Doll’s Eyes, Fairy Bells, Miracle Leaf – how can plants with names like these be dangerous? Eat them, and you’ll be sorry you fell for their deceptive names and unassuming appearances. From a tree that can make you go blind to flowers that even kill unsuspecting honeybees, these 13 (more) poisonous plants are anything but innocent.

Manchineel Tree

(image via: Hobo Traveler)

The Manchineel tree (Hippomane Mancinella) is so dangerous, it’s often marked with warning signs. Its leaves and small green fruit resemble those of an apple tree, hence the name – which is derived from “manzanilla”, meaning “little apple” in Spanish. But in Spain, this tree is more often known as “little apple of death”. All parts of this tree are so toxic that if you burn it and stand near the smoke, you can go blind.

Stand under this tree during a rainstorm, and you’ll get a nasty surprise in the form of blisters all over exposed parts of your body caused by contact with a white milky substance that the tree secretes when it rains. The Caribs used Manzanilla sap to poison their arrows and even tied captives to its trunk to ensure a slow and painful death.

Heart of Jesus

(image via: Wikipedia)

Eat the Heart of Jesus (Caladium x hortulanum), and you’ll end up praying for mercy. It actually wouldn’t be too difficult to accidentally set your mouth and throat on fire with this plant, since it shares its common name – Elephant Ear – with another genus of plants called Colocasia esculenta (taro) which have edible roots. While taro tastes akin to potatoes, Caladium tastes like the burning depths of hell thanks to its toxic compound, Calcium oxalate.

Doll’s eyes

(images via: Illinois Wildflowers)

With its broad green leaves and dainty white flowers, Doll’s Eyes (Actaea pachypoda) certainly doesn’t look dangerous. But, the striking white berries – once sewn into rag dolls as eyes, hence the name – are highly poisonous. They contain cardiogenic toxins that have an immediate sedative effect on human cardiac muscle tissue and can be fatal if eaten in large quantities. Even in small quantities, they can cause severe mouth pain.

Larkspur

(image via: Farmer Julie)

Like its cousin monkshood, larkspur (delphinium) is a highly popular ornamental plant, often planted in gardens for their dramatic spikes of showy blue blossoms. Larkspur is so pretty that children often just can’t resist touching them, but even brief contact with the flowers or leaves can irritate the skin. And, if you ignore the warning sign of this plant’s strong, acrid taste, you could die – it’s packed full of potent alkaloids. Before keeling over from respiratory paralysis, you’ll experience excitability, disoreintation, muscle tremors, stiffness, weakness and seizures.

Privet

(image via: Wikimedia Commons)

Neat, orderly rows of privet hedges (Ligustrum) look anything but frightening, but eat the berries and you’ll never want to go near this plant again. Some species, such as Ligustrum ovalifolium,  contain toxic Glycosides which cause abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, weakness, cold and clammy skin. Equestrians should be especially careful not to let their horses munch on this unassuming plant, as it is often fatal to them.

Yellow Jessamine

(image via: KillerPlants.com)

Yellow Jessamine: it’s a pretty name for a pretty plant, but don’t be lulled into complacency by its Southern charm. This perennial evergreen vine, which is the state flower of South Carolina, can be deadly. Though Gelsemium sempervirens is sometimes used in herbal medicine to treat problems like sciatica, when used incorrectly, it can – and does – kill. All parts of this plant contain the toxic strychnine-related alkaloids gelsemine and gelseminine, which is even fatal to honeybees when they make the mistake of gathering its nectar.

Fairy Bells

(image via: Wikimedia Commons)

This plant’s attractive appearance earned it names like Fairy Bells, Virgin’s Glove and Fairy Thimbles – but it’s also known as Dead Men’s Bells and Bloody Fingers, with good reason. Digitalis purpurea, Common Foxglove which is often found growing wild in the woods, is an undeniably beautiful plant containing cardiac glycoside digitoxin. Eat it and you’ll experience nausea, vomiting, convulsions, cardiac arrest and finally, death.

Tree Tobacco

(image via: UBC Botanical Garden)

Considering how much tobacco is consumed around the world on a daily basis, you might imagine a plant called Tree Tobacco is okay to smoke or eat. Not so much. Nicotiana Glauca causes vomiting, diarrhea, slow pulse, dizziness, collapse, and respiratory failure and is known to frequently kill horses and cattle, especially in Texas where it grows wild.

