Stefano Boeri's "vertical forest" nears completion in Milan
News: a pair of skyscrapers by Milan office Boeri Studio are nearing completion in the Italian city, featuring as many trees as could be planted in a hectare of forest. More
-
Robot tractors to farm crops on sloping roof of Milan expo pavilion
Milan Expo 2015: robotic tractors will create patterns across a field of crops on the roof of this pavilion that Italian architect Carlo Ratti has designed for the World Expo 2015 in Milan. More
Timber-framed "bioclimatic" house with larch cladding by Tectoniques
This "bioclimatic" house on the edge of Lyon in France features a timber frame, cladding of larch and composite timber, and a planted roof (+ slideshow). More
Volvo Pure Tension Pavilion that charges an electric car by Synthesis Design + Architecture
This tensile pavilion is covered in solar panels that can be used to charge an electric car and then folded up to fit in its boot (+ slideshow). More
Coleoptera plastic made of beetles by Aagje Hoekstra
Dutch Design Week 2013: design graduate Aagje Hoekstra has developed a plastic made of pressed insect shells. More
Green8 by Agnieszka Preibisz and Peter Sandhaus
Architects Agnieszka Preibisz and Peter Sandhaus have unveiled a conceptual skyscraper for Berlin with a twisted figure-of-eight structure that curves around elevated gardens and is held up by cables. More
Precious Plastic by Dave Hakkens
Dutch Design Week 2013: Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Dave Hakkens has made his own machines for recycling plastic to make new products locally and plans to share the designs so others around the world can do the same. More
Award-winning packaging ditched in favour of jars
News: the inventor of an anti-diarrhoea pack for the developing world has replaced its innovative, award-winning packaging design with a simple screw-top jar. More
Solar-powered family car wins race across Australia
News: a vehicle described as "the world's first solar-powered family car" has come first in a photovoltaic-powered race across Australia (+ slideshow). More
Pasona Urban Farm by Kono Designs
Tomato vines suspended over conference tables and broccoli fields in the reception are part of working life at this Japan office by Kono Designs (+ slideshow). More
Patrick Blanc creates world's tallest vertical garden for Jean Nouvel's Sydney tower
News: Jean Nouvel's One Central Park residential tower in Sydney will feature the world's tallest vertical garden by botanist Patrick Blanc. More
The Oasis of Aboukir green wall by Patrick Blanc
Patrick Blanc, the inventor of living walls, has completed his latest vertical garden, covering the side of a five-storey Parisian block with waves of 7600 plants (+ slideshow). More
Sustainable house on the Geul by Upfrnt and Zwarthout
This riverside holiday house in South Limburg, the Netherlands, is raised on tree trunks to prevent flooding and clad with charred wood to reduce the need for maintenance (+ slideshow). More
London's largest living wall will "combat flooding"
News: a 21 metre high living wall containing 10,000 plants and 16 tons of soil will help reduce flooding in London, according to its designer. More
Be.e electric scooter by Waarmakers
Dutch product design agency Waarmakers have designed a prototype electric scooter with a body made from compressed plants (+ movie). More
World's first solar-powered family car to race across Australia
News: students at the Eindhoven University of Technology have unveiled what they claim to be the world's first solar-powered family car. More
Farming Kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
A knot-shaped rooftop will be used as a vegetable garden at this kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects that's under construction in Dong Nai, Vietnam (+ slideshow). More
Proyecto Roble by Équipe
Bright red louvres screen the gabled walls of this office building in Tilburg, the Netherlands, by Dutch architects Équipe (+ slideshow). More
Agora Garden by Vincent Callebaut
A plant-covered twisting tower shaped like a DNA strand by Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut is under construction in Taipei, Taiwan (+ slideshow). More
Asian Cairns by Vincent Callebaut
Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut has developed a concept to introduce natural ecosystems into cities with designs for "farmscrapers" made from piles of giant glass pebbles for a site in Shenzhen, China (+ slideshow). More