This house in Hyogo, Japan, was designed by Tato Architects with the same hipped roof, stilted structure and wide balcony that are common to residences in Queensland, Australia (+ slideshow). More about House in Kawanishi by Tato Architects with hipped roof and stilts
Diagonal strips of wood clad the exterior of this annexe that Austrian studio Franz Architekten has added to a house in the suburbs of Vienna to make room for extra family members (+ slideshow). More about Family house extension by Franz Architekten clad with diagonal strips of larch
A massive concrete frame wraps over the top of this house in South Korea by A.M Architects and shelters a traditional narrow porch (+ slideshow). More about Mun Jeong Heon house by A.M Architects is surrounded by a huge concrete frame
Portuguese architect João Branco has converted a small office building in Coimbra into a home by installing softwood joinery that functions as furniture, storage and partitions (+ slideshow). More about Wooden structures combine partitions and furniture inside home by João Branco
The floors of this open-plan apartment in London by local studio Form Design Architecture are covered with timber boards salvaged from an old Welsh chapel (+ slideshow). More about Warehouse loft by Form Design Architecture with floorboards salvaged from a chapel
Australian studio BLOXAS adopted elements from Japanese architecture to reorganise the spaces of this Melbourne residence around a courtyard then added a new timber-clad extension shaped like a periscope (+ slideshow). More about BLOXAS adds periscope-shaped extension and courtyard veranda to Engawa House in Melbourne
Three mature trees were rooted to the centre of this site in Western Australia, but architecture firm MORQ managed to convince the owners to build their family house around the peeling trunks and burgeoning foliage (+ slideshow). More about Karri Loop House by MORQ folds around three indigenous Australian trees
This all-black house in the Yucca Valley desert was designed by Los Angeles office Oller & Pejic to look "like a shadow" (+ slideshow). More about Oller & Pejic's Desert House designed to look "like a shadow"
Emerging Dutch firm Unknown Architects has renovated a 200-year-old house in Leiden by stripping back its interior, and inserting built-in furniture and a twisting white staircase (+ slideshow). More about Unknown Architects updates 200-year-old house with twisting staircase and wooden furniture
This Tokyo house by Japanese office Atelier Tekuto features a huge triangular window that angles up over the rooftops of surrounding houses to bring daylight in from above (+ slideshow). More about Tokyo house by Atelier Tekuto with skylight designed to "frame the sky"
This house by Japanese architect Shogo Aratani clambers over a steep rocky site in Hyogo, so it was named Krampon after the spiky devices that strap onto shoes to improve grip for climbing (+ slideshow). More about Krampon house by Shogo Aratani climbs over a rocky site
A corner appears to have been sliced away from this hilltop house in Portugal by architect Manuel Aires Mateus (photos by Fernando Guerra + slideshow). More about House in Fontinha by Manuel Aires Mateus has a cross-shaped plan and a missing corner
This six-sided wooden cabin by Estonian designer Jaanus Orgusaar has walls that zigzag up and down and two circular windows resembling fisheye camera lenses (+ slideshow). More about Six-sided modular cabin by Jaanus Orgusaar with wooden walls and fisheye windows
Gaps between the three brick boxes of this house near Barcelona by local firm H Arquitectes can be transformed from enclosed rooms into covered patios by folding back glass doors at both ends (+ slideshow). More about House 1101 by H Arquitectes has rooms that double as sheltered patios
French visual artist Benoit Challand has combined the visual language of Le Corbusier's houses and Santiago Calatrava's sculptures to form a vision for a futuristic self-sustaining house on stilts (+ slideshow). More about Fantasy house by Benoit Challand perched on stilts in the Scottish highlands
This black wooden house in Austria by Hammerschmid Pachl Seebacher Architekten is raised off the ground on wonky metal stilts to frame views of the landscape and allow room underneath for a sheltered garden (+ slideshow). More about Black-painted S House by Hammerschmid Pachl Seebacher raised up on stilts
Chilean studio MAPA referenced local vernacular building techniques by placing two sheds within a larger one for this family house in the forests of the Andes mountains in Chile (+ slideshow).
More about MAPA builds sheds within a shed for Chilean mountain hideaway
London studio Hayhurst and Co used pale white larch to wrap walls and furnishings both inside and outside this beach house-inspired extension to a family residence in Hampstead, north London. More about Hayhurst and Co adds beach house-inspired extension to London residence
Dutch firm 8A Architecten has modernised a small labourer's house in Leiden by adding a large oak structure that incorporates a staircase, storage facilities and sofa (+ slideshow). More about 8A Architecten adds combined staircase and sofa to Leiden house
Trios of windows and a new lightwell help to bring daylight through the clean white interiors of this renovated townhouse in Porto by local studio Pablo Pita Architects (photos by José Campos + slideshow). More about Casa da Maternidade by Pablo Pita Architects is a renovated Porto townhouse