Golden Chain

(image via: Gertie_DU)

Golden Chain (Laburnum Anagyroides) is a majestic tree, with cascades of sunny yellow flowers. It has a long-held reputation as poison in English lore, particularly since its seeds look very similar to peas. They contain both Lupinine and dangerous enzyme inhibitors, and as few as 20 laburnum beans can kill a child.

Mother of Millions

(image via: North West Weeds)

In 1997, 125 cows died in New South Wales after eating an ornamental succulent plant that’s common all over the drier parts of Australia. Mother of Millions (Kalanchoe tubiflora) is so named for its astounding ability to reproduce – each plant produces thousands of offspring. But this drought-resistant plant causes diarrhea, heart failure and death in stock animals that mistake it for food.

Miracle Leaf

(image via: Staff.it.uts.edu.au)

It’s called Miracle Leaf thanks to its medicinal properties, but use Kalanchoe pinnata improperly and you’ll need a miracle to emerge unscathed. It contains bufadienolide cardiac glycosides, which can cause cardiac poisoning, particularly in grazing animals.

Windflower

(image via: Wikipedia)

The delicate, starry white blossoms of the Windflower plant look like something that would adorn a bridal veil, but touch it, and you’ll get a nasty rash. The entire plant contains poisonous chemicals that are toxic to humans and animals, including protoanemonin, a skin and gastrointestinal irritant.

White Bryony

(image via: Roberto Verzo)

White Bryony sounds pleasant enough, but get a load of its other name: Devil’s Turnip. This vine-like relative of cucumber produces pale pink berries filled with a foul-smelling juice as well as a large, tuberous rootstock. When used properly by knowledgable herbalists, this plant treats a number of health disorders, but ingestion can cause vomiting, kidney damage, convulsions and miscarriage.

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(Image via: Inhabitat)

As world-savingly admirable as wind turbines are…well, they kinda stick out. Putting aside the question of whether the colossal wind-turbines we are growing accustomed to seeing are bad for our health or for local wildlife – they’re definitely bad for the view. In fact they’re as incongruous as lamposts in a field of corn. But maybe we don’t need acres of whirring behemoths – we should just design our homes a little differently. Here are three examples of how we might achieve this.

(Image via: Inhabitat)

Released last year, the Broadstar Aerocam (pictured above and top) is a multi-layered horizontal turbine that follows the wind around at a price translating to less than $1 per watt. Its blades continually adjust to find the optimum pitch to bite into the wind, collecting energy the same way the surface of an aircraft wing collects lift. The Aerocam units can be positioned at points between or atop buildings where the wind is strongest – but unobtrusively, never lifting above the skyline.

(Images via: Cleantechnica)

Taking the idea a step further is the Ridgeblade, a turbine that is part of your roof. The genius of this design is the unit’s length – potentially as long as a traditional sky-high turbine – and the Ridgeblade has already won its designers (the UK’s The Power Collective) a prestigious $750,000 award.

(Image via: Ecofriend)

But why stop at houses? Think of all the bridges, road-signs, walkways, billboards and lamposts out there. Think about the artificially-induced wind of road-traffic – as utilized by this design by Arizona State University – or from the passage of trains or aircraft. If we could work horizontal turbines into our existing structures in such a way that they’re out of sight and out of mind, then could we meet our energy needs while keeping our treasured natural views…and bequeath the sky to the next generation?

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Greenery isn’t just for roofs anymore – verdant carpets of moss, vines, grass and more bring lush life to vertical surfaces indoors and out through framed art installations, living walls, moss graffiti and even curtains of vegetation. Such ‘green walls’ take the technology and benefits of green roofs and make it even more visually appealing, softening bare concrete and providing shade, humidity and oxygen.

Floating, Greenery-Covered Home Concept

(images via: Treehugger)

In the Netherlands, architects accept the possibility that their city could eventually be taken over by the water that surrounds it – and they’re working on sustainable solutions that work with, not against, nature. If water takes over the city, so be it – residents could be living in dainty little floating homes made from recycled polystyrene hamburger clamshells, coffee cups and packing material and covered in vegetation.

