This stark concrete house in Spain by Alcolea+Tárrago Arquitectos features richly stained timber shutters that fold back to reveal large glass doors (+ slideshow). More about Casa MP in Sesma by Alcolea+Tárrago Arquitectos
Korean architects AND imagined this hotel on Geoje Island as a hand of outstretched fingers, with rooms and balconies pointing out in different directions (+ slideshow). More about Aggrenad hotel by AND
A tapered concrete roof oversails glazed laboratories at this research and innovation centre that American firm Richard Meier & Partners has completed for Italian cement manufacturer Italcementi. More about Italcementi i.lab by Richard Meier & Partners
This X-shaped house by architects Cadaval & Sola-Morales hangs over the edge of a hillside on the outskirts of Barcelona (+ slideshow). More about X House by Cadaval & Solà-Morales
Japanese studio FORM/Kouichi Kimura Architects designed this concrete house in Shiga to be deliberately alien to its neighbours (+ slideshow). More about House of Silence by FORM/Kouichi Kimura Architects
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
Sloping meadows and woodland thickets are all that surrounds this boxy concrete house in the mountains of western Austria by local studio OLKRÜF (+ slideshow). More about Haus Rüscher by OLKRÜF
Product news: Tel Aviv designer Nir Meiri has created a set of table lamps with metal shades hanging from thin stalks. More about Spot table lamps by Nir Meiri
New York practice Cooper Joseph Studio was inspired by Mexican beach huts to insert four pyramidal chimneys behind the concrete exterior of this playground pavilion in Dallas, Texas (+ slideshow). More about Webb Chapel Park Pavilion by Cooper Joseph Studio
Travellers visting the Mexican town of Tepoztlan can spend a few nights, months or even years at this three-armed concrete guesthouse by architects Cadaval & Sola-Morales (+ slideshow). More about Tepoztlan Lounge by Cadaval & Sola-Morales
The only windows at this concrete house in Moreira, Portugal, face one another across recessed patios. More about House in Moreira by Phyd Arquitectura
This bone-like tower of concrete by Swiss studio Christ & Gantenbein is one of nine architectural interventions along La Ruta del Peregrino, a 72-mile pilgrimage through the mountain landscape of Jalisco, Mexico (+ slideshow). More about Ruta del Peregrino: Cerro del Obispo Lookout Point by Christ & Gantenbein
Dutch Design Week: designer Doreen Westphal has created a lamp with a metal stem that can be positioned upright or at an angle against its magnetic concrete base, currently on show at Dutch Design Week. More about Magno Tube Lamp by Doreen Westphal
Interieur 2012: French designer Matali Crasset has created a collection of concrete furniture, including a lamp shaped like an interwar military listening device. More about Concrete collection by Matali Crasset for Concrete by LCDA
This university library in Paris by French practice Beckmann-N’Thépé Architectes has a knobbly concrete facade that looks like blocks of earth. More about Marne-la-Vallée Central University Library by Beckmann-N'Thépé Architectes
London Design Festival: delicate flowers and foliage are protected by the steel cages around these concrete vases by Korean designer Seung-Yong Song. More about V4 vases by Seung-Yong Song
This factory-like building by architects Haworth Tompkins is the new home for print-making and photography at the Royal College of Art in London. More about The Dyson Building by Haworth Tompkins
Rooms are shared between two matching concrete blocks at this house in Israel by architects Shilo Benaroya. More about Ben Ami House by Shilo Benaroya
This concrete bungalow on a remote Japanese island is built to protect its occupants from both extremely bright sunshine and destructive typhoons (+ slideshow). More about Villa 921 by Harunatsu-Archi