Dezeen is giving away five copies of Design for Good – a book filled with architecture projects that aim to alleviate some of the world's most pressing problems, including accessibility to medicine and mitigating homelessness.

Design for Good: A New Era of Architecture for Everyone features 20 buildings from around the world as examples of ways that design can help communities.

Among them is a mosque in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka designed by Marina Tabassum and a primary school in China by Hong Kong studio Rural Urban Framework.

Others include the Maternity Waiting Village by MASS Design Group, which provides women in rural Malawi with access to medical care, and the Star Apartments by Michael Maltzan in Los Angeles, built to serve the homeless community and provide health services.

Selected by architect and design critic John Cary, the works are separated into six themed chapters, with titles including "Buildings that Heal" and "Shelter for the Soul". The projects are accompanied with Cary's interviews with their designers, as well as the buildings' users.

"Exploring examples from Guangdong, China to Kalamazoo, Michigan, Cary draws five key lessons for achieving designs that dignify: embrace a beginner's mindset; seek partners, not clients; build community support; employ workers and source materials locally; and measure impact," said a statement from publisher Island Press.

Over 100 colour images shot by photographers such as Iwan Baan, Timothy Hursley and Odysseus Mourtzouchos fill the pages of the book. Its cover was designed by Paula Scher of prolific digital agency Pentagram.

The book begins with a foreword by Melinda Gates. It also includes an introduction titled "The Dignifying Power of Design" and a conclusion "A Call to Expect More," both of which champion designs centred around compassion and empathy.

Design for Good: A New Era of Architecture forms part of a larger movement spearheaded by architects and designers who are advocating for design to address real-life issues, as well as improve public life.

Dezeen led its own initiative Good Design for a Bad World in collaboration with this year's Dutch Design Week, outlining design-driven solutions for a variety of problems.

"Design impacts our health, our education, our community, our sense of self-worth, and more, yet all-too-often design is viewed as a luxury," said Island Press.

"To address critical problems of access and inequity at home and around the world, good design must transcend the endless coverage of multi-million dollar homes and Silicon Valley office spaces to become a key means of uplifting those who need it most."

Five readers will each win one copy of the Design for Good: A New Era of Architecture, which can also be purchased for $30 (£22.28) from Island Press.