Japan’s Bio-Lung: World’s Largest Green Wall

(image via: Colleen Bishop)

The world’s largest green wall was constructed for Japan’s Aichi Expo in 2005, a massive ‘bio-lung’ measuring 150 meters long and 12 meters high. The wall consisted of hemp canvas called ‘kenaf’, with pockets planted with sedum, vines and flowers. It was named ‘bio-lung’ to convey the message that such expanses of vertical vegetation can function as a huge, breathing lung to purify the air in urban environments.

Largest Living Wall in North America

(image via: Jetson Green)

The largest living wall in North America was recently completed at One PNC Plaza in Pittsburgh, the headquarters of PNC Bank. The 2,380 square-foot living wall has 602 2′x2′ modular panels, each one containing 24 plants for a grand total of 14,448 plants. The greenery, complete with PNC logo, covers a vast section of the exterior wall of this 30-story building. Since its installation, studies have shown that the south-facing wall is 25% cooler behind the green wall than ambient temperatures.

Plan for Green Wall in Cordoba, Spain

(images via: Urbanity)

Architects Thomas and Javier Garcia Píriz Castilian Pulido of CUAC Architecture envisioned a vast stretch of latticed greenery for the east and south sides of the façade of the College of Architecture at Cordoba, Spain. The architects imagine the green wall as a continuation of the existing building’s Art Noveau theme, placing an emphasis on the inclusion of nature in public spaces.

Whole Foods Living Wall

(image via: City Food)

At the new Whole Foods in Vancouver, a colorful wall of plants embellishes the north-facing wall of the building, adding to the city’s long list of greenery-adorned architecture. The wall is planted with native plants like huckleberry, euonymus, and licorice fern, which were individually placed within self-contained soil soil panels and attached to the side of the building.

Vertical Garden Art Installations

(image via: FloraGrubb.com)

Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco is a popular destination for fans of vertical greenery thanks to the talents of Kevin Smith, who creates stunning vertical gardens such as this one, made with succulents. Smith and partner, Flora Grubb – who owns the garden shop – also created a vertical tillandsia garden for the Bardessono Hotel.

Potted Plant Patios in Cordoba, Spain

(Image via: Guayre)

Cordoba, Spain is a city famous for its beautiful courtyards, called ‘patios Cordobeses’. Inside the gates of each courtyard, exterior walls are covered in wall-hanging planters, adding color and interest to what would otherwise be blank expanses of white. Each spring, private courtyards are opened to the public as homeowners compete with their neighbors for the best floral display. This one, pictured, won in 2007.

ReviPlant Edible Green Walls

(images via: ReviPlant)

Some critics of popular vertical greenery designs argue that such gardens aren’t being used to their maximum potential unless they’re edible. This design, by Italian company ReviPlant, is a vertical gardening system that takes vegetable gardens off the ground, transforming them into portable green walls that can be used to cover building facades.

Campbell’s Soup Tomato Wall in Harlem

(image via: AGreenRoof.com)

The Campbell’s Soup Company teamed up with Green Living Technologies LLC to create a living wall of the tomatoes grown for the company’s iconic soup in Harlem, New York. This “edible” food-producing wall brings fresh, pesticide-free produce to an area that lacks space for traditional horizontal gardens.

Moss Graffiti: Green Walls with a Message

(images via: Environmental Graffiti)

Vertical greenery doesn’t have to take up an entire wall. Moss graffiti is a form of wall vegetation that serves a purely decorative purpose, with designs ‘painted’ onto wall surfaces using a mixture of biodegradable ingredients that allow the moss to grow. Artist Anna Garforth experiments with poetry, while Edina Tokodi is responsible for popular New York City installations on concrete columns and other surfaces.

Greenery Curtains at Aichi Prefecture

(image via: Anjo City)

In Anjo City, Japan, a novel solution for cooling hot concrete buildings was to construct ‘curtains’ of greenery that filter both the sun and the air. Five nets cover the eastern side of a government building, each measuring 16 meters long and six meters wide. Planters at the base allow morning glories, bitter gourds, loofah and other plants to climb the nets, offering privacy on the balconies.

Inadvertent Vertical Greenery at Abandoned Shipyard

(images via: Artificial Owl)

Not all vertical greenery is intentional – just take a drive through the Kudzu vine-covered South, or enter an old abandoned building taken over by trees and vines. This former glass factory and shipyard in Imari harbour in the Saga prefecture of Japan has been almost entirely taken back by nature, and shows that accidental vertical vegetation can be just as beautiful as that which is planned.

