects Plasma Studio (+ slideshow). More about Dolomitenblick by Plasma Studio
News: well-designed classrooms can improve the academic performance of primary school pupils by 25 percent according to a new study undertaken by the University of Salford and UK architects Nightingale Associates. More about Well-designed schools improve learning by 25 percent says new study
Los Angeles firm Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects has restored a nineteenth century coach house in Dublin, Ireland, and inserted a contemporary house in front of it (+ slideshow). More about Flynn Mews House by Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects
News: a building designed by Zaha Hadid for Beijing has been copied by a developer in Chongqing, with the two projects racing to be completed first. More about Zaha Hadid building pirated in China
A spiral staircase climbs the all-timber facade of this house in Amsterdam by Dutch studio Egeon Architecten (+ slideshow). More about Villa Rieteiland-oost by Egeon Architecten
Spanish collective Grupo IUT built a tower of straw bales on the outskirts of Guimarães in Portugal (+ slideshow). More about Agricultural Mountain by Grupo IUT
This angular black concert hall was designed by Delugan Meissl Associated Architects to contrast with the curved white playhouse it accompanies in Erl, Austria (+ slideshow). More about Festival Hall Of The Tiroler Festspiele Erl by Delugan Meissl Associated Architects
A house named after its Z-shaped roof, designed by Hohyun Park and Hyunjoo Kim for the top of a steep hill near Seoul, is behind the last door on our Christmas A-Zdvent calendar. Read more about Z-house »
More about Dezeen's A-Zdvent calendar: Z-house by Hohyun Park and Hyunjoo Kim
Our second A-Zdvent calendar treat of the day is Y House by Japanese architects TOFU, with a staggered façade clad in an aluminium-zinc alloy. Read more about Y House »
More about Dezeen's A-Zdvent calendar:Y House by TOFU
We're racing towards the end of our A-Zdvent calendar of houses, so in the first of three final posts today here's a house in Inner Mongolia, China, by Multiplicities that's named after its X-shaped central void. Read more about (X) »
More about Dezeen's A-Zdvent calendar: (X) for Ordos 100 by Multiplicities
A painted-timber skin that skirts around the top storey reveals the heights of staggered floors inside this Hamburg house. Designed by Kraus Schoenberg, it's the W in our A-Zdvent calendar. Read more about Haus W »
More about Dezeen's A-Zdvent calendar: Haus W by Kraus Schoenberg
KHBT of London and Berlin has doubled the size a 1970s family house in Offenbach, Germany, by wrapping a timber-clad extension around the walls and over the roof (+ slideshow). More about Haus Bergé by KHBT
Next up in our A-Zdvent calendar series is V-House in Leiden, the Netherlands. Architects GAAGA named the building after its roof, which pitches inwards to create a V-shaped profile. Read more about V-House »
More about Dezeen's A-Zdvent calendar: V-House by GAAGA
Italian architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas have won a competition to build a cultural complex in Chengdu, China, with designs for spiralling buildings inspired by the city's ancient emblem. More about Chengdu Tianfu Cultural and Performance Centre by Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas
The form of U-House by Jorge Graca Costa was inspired by traditional Mediterranean courtyard houses to protect it from the windy climate of western Portugal and it's the twenty-first door on our A-Zdvent calendar. Read more about U-House »
More about Dezeen's A-Zdvent calendar: U-House by Jorge Graca Costa
Two chunky concrete storeys are perched above a living room without walls at this house in São Paulo by Brazilian architects Studio MK27 (+ slideshow). More about Casa Cubo by Studio MK27
London and Tbilisi firm Architects of Invention has completed a public services building on stilts for a city that doesn't exist yet in Georgia. More about Lazika Municipality by Architects of Invention