Japanese studio Alphaville raised the base of this Osaka house up on crooked stilts, revealing the complex arrangement of rooms, bridges and lightwells contained within (+ slideshow). More about Alphaville's Dig In the Sky house is made up of three blocks connected by bridges
A balcony shaded by steel fins projects from the upper storey of this house in Northern Ireland, which architect and farmer Patrick Bradley built using four used shipping containers (+ slideshow). More about Grillagh Water House by Patrick Bradley is made up of four stacked shipping containers
The timber walls of this house outside Prague have been partially charred, intended as a reference to the clients' love of cooking (+ slideshow). More about Mjölk Architekti's Carbon house features a burnt wood exterior
Spanish studio Fran Silvestre Arquitectos has completed a pool-side home near Valencia comprising a squat white cylinder with terraces set into deep voids in its walls (+ movie). More about Crescent-shaped pool skirts cylindrical house by Fran Silvestre Arquitectos
Architecture studio Corpo Atelier has restructured an old stone outbuilding in a rural area of northern Portugal, adding a bulky wooden framework behind its thick masonry walls (+ slideshow). More about Wooden trusses support new mezzanines inside remodelled stone building by Corpo Atelier
This South Korean home designed by Studio GAON for a couple and their dogs features a rooftop meditation garden, a lounge that doubles as a home cinema, and a kitchen overlooking a mountain landscape (+ slideshow). More about House in Sang-an by Studio GAON designed to suit a couple with three dogs
Portuguese studio SAMI Arquitectos has slotted a modern concrete house behind the crumbling stone walls of a ruined building, located on an island in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. More about Ageing stone walls frame concrete structure of E/C House by SAMI Arquitectos
Forty-two identical windows puncture the exterior of this house in Japan by Tato Architects, which also features a staircase that leads onto a piece of furniture (+ slideshow). More about A staircase lands on a desk inside House in Hikone by Tato Architects
A Suffolk house designed by Michael and Patty Hopkins in the 1970s has been overhauled by London studio Project Orange to create "a doughnut of living space" with a conservatory at its centre (+ slideshow). More about Project Orange reconfigures interior of Hopkins' Tracey House
This lagoon-side residence featuring a green copper exterior and a warm cherry-wood interior is part of a series of architect-designed houses built in the grounds of Steven Holl's Nanjing Sifang Art Museum in China (+ slideshow). More about Copper-covered house by Sanaksenaho Architects accompanies Holl's Sifang Art Museum
Described by architects Mauricio Pezo and Sofia von Ellrichshausen as a "monolithic prism of concrete", this top-heavy house nestles into the hillside beside a Chilean lagoon (+ slideshow). More about Pezo von Ellrichshausen's Casa Guna is a top-heavy house beside a lagoon
Architect Oscar Gutiérrez used bright yellow paintwork to pick out often-overlooked details on the clean white facade of this courtyard house in Mexico. More about Yellow accents brighten the stacked white volumes of Pino Street House by Oscar Gutiérrez
We've published hundreds of weird and wonderful residences on Dezeen over the past year, from super-skinny city houses to wintery chalets, underground bunkers and revamped farmhouses. Architecture editor Amy Frearson picks her favourites. More about Dezeen's top 10 houses of 2014
A white spiral staircase that contrasts with the surrounding stone walls is one of several modern interventions that architect Elisabete Saldanha has added to this converted farmhouse in Portugal (+ slideshow). More about Elisabete Saldanha combines historical features with contemporary details at House in Guimarães
The owners of this brick house in the Netherlands, by Reitsema & Partners, can drive their car up a shallow ramp into a sheltered parking area that frames a view of the low-lying landscape. More about Villa SR by Reitsema & Partners has a parking space driven through its middle
This wooden summer house raised off the forest floor on three concrete beams was designed by architect Johan Sundberg for a patch of woodland by the Swedish coastline (+ slideshow). More about Timber summer house by Johan Sundberg expresses "Scandinavian architectural DNA"
Hexagonal slate tiles cover this extension to a west London home designed by architects Christian Ducker and Tyeth Gundry to create a bright and spacious new kitchen (+ slideshow). More about Gundry and Ducker's Slate House is an extension clad with hexagonal tiles
The concrete and chipboard components of this irregularly shaped holiday home in Japan have been designed to deal with the difficult conditions of its woodland site, from restricted lighting to hilly topography (+ slideshow). More about House by Double Negatives Architecture adapted to suit a difficult woodland site
This rust-coloured copper home extension by British studio Poulsom Middlehurst sits above the red-brick walls and clay-tiled roof of a Victorian terrace in east London. More about Poulsom Middlehurst adds copper-clad extension to east London attic flat
This small black family house in Copenhagen was designed by Danish architect Sigurd Larsen to be built for a budget of just £95,000 (+ slideshow). More about Sigurd Larsen completes low-cost family house in Copenhagen