Green Pockets: Planter Wall Tiles

(images via: Momoy)

Green Pockets, interlocking recycled ceramic tiles with built-in planters designed by Maruja Fuentes, turn vertical greenery into a sort of interactive art project that allows users to create wallscapes in virtually any kind of pattern, from free-flowing waves to checkerboards. The small planters make it easy to decorate a wall with herbs, flowers or other plants and easily change out the plants as desired.

Brooklyn’s First Living Wall

(image via: Jetson Green)

Brooklyn, New York got its first living wall in 2008 with the simple yet charming installation at Oulu Bar & EcoLounge in Williamsburg. The LEED-gold certified building and wall were both designed by Evangeline Dennie, with the modern warm wood façade of the building perfectly complementing the greenery for an eye-catching effect.

Changi Airport, Singapore

(images via: Alice)

There’s nothing cold and sterile about the Changi Airport of Singapore, which is home to a beautiful five-story wall of vines. Located in the baggage pick-up area, this self-watering 300-meter-wide vertical wall of vegetation brings some much-needed fresh air into a large, densely populated building.

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(Images via:  YLighting)

Are we making the most of the creative possibilies of LEDs? From the fan-cooled SoL R38 to the coolant-filled 360 Degree Light, the shape of the next generation of home LED lighting is looking decidedly familiar. Maybe that is to be expected, considering the green, practical need to fit all those screw and bayonet fittings in existing lamp designs – but are we missing a chance to rethink our lighting needs and come up with something neater, energy-thriftier and much more fun? Take the Abyss table lamp – like a corkscrewing paper sculpture (or if you want to be less kind, a length of glowing intestine), it can be bent into exactly the shape you require.

(Images via:  Technabob)

Or the Fragile Future 2 wall-lamp, an ivy-like sprawl of square-edged modular “circuitry” (you can assemble it to fit your wall-space), set with lamps that shine like dandelion heads? This dazzling effect is achieved in the most obvious way possible – by surrounding LEDs with dandelion seeds!

(Images via:  3rings)

Or how about hiding your lighting away in the walls? The appropriately-named Torn Lighting pretends that your wallpaper is hiding a brightly glowing wall, by hiding an LED behind a tailored, faked rip in the fabric. (This would also work nicely with furniture). Those who had nightmares after watching Poltergeist may wish to sit this one out.

(Images via:  Pieke Bergmans)

But for sheer irreverent cheek, it is hard to beat the work of Pieke Bergmans. Her Light Blubs (that’s not a typo) poke fun at conventional lighting by being victims of the “Design Virus”, an affliction that makes them sag and drip like candlewax.

(Images via:  Pieke Bergmans)

Crafted individually to suit their surroundings, these Blubs are made from handcrafted crystal inset with LEDs, and therefore at the other end of the scale from mass-produced domestic lighting – but they crack a much-needed grin at our obsession with ‘bulb-shaped’ bulbs. Maybe it’s time we joined in the fun.

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In the Northern Hemisphere, the weather is turning cooler and Autumn is just around the corner. When we cook, our thoughts turn to warm, hearty dishes that fill the house with comforting smells and make the kitchen come alive with warmth. Squash, root vegetables, soups or stews, and fresh breads are the perfect foods for this time of year. Fill your kitchen with these delicious, (mostly) nutritious vegan dishes this Fall and watch your guests’ faces light up as they realize how amazing vegan food can be. Best of all, you don’t have to be a master chef to make any of these recipes.

Appetizers

It’s surprising how many people have never tried hummus. It’s a filling chickpea-and-tahini spread that goes great on raw veggies, pita bread or even crackers. Hummus is delicious any time of the year, but in Autumn it’s even harder to resist hummus made with roasted red peppers and garlic. This hummus recipe is quick and easy because it uses canned chickpeas and red peppers, but if you prefer you can cook your own chickpeas from dried and roast your own red peppers.

