Link and Schmidt Hammer Lassen’s Northern Lights Cathedral in Norway is a space within which nature becomes a communal experience.

Helsinki architect JKMM’s copper-clad extension to Alvar Aalto’s 1967 library is a bold attempt to move on from the golden age of Finnish design.

Architect Cottrell & Vermeulen has designed two areas for children in a bleak London hospital, bringing colour and joy to the children’s wards.

Bercy Chen Studio has designed a home on a brownfield site in Texas that draws in Native American architecture and ecological concerns.

Hugh Broughton’s Antarctic research station is part Archigram, part Thunderbirds – a series of brightly coloured modules on skis.

Dutch practice DUS proposes an alternative architecture through social networks, temporary interventions and open sourcing. Now it is printing its first building, a canal house in Amsterdam, which it hopes will be replicated and reworked along the city’s northern waterways.

In a Parisian suburb, Edouard François has reconciled three kinds of local housing – by stacking them one on top of the other.

The grand old home of Dutch art has been restored and modernised in the largest project of its kind ever undertaken.

Artist Jacqueline Poncelet has covered a monolithic substation in glossy, colourful patterns that reflect the history of the local area.

London’s newest attraction – the 244m-high viewing platform of Renzo Piano’s Shard, western Europe’s tallest building – opened to the public in February. Is it worth climbing up this very tall building just to look back down to where you came from? And are buildings like these more about the view than the architecture?

Santiago-based firm RDM Arquitectura has scattered a handful of cabins along the edge of an Andean valley to take advantage of views on two sides.

Winy Maas, a founder of Dutch firm MVRDV, believes in the kind of high-density urban living only skyscrapers can provide. He talks to Icon about his love of ”intensity architecture” and explains how the pixel will help architects reconcile individuals to collective living.

The Zaha Hadid-designed art museum in the American Midwest aims to unite Michigan State university with the town around it.

Hiroshi Nakamura has harnessed nature and light to create a house in downtown Hiroshima that stands apart from its hectic surroundings.

Adrian Smith made his name as a creator of giants: he is the architect responsible for several of the tallest buildings in the world, including Dubai’s 828m Burj Khalifa, and is designing several more. So, what do you do next if you know the sky is the limit?

Two years have passed since Japan was hit by a tsunami. Since then, architects and designers have volunteered their skills and expertise to help rebuild communities and make plans for the future.

Delugan Meissl Architects has completed a striking, angular concert hall in the Austrian Alps that contains the world’s largest orchestra pit.

Ryue Nishizawa has used plants, stairs and windows to create the illusion of privacy and space in this tall, narrow urban home.

The giant animated roof of Coop Himmelb(l)au’s cultural building in South Korea harks back to the data-bubbles and inflatables of an idealistic age.

Despite years of success at home and abroad, Kengo Kuma has resisted the lure of architectural showmanship and devoted his career to the quest for simplicity, combining tradition materials with technical virtuosity.