This cultural centre in the Spanish town of Alcobendas comprises an elevated concrete structure supported by rows of pillars and a pair of grand public courtyards (+ slideshow). More about Rafael de La-Hoz elevates a cultural centre around two plazas in Alcobendas
Dutch architecture firm MVRDV has won a competition to design the Cultural Cluster in the heart of the city of Zaanstad, with a proposal to group multiple institutions inside one building – each with their own house-shaped presence on the facade. More about MVRDV's Zaanstad Cultural Cluster will house five Dutch institutions in one building
Couples with a love of stained glass can now get married in a kaleidoscopic wedding chapel next to a Shanghai glass museum (+ slideshow). More about Rainbow Chapel by Coordination Asia is a multi-coloured wedding venue in Shanghai
A faceted glass dome peaks above the prayer hall of Toronto's new Charles Correa-designed Islamic cultural centre, which shares a patch of parkland with Fumihiko Maki's Aga Khan Museum (+ slideshow). More about Charles Correa's crystalline Islamic centre joins the Aga Khan Museum in a Toronto park
Spanish architect Francisco Mangado has created contemporary galleries for a fine arts museum in northern Spain by inserting a crystalline glass building behind the leftover facade of a demolished block. More about Francisco Mangado expands a Spanish museum by adding a new building behind a historic facade
SANAA has been selected to design a new building for Art Gallery NSW in Sydney, ahead of architects including Kengo Kuma, David Chipperfield, Renzo Piano and Herzog & de Meuron. More about SANAA triumphs in hotly contested Sydney Modern gallery competition
London studio Carmody Groarke has used timber and plastic to build a temporary exhibition space for the White Cube art gallery in the grounds of a country house in East Sussex, England (+ slideshow). More about Carmody Groarke's new White Cube gallery is an angular timber and plastic pavilion
This cast-concrete library sits on a stretch of deserted beach facing the East China Sea and features a tiered reading hall topped by a curving ceiling (+ movie). More about Vector Architects completes a seaside library with board-marked concrete walls
A colossal iron staircase bursts through the medieval stone walls of this fortified tower in rural Italy and into a copper-clad extension, as part of a renovation by local studio Gianluca Gelmini (+ slideshow). More about Gianluca Gelmini inserts an angular iron staircase inside a medieval Italian fortress
London studio Haworth Tompkins has completed its £80 million refurbishment of Brutalist icon the National Theatre, including the addition of an all-new aluminium-clad theatre production facility (+ slideshow). More about Haworth Tompkins completes renovation of Denys Lasdun's National Theatre
Claesson Koivisto Rune has designed an art gallery in Marfa, Texas, which is the Stockholm studio's first completed project in the USA. More about Claesson Koivisto Rune pays tribute to Donald Judd with first US building
This library extension in the centre of Bruges is covered in sheets of pre-rusted Corten steel, deliberately contrasting the white plasterwork of the original building (+ slideshow). More about Studio Farris adds rusty steel extension to a library in Bruges
A dramatically scooped roofline creates a spiky steeple and a triangular entrance for this church in southern Norway by Link Arkitektur (+ slideshow). More about Ålgård Church by Link Arkitektur features a concave vaulted roof
Prominent names in the contemporary art world are fighting to save the Russell Page-designed viewing garden at New York's Frick Collection museum. More about Artists rally to protect Russell Page garden at New York's Frick museum
Chicago is expected to be named as the location for the Obama presidential library next week, with David Adjaye tipped to be the project's architect. More about Adjaye in the frame for Obama library ahead of official announcement
The Museum of Shit is housed in an Italian castle and is dedicated to demonstrating "what a useful and living substance crap really is" (+ slideshow). More about Italy's Museo della Merda is full of shit
Bornstein Lyckefors Architects pays tribute to an agricultural technique known as slash-and-burn with this forest museum near Torsby, Sweden, clad with wooden logs (+ slideshow). More about Log-clad museum by Bornstein Lyckefors honours the legacy of Finnish slash-and-burn farmers
Rem Koolhaas' firm has converted a century-old distillery in Milan into a new arts centre for Fondazione Prada, featuring a "haunted house" clad in 24-carat gold leaf and a cinema camouflaged by mirrors (+ slideshow). More about OMA's Fondazione Prada art centre opens in Milan
Children's play areas located beneath the zigzag roof of this community centre by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma have been landscaped to form a hilly indoor terrain that can be clambered over or used as slides (+ slideshow). More about Community centre by Kengo Kuma features playrooms with undulating floorboards
Each of the 304 ribs of bamboo that make up this Buddhist temple represent a victim killed when a ferry sank off the coast of South Korea (+ slideshow). More about Wise Architecture erects bamboo temple on South Korean coast for victims of a ferry disaster