Bread and oil is a classic quick, inexpensive, and extremely yummy appetizer. The best part is that you can customize the taste in so many ways. It just takes a bit of olive oil, some dried seasonings and high-quality bread. The olive oil is the most important part; spring for the extra-virgin if you can. It has a pure, delicate taste that lower qualities can’t match. You can even use flavored or infused olive oil, either homemade or bought in the supermarket. Simply mix olive oil with a few pinches of dried herbs like oregano, thyme, rosemary, dried red pepper and sage, a bit of garlic powder and some salt and pepper. This isn’t an exact science, so simply mix your seasonings in to taste. Warm it up for a few seconds in the microwave and serve with crusty whole-grain bread. Adding a few drops of high-quality balsamic vinegar to the oil just before serving adds an unforgettable flavor.

We can’t say enough good things about stuffed mushrooms. The little white cap mushrooms are usually pretty inexpensive, and making stuffed mushrooms isn’t nearly as complicated as the finished product makes it seem. This recipe for Garlic and Rosemary Stuffed Mushrooms includes butter, but you can easily substitute a non-dairy equivalent to make the recipe vegan. It’s definitely worth it. But there’s no need to heat up the whole oven to roast your garlic if you have a toaster oven handy. Just cut off the top of the head, peel off the outer layer of skin, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil and roast in the toaster oven at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Casseroles

Beans are so important for vegetarians and vegans; they give us the necessary protein and fiber to keep us going strong. This simple bean and rice casserole is cheap and easy and contains three different kinds of beans. You can dress it up with some cumin, garlic and chili powder to give it a taco-like taste. Or add some Italian seasoning and vegan sausage crumbles, and substitute zucchini and carrots for the vegetables to make a delicious Italian casserole.

Lentils are like a superfood for non-meat-eaters. They’re cheap, chock full of protein, quick to prepare, versatile and (we think, anyway) very tasty. This French Lentil Casserole has a unique sophisticated flavor that doesn’t taste anything like the bland pasty lentils that many of us were forced to eat as children. The croutons on top give a lovely texture; again, substitute a non-dairy margarine for the butter in the recipe to make it vegan.

Macaroni and cheese is a really difficult meal to give up when you go vegan. Especially if you grew up in America, mac and cheese is a classic comfort food that’s present at lots of family gatherings. This Vegan Baked Macaroni and Cheese recipe uses soy cheese, which is avoided even by many vegans. But in this recipe, the soy cheese is spruced up with some additional ingredients and actually tastes similar to dairy mac and cheese.

Side Dishes

Parsnips are a wonderful, if underused, vegetable. They taste sort of like a cross between a carrot and a potato, and if you mash them along with potatoes they add a unique nutty and tangy taste. Parsnips are just coming into season in the Autumn and are available through most of winter. Try this amazing sweet and hearty recipe for Ginger Roasted Winter Vegetables for an experience unlike any other.

Sweet potatoes are an icon of the season. They are sweet, filling, and – luckily – very healthy. These Baked Sweet Potato Sticks are sort of like a healthier version of French fries. They couldn’t be easier, and they accompany a variety of meals very nicely. Try serving them with a vegetarian meatloaf and green salad for a delicious and healthy vegan meal.

This Green Bean Casserole may take a while to make, but it’s absolutely worth it. Use up the fresh green beans that are perfect right now from the garden or farmer’s market and this amazing casserole will blow you away. And when you dig into the recipe and start making it, it’s not as complicated as it looks at first glance.

Soups, Stews and Chilis

This Curried Carrot Bisque from the always-fabulous vegan chef Isa Chandra Moskowitz may require a trip to the grocery store (unless you have curry powder, coconut milk and three pounds of carrots at home) but you’ll be impressed with the results. The flavors of the curry powder and carrots melt together in an unbelievably tasty combination that will warm you to the core.

Chili is a must for when the weather starts turning cool. Serve it up with some vegan cornbread or homemade Italian bread and it’s a feast! The great thing about chili is that it takes on a different personality every time you make it. This vegetarian chili recipe is a great place to start, but play around with your chili to get it just the way you like it. Add vegetables, vary the amount of liquid, and change up the spices until it’s perfect. When making a vegan chili, there are several ways to get that distinctive “meaty” flavor. Some additions we’ve tried: cocoa powder, dark beer, and balsamic vinegar. Don’t try them all at once, though!

If you’ve never had a soup or stew made with miso, you’re missing out. The fermented soybean paste imparts a salty, rich flavor to whatever it’s in. This hearty Vegetable Stew with Red Wine and Miso is great served over rice or mashed potatoes, or just scooped out of a big bowl with a big spoon.

