Huge sliding doors at the front and rear of this weekend house in rural Hiroshima allow residents to open out their timber-lined living spaces to the scenic mountain landscape (+ slideshow). More about Hinanai Village House opens out to a scenic mountain landscape
Hidden at the bottom of a London garden, this glowing shed by British studio Weston, Surman & Deane was designed as a writing retreat for an author (+ slideshow). More about Light glows through the cedar facade of Writer's Shed by Weston Surman & Deane
An intricate three-dimensional lattice of narrow timber slats forms a cloud-like mass around the exterior of this pineapple cake shop in Tokyo by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma (+ slideshow). More about SunnyHills cake shop by Kengo Kuma encased within intricate timber lattice
Chunky wooden columns and beams support the sloping timber ceiling of this small pharmacy by Japanese studio Ninkipen! in the city of Ogaki (+ slideshow). More about Ninkipen! exposes wooden columns and trusses inside O Pharmacy
This asymmetric Alpine cabin by Austrian architect Peter Jungmann has been named Ufogel because its owners think it looks like a cross between a UFO and a "vogel" - the German word for bird (+ slideshow). More about Alpine holiday cabin by Peter Jungmann has metal feet and a beak
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
The Rotsee rowing regatta takes place every summer on a lake outside Lucerne, Switzerland, and this wooden tower raised over the water accommodates the officials who observe, time and marshal each race (+ slideshow). More about Wooden Zielturm Rotsee tower built for judges of Swiss rowing regatta
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 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
Huge round cushions in shades of mustard yellow and cornflower blue add colour to the pale concrete and timber interior of this kindergarten in western Austria by local studio Bernardo Bader Architects (+ slideshow). More about Kindergarten Susi Weigel by Bernardo Bader built from timber and concrete
This timber-clad kindergarten by Stuttgart-based Behnisch Architekten is the first building to open in a new district built on former railway land in the German city of Heidelberg (+ slideshow). More about Timber-clad kindergarten by Behnisch Architekten opens in new housing district
A series of pillars raise the interconnected rooms of this house by Benjamin Garcia Saxe Architecture above the tree tops of the surrounding Costa Rican forest (+ slideshow). More about Casa Flotanta by Benjamin Garcia Saxe Architecture is raised above a forest
Spanish architects Josemaria de Churtichaga and Cayetana de la Quadra-Salcedo have built themselves a rural retreat with wooden walls, projecting terraces, and a brilliant yellow door and chimney (+ slideshow). More about Churtichaga + Quadra-Salcedo built their Four Seasons House in an idyllic meadow
Toshiharu Naka of Tokyo-based Naka Studio added an asymmetric roof with overhanging eaves to this house in a Japanese skiing village to create a huge sheltered terrace for residents (+ slideshow). More about Cedar-clad villa by Naka Studio shelters a huge terrace beneath its roof
Architects Mette and Martin Wienberg have overhauled a 1940s cottage in Denmark to create a modern home for their family, complete with timber-lined walls and cosy furnishings. More about Family house by Wienberg Architects and Friis & Moltke contains cosy oak-lined rooms
Ben Davidson of London studio Rodić Davidson Architects designed this garden shed in Cambridge, England, to the exact proportions of his grandfather's old workbench and added pegboard walls for displaying a collection of handmade tools (+ slideshow). More about Garden Workshop designed around an old workbench and a collection of handmade tools
This boxy wooden cabin with an assortment of circular and rectangular windows was built by Hungarian studio T2.a Architects in just two days in a forest outside Budapest (+ slideshow). More about Hungarian forest cabin built in two days by T2.a Architects
Vienna design collective Mostlikely modelled this Alpine lodge on the wooden agricultural barns of surrounding mountain villages. More about House in the Alps by Mostlikely based on an agricultural barn
Austrian studio Bernardo Bader Architects sourced pine and spruce from the surrounding slopes to build this picturesque chalet in a village of western Austria (+ slideshow). More about Bernardo Bader's Haus Fontanella is a chalet built from pine and spruce
Italian office Studio Galantini has upgraded the wooden structure of a 1970s chapel in north-west Italy so that it can be used for summer services, music recitals and theatrical performances. More about Studio Galantini rebuilds wooden frame of small Italian chapel