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
Danish studio BIG has designed an observation tower shaped like a honey dipper for Phoenix, Arizona (+ slideshow). More about Phoenix Observation Tower by BIG
This gymnasium in Utrecht by Dutch studio NL Architects has no windows but features walls that swell outwards to let light in from above (+ slideshow). More about Gym Hall Nieuw Welgelegen by NL Architects
News: UK firm Foster + Partners has unveiled plans to overhaul New York Public Library's flagship branch on Fifth Avenue by inserting a contemporary lending library into unused reading rooms and stacks at the back of the building. More about Foster + Partners unveils plans for New York Public Library
Sunken cruise ship the Costa Concordia would be transformed into a watery memorial garden in this competition-winning conceptual design by London architecture graduates Alexander Laing and Francesco Matteo Belfiore. More about New Concordia Island by Alexander Laing and Francesco Matteo Belfiore
House S in Osaka by Suga Atelier has a concrete facade that looks like a rockface and it's the latest addition to our A-Zdvent calendar. Read more about House S »
More about Dezeen's A-Zdvent calendar: House S by Suga Atelier
Berlin and Shanghai-based studio Playze stacked up perforated shipping containers to create offices for an organic farm in Shanghai, China (+ slideshow). More about Tony's Farm by Playze
French architecture practice Tetrarc has applied a camouflage print onto the walls of this social housing complex in Saint-Gilles Croix de Vie to create the impression of shadows cast by trees (+ slideshow). More about Mervau housing by Tetrarc
Following MAD's spiralling towers in Canada (top left) and proposals for contorted buildings by BIG (bottom right), our latest archive contains all our stories about twisted buildings. See all the stories »
More about Dezeen archive: twisted buildings
News: New York mayor Michael Bloomberg will today lead the groundbreaking ceremony for the world's tallest modular building, a 32-storey residential tower in Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards development by Manhattan-based firm SHoP Architects. More about World's tallest modular building breaks ground in New York
German architects Kister Scheithauer Gross used Jewish symbol the Star of David to create patterned windows in the limestone walls of this synagogue in Ulm, Germany. More about Ulm Synagogue by Kister Scheithauer Gross