Desserts

Autumn is dominated by apples. They’re in season, and if you go to a you-pick orchard, you can make a perfect family day out of picking and preparing the apples to make this amazing Whole-Apple Crisp. The recipe just needs a little modification to make it vegan: use vegan margarine instead of butter, agave nectar or maple syrup in place of the honey, and soy yogurt instead of Greek (or omit the yogurt and serve it with some soy ice cream).

If apples aren’t your thing, this delicious Vegan Pear Baklava is just as sweet. You can again use agave or maple syrup instead of the honey. The finished product is something like a pear crisp without the crunchy topping. The nuts between each layer provide a delicious contrast in flavors and textures.

Rice pudding is another of those comfort foods that a lot of us miss when going vegan. The stuff you buy ready-made in the stores is full of dairy, but this vegan Slow Cooked Rice Pudding is just as rich and surprisingly simple to make. It’s perfect for chilly autumn evenings, and it’ll hold you over until breakfast – when you’ll probably want another bowl!

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Trying to limit the environmental impact of your kitchen? No matter how many food scraps you compost or eco-friendly detergents you use, there are your traditional old appliances, encouraging you to do things the bad old way. They need to be rethought, incorporating all that we now know about sustainably closed loops and thrifty environmentalism…and here are two designs from the forefront of that kitchen eco-revolution.

(Image via: Dezeen)

The Flow2 Kitchen doesn’t rely on fancy electronics – but it is a technological marvel. Aside from a little plumbing and wiring this unit is a free-standing sideboard complete with sink, cooker and refrigerator. The key to its success is “low-tech” physics, cycling round in an energy-conserving, resource-hoarding loop. Newly washed pots drip their excess water onto edible plants. The fridge uses evaporating water to suck heat away from it – yep, no electrical supply needed (your utility budget will sniffle with joy). Food scraps go into the built-in vermicomposter, where your very own population of worms will nibble it down into compost ideal for the garden or for those plants under your drip-tray. And if you have kids…what better demonstration of the entire point of recycling?

(Image via: Kontrastblog)

But perhaps you like hi-tech – and perhaps you have more than a little money to throw around, in which case can we interest you in the rather science-fictional delights of the Brand Aion? The work of French designer Antoine LeBrun, the Aion works in a similar way to part of the Flow2 by conserving water, diverting any excess into the plants housed in the lid.

(Image via: Kontrastblog)

However, shut the lid and things get really clever. The whole device turns into a low-energy dishwasher – using a vegetable soap created by the plants growing above it. You keep track of how far along the cleaning cycle it is via the digital readout glowing on the front. Meanwhile, all that greenery is cleaning upwards as well, by scrubbing the air in your kitchen and leaving it as pristine as your crockery. When it becomes available (yes, it’s still in the early stages of prototyping), expect this device to get everyone in a lather.

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When it comes to sustainable housing and urban recreation, multi-functionality and biomimicry are the wave of the future, with communities intentionally designed so that residents have plenty of access to green space even in the most densely populated cities. The green recreation spaces of the future are often designed to use space creatively, providing unexpected pockets of nature, while the lines are blurred between nature and architecture in conceptual eco-housing.

Jenga-Like Apartment Complex in Singapore

(images via: Design Boom)

Stacked like Jenga blocks, the buildings that make up the Interlace Residential Complex in Singapore form a hexagonal arrangement to form eight large open courtyards where residents of the luxury apartments can gather to interact, swim and enjoy nature. The complex houses 1,040 apartment units of various sizes standing 316 stories tall, creatively using the site’s 20 acres to fit in large amounts of both housing and outdoor recreational spaces.

Vegetal City

(images via: VegetalCity.net)

Like an illustration from a child’s storybook, the Vegetal City concept by Luc Schuiten merges architecture with nature in such a way that it’s practically impossible to discern dwellings from actual vegetation.

Schuiten’s designs are the result of decades of observation and imagination, and his watercolor paintings depict a fantastical vision of how humans could build more intelligent cities that work in harmony with the earth instead of against it. The character of each of his cities is drawn from its environmental setting, including canyons in the desert and a ‘lotus city’ in a humid locale.

Dongdaemun Design Plaza & Park

(images via: DDP.Seuol.go.kr)

Combining green recreation space with office buildings, a design museum, training center and convention facilities, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza & Park will bring rolling green hills to the heart of South Korea’s largest business district in 2010. The project, designed by Zaha Hadid, establishes a cultural hub in the center of Seoul complete with reflecting pools, lotus ponds, bamboo groves and other elements of traditional Korean gardening.

