Slideshow: a curved concrete facade wraps around the front of this house by A2+ Arquitectos in Leiria, Portugal, with a large hole revealing the rectilinear house behind (photos by Fernando Guerra). More about Casa Xieira II by A2+ Arquitectos
This red concrete house outside Stuttgart by German firm Finckh Architekten has an oversized middle floor that cantilevers across the driveway (photos by Zooey Braun). More about Haus Ostfildern by Finckh Architekten
This Tokyo house by Japanese studio Naf Architect & Design has a climbing wall and ladders, in case the owners get bored of using the stairs. More about 3 Way House by Naf Architect & Design
Architect Matteo Inches has completely rebuilt the inside of an old farm building in the Swiss town of Vacallo to create a house for the local mayor. More about Casa Rizza by Studio Inches
Skateboarding star Pierre Andre Senizergues wanted to skate over every surface of his new house, inside and out, so he turned to Californian architect Francois Perrin plus designer and skater Gil Lebon Delapoint to make it a reality. More about The PAS House by Francois Perrin and Gil Lebon Delapointe
This house in Osaka by architects Suga Atelier has a faceted concrete exterior that looks like a rockface. More about House S by Suga Atelier
Swedish architects Claesson Koivisto Rune have completed a house on the coast of a Baltic island with slanted roofs and walls that make the building narrower in the middle. More about Widlund House by Claesson Koivisto Rune
The floor of the dining room becomes a worktop for the kitchen inside this Tokyo house by Japanese studio Urban Architecture Office (UAo). More about ABE House by UAo
This Tokyo house by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto has hardly any walls and looks like scaffolding (photos by Iwan Baan). More about House NA by Sou Fujimoto Architects
Slideshow: American architect David Jameson has completed a two-storey house in Bethesda, Maryland, with white walls that look like pixellated blocks. More about NaCl by David Jameson
Slideshow: this wooden cabin in Iceland by Reykjavik studio Arkís is split into asymmetric apartments with roofs that slope in alternate directions. More about Villa Lola by Arkís
Beyond the arched entrance of this metal-clad house in Kadoma, Japan by architect Takeshi Hamada is a corner light well surrounded by windows and balconies. More about House K by Takeshi Hamada
This glass house by Belgian architects Govaert & Vanhoutte has a 50-metre-long wall at the back and a sunken swimming pool at the front. More about Villa Roces by Govaert & Vanhoutte
Chilean architects Alejandro Soffia and Gabriel Rudolphy designed this house in Santo Domingo as a cluster of prefabricated modules made from structural insulated panels. More about SIP Panel House by Alejandro Soffia and Gabriel Rudolphy
The huge tiled roof that wraps around this Tokyo house integrates arched windows and openings for tree branches. More about House with Eaves and an Attic by ON design
Wooden sticks shield the facades of this house in Belgium by Ghent studio Architecten De Vylder Vinck Taillieu, while a tree bursts through the roof. More about House Bernheimbeuk by Architecten De Vylder Vinck Taillieu
Slideshow: a wall of wooden scales folds through the glazed facade of this house and studio that Korean architects AND designed for an artist in South Korea. More about Skinspace by AND
Slideshow: there are no horizontal crossbeams to interrupt the vertically striped wooden batons that clad this house outside Munich by German architects Titus Bernhard. More about House 11x11 by Titus Bernhard Architekten
Steel crossbeams divide the triple-height living room of this Tokyo townhouse into modular sections. More about Small house in Shinjuku by Junpei Nousaku Architects
Slideshow: the cantilevered upper storeys of this house in Osaka by Japanese architect Shogo Iwata hover above a driveway. More about House in Senriby Shogo Iwata