Dutch firm MVRDV has broken ground on its first project in the US: a mixed-use "vertical village" made up of yellow, blue, red and green brickwork volumes. More about MVRDV's Radio Tower & Hotel for New York constitutes colourful Lego-like blocks
University of Cape Town researcher Suzanne Lambert has created a zero-waste building material made with human urine, which hardens at room temperature, as an alternative to environmentally taxing kiln-fired bricks. More about Bio-bricks made from human urine could be environmentally friendly future of architecture
Threefold Architects has completed a simple brick pool house with an outdoor fireplace, and a matching gym, at either end of a London garden. More about Pared-back garden pavilions by Threefold Architects provide space for poolside relaxation
Windows are recessed into the pink brick facade of this residential building, which New York architects Robert Marino and Leehong Kim have designed for a slender plot in Upper Manhattan. More about Brickwork fronts slender East Harlem residential building by Robert Marino and Leehong Kim
Architecture studio Bell Phillips has added 27 brick homes to a 1960s estate in south London as part of a resident-led social housing scheme. More about Bell Phillips adds red brick social housing block to south London estate
This pavilion erected in the pond of a Mexico City park was built from stacks of earthen blocks, which were dismantled to be rebuilt as part of a community centre in a town hit by last year's deadly earthquake. More about Pavilion by Mexico City architects to become community centre in earthquake-hit town
Two layers of perforated brickwork surround this two-bedroom family home in Hanoi by Vietnamese studio H&P Architects. More about H&P Architects wraps perforated brick walls around Hanoi house Brick Cave
This brick holiday home by Argentinian architecture firm Estudio Galera, in a seaside town south of Buenos Aires, references the "formal and material austerity" of the surrounding properties. More about Estudio Galera uses "common bricks" for Casa Rincón in Argentinian seaside town
Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Ellie Birkhead has developed a process of brick making that incorporates local waste products from the Chiltern Hills, in an attempt to "forge a future for local industry". More about Ellie Birkhead uses human hair and manure to make region-specific bricks
London-based Henley Halebrown referenced both Georgian and modernist buildings when creating this Stirling Prize-shortlisted group of brick-clad student halls at the University of Roehampton's parkland campus. More about Henley Halebrown creates concrete-and-brick student halls for garden-like site
The sawtooth brick facades and steeply pitched roof of this house designed by Mole Architects in Ely, Cambridgeshire, are derived from architectural features found at the city's famous cathedral. More about Fijal House by Mole Architects borrows details from Ely cathedral
This simple concrete temple in a village near the Indian city of Pune is topped with a pyramidal roof and incorporates a channel that allows ceremonial holy water to flow out into its lush surroundings. More about Red concrete meditation space sits under pyramidal roof in rural India
Local architecture studio Wowowa has renovated a Victorian house in Melbourne and added an extension with a scalloped brick facade that contains an open-plan living space. More about Wowowa adds fluted-brick extension to refurbished Melbourne house
Matheson Whiteley has completed a simple brick extension to designer Sebastian Wrong's east-London house, featuring a combination of traditional and contemporary details. More about Matheson Whiteley adds pared-back brick extension to Sebastian Wrong's Victorian house
Architect Frederic Schnee has modernised and extended a traditional house in Beijing by moving the courtyard onto the first floor so a shop can be accommodated at street level. More about Peach House is a contemporary brick-clad courtyard house in Beijing
Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson has completed his first building – a fortress-like office in the Vejle Fjord in Denmark, called Fjordenhus. More about Olafur Eliasson's first building is a castle-like office in a Danish fjord
Colourful steel windows punctuate the brick facade of this home in São Paulo, recently completed by local firm Pascali Semerdjian Arquitetos. More about Green steel accents define MMS House in São Paulo by Pascali Semerdjian
Hollow clay bricks form the gridded facade of this faculty building at a university in the Polish city of Katowice, providing privacy and shade to the interiors while still allowing light to enter. More about University of Silesia's Department of Radio and Television is wrapped in "net curtain" of hollow blocks
A large porthole-like window punctures the white-brick facade of this extension to a terraced house in north London, designed by Simon Astridge. More about Simon Astridge adds white-brick extension to refurbished Victorian house
Massive brick walls and simple geometric forms define this home in a Canadian forest by Montreal-based studio Atelier Barda, which overlooks the client's horse stables. More about Minimalist art and horse stables influence rural Gauthier Residence by Atelier Barda