Japanese architect Kouichi Kimura chose grey steel sheets for the exterior of this office and apartment building in Shiga, giving it an armoured appearance (+ slideshow). More about Live-work block in Japan by Kouichi Kimura features a steel-plated facade
This grey-rendered house was designed with strategically placed windows to create privacy for residents in a densely populated area of Japan (+ slideshow). More about Kouichi Kimura's Cozy House is a family home in a busy Japanese neighbourhood
The zigzagging rooflines, handmade-brick walls and golden balconies of these Greater London housing blocks by Duggan Morris Architects are all references to the canalside setting (+ slideshow). More about Duggan Morris uses simple brickwork and golden steel for canalside housing
Designer Thomas Heatherwick has completed a university building in Singapore made up of 12 towers that resemble giant parsnips (+ slideshow). More about Heatherwick's textured-tower university building completes in Singapore
Bored with the dismal view from the office window, Polish studio Zalewski Architecture envisioned a grassy suspended walkway that would allow them to take a stroll without leaving the building. More about Zalewski Architecture imagines spiral walkway strung between high-rise buildings
Porto studio Fala Atelier has overhauled the layout of a cramped flat in Lisbon, adding sliding doors that connect each room to a central living area and small balcony. More about Fala Atelier guts Lisbon apartment to create bright open-plan home
Galvanised steel panels create fuss-free facades for the blocks of this Stockholm housing complex by Joliark, concealing all gutters and tidying away window frames. More about Metal-clad housing by Joliark features flush detailing and boxy balconies
JDS Architects used staggered balconies to create a cascade of cubes across the facade of this Seoul officetel – a kind of housing and workplace hybrid typical in South Korea (+ slideshow). More about Hundreds of cubes front Julien De Smedt's Gangnam housing block
Chilean architects Alejandro Soffia and Gabriel Rudolphy were set a strict budget for this seaside guesthouse complex, so they used standard dimensions to get as much value as possible out of their building materials (+ slideshow). More about Rough-sawn pine used to build low-cost Hostal Ritoque in Chile
Angled window reveals and balconies interrupt the smooth limestone facade of this apartment building in Bucharest, Romania, by local architects ADNBA (+ slideshow). More about Angled openings create balconies across the facade of MORA apartments by ADNBA
News: Chicago-based Studio Gang is following in the footsteps of OMA, Herzog & de Meuron and Zaha Hadid by becoming the latest architect to design a residential building for Miami (+ slideshow). More about Studio Gang joins rising tide of architects building in Miami
World Architecture Festival 2014: Singapore's creative industries are moving out of the central business district to more affordable light-industrial areas, says architect Colin Seah, who has recently completed a layered workplace building in the Pasir Panjang neighbourhood (+ slideshow). More about Ministry of Design's 100PP joins a wave of "edgy and interesting" buildings for Singapore creatives
The curving balconies of this housing scheme by French studio ECDM Architectes create a rippling outline and provide each flat with outdoor space (+ slideshow). More about ECDM Architectes extends Parisian apartments with wavy balconies
Solid panels, perforated screens and recessed balconies create a patchwork of varying transparency on this tower that rises up from one side of a mixed-use development in Nantes, France, by Antonini Darmon Architectes (+ slideshow). More about Antonini Darmon's housing in Nantes presents a patchwork of solids and voids
Shiny metal balconies and sun shades project outwards from the banded facades of this apartment building by architect Christophe Rousselle in the Parisian suburb of Colombes (+ slideshow). More about Christophe Rousselle adds reflective balconies to Zac de la Marine residences
Zigzagging balconies with larch railings enliven the facade of this apartment block in Graz, Austria, by Love Architecture and Urbanism (+ slideshow). More about Zigzagging balconies create sculptural facade for Ragnitzstrasse 36 apartment block
Japanese studio Yuji Kimura Design has hidden this Tokyo house behind a tall white wall to maintain the residents' privacy (+ slideshow). More about Yuji Kimura Design conceals terraces at House K behind a tall wall
Perforated metal balconies project through the bowed concrete facades of this office building in Seoul, which were designed by local studio Archium to maximise floor space on the middle levels (+ slideshow). More about Swollen concrete facades increase floor area inside Archium's Gilmosery office block
Slatted timber shutters fold back to reveal the boxy first-floor balcony of this family house in Portugal, designed by E348 Arquitectura to adapt to the changing climate (+ slideshow). More about Adjustable balcony animates the facade of E348 Arquitectura's Miramar House
This social housing block in Slovakia by Bratislava studio Nice Architects features a series of protruding balconies that angle towards sunlight whilst blocking out the noise of car traffic below (+ slideshow). More about Angular balconies stretch towards sunlight at North Star Apartments by Nice Architects