A trail guide in Costa Rica might stop to flick the thorns on an acacia shrub. The thorns are wide and hollow and grow in pairs, like a demonic two-fingered peace sign. And when the guide agitates them, ants scurry out. This particular ant, Pseudomyrmex ferruginea, is a hard-biting acacia defender. It protects the plant from other insects, bigger animals and well-meaning trail guides. In return, the acacia feeds the ants a protein from its leaflets and nectar from its stalk. The acacia and its ant army are a textbook example of mutualism between species. And they represent the principle behind a new concept for urban farming: bug-like greenhouses perched on the roofs of skyscrapers. (source popular mechanics) Read more…

The Flatiron Building’s triangular shape, designed by Daniel Burnham, and its location at the junction of Broadway and Fifth Avenue at 23rd Street, have made it a New York landmark. But that grandeur is skin deep: the interior is a warren of awkward spaces that do not easily accommodate modern office furniture or encourage casual collaboration among workers. And the men’s and women’s bathrooms are on alternating floors. (source NYtimes) Read more...

The High Houses are proposed as part of the reconstruction of Sarajevo after the siege of the city that lasted from 1992 though late 1995. (source spaceInvading) Read more…

Ocean levels are rising around the globe, so rather than tethering our buildings to the sinking shoreline why not suit them for a life at sea? That’s the approach behind the Water-Scraper, a futuristic self-sufficient floating city. A special mention in this year’s eVolo Skyscraper Competition, the design expands the concept of a floating island into a full-fledged underwater skyscraper that harvests renewable energy and grows its own food. (bron inhabitat) Read more…

Dubai is the most populous city of the confusingly named Dubai, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Its primary export is photos tagged WTF!? and crazy. (source cracked) Read more…

One of the sad things about the recent demise of the construction boom in Dubai is that we will no longer have so many wonderful architectural renderings to show. Some come from talented starchitects jumping through architectural hoops; others like the amazing confection that was Falcon City, feature the Eiffel Tower, pyramids and hanging gardens of Babylon. Sigh, so many glories that will never be built. (source archiEurope) Read more…

MAD architects has sent us images of a new project, urban forest, located in chongqing, china. Drawing on the mountainous landscape of the country, the commercial high-rise building, is made up of curved, abstracted shaped floors which have been layered slightly off-center from one another. (source designboom) Read more…