Magic Mountains Undulating Business District

(images via: Room at the Top)

Imagine a lush, green, mountainous wonderland of buildings within the stark concrete setting of a big city. The ‘Magic Mountains’ concept proposing a new green central business district in Chongqing, China, was created by CEBO/Chongqing University for the CO-EVOLUTION exhibition in Copenhagen.

The designers say, “Chongqing, the biggest municipality in the world, is undergoing high-speed urban development. 50 million m2 of floor space and 500 km of highways are being added to the urban landscape and 1,200,000 people are relocating to the city every year. The GCBD district resembles the natural skyline of Chongqing, but with inhabited mountains. The mountain-peaks match the high density centres; the mountains lower reaches resemble traditional Chinese neighbourhoods. The valleys are green open spaces accommodating the ‘living machine’ – a system treating wastewater and generating renewable energy.”

Futuristic Vertical Farm on the London Bridge

(images via: Inhabitat)

As urban spaces become more and more congested, architects are looking to unusual locations for green space – even bridges. Chetwood Architects proposed turning the London Bridge into a vertical farm with solar-powered spires topped with wind turbines. The concept includes vast platforms supporting a network of organic farms and a public organic market where the food grown on the bridge could be sold to the public. It also incorporates solar water heating, rainwater collection and greywater treatment.

Globe Ecological Hub: Green-Roofed Concept City

(images via: World Architecture News)

The relatively new city of Modiin in Israel provides an opportunity to build a sustainable urban center from the ground up, and architect Zvika Tamari of TeaM Architects has envisioned a grass-roofed eco-dome featuring daylighting, active solar systems, natural ventilation and other green building features and techniques. The Globe Eco-Hub consists of a half-buried museum and a linear structure of open courts of various levels, along with a series of open spaces including a recreation park.

Eco Park Houses Joined by a Wave of Green

(images via: Design Boom)

Another unusual concept for eco-housing – and one that is actually in the planning stages – is the Park Houses by Ushida-Finlay Architects. Set for construction in Preston, UK, the Park Houses are a series of five individual four-story homes covered by a single wave-like green roof that pulls them together into one complex. The homes will share common leisure space and will feature large windows to let in natural light. Solar panels will provide some of the power consumed by the homes, and locally sourced materials will be used for building.

Cliff Dwelling-Inspired Co-Op Canyon

(images via: Inhabitat)

When designing green buildings, many architects turn to biomimicry, studying nature’s best ideas and imitating those systems and designs to sustainably solve human problems. LA-based architecture firm Standard looked to the cliff dwellings of the Anasazi Indians to provide inspiration for Co-Op Canyon, a terraced sustainable city block that incorporates housing, gardens and community spaces. Designed for the Re:Vision Dallas competition, this concept could house up to 1,000 people yet produces net zero carbon emissions and wastes no water.

Songdo International Business District: South Korea Eco-City
(images via: Songdo.com)

South Korea has become a popular location for master-planned eco-cities, with several multi-use sustainable urban centers planned. The city of Incheon will soon get a $30 billion complex called the Songdo International Business District that will accommodate 75,000 residents and 300,000 commuters. Designed by Kohn Petersen Fox, Songdo IBD will contain 1,500 acres of offices, hotels, residential and retail developments and a 100-acre Central Park reminiscent of New York City. This ambitious project will also feature a modern canal system inspired by Venice and 120 of its buildings will meet LEED standards.

Green Office 2015: Workspace/Green Space Combo

(images via: Archicentral)

Why waste valuable space on nothing but roads and railways? RAU Architects believe that such spaces can also support functions like recreation and business by building a web over the infrastructure. ‘Green Office 2015’ is a multifunctional building that offers offices and expanses of grassy green spaces replete with natural light and opportunities for on-site energy generation.

Instead of a stretch of concrete and steel, visitors see what looks like an extension of the natural environment – a man-made mountain that makes use of space that would otherwise go to waste.

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(Image via: maxblack)

Tire recycling is on a roll. Only a few decades ago, the world had little or no idea what to do with the hundreds of millions of scrap tires littering the planet – hogging landfill space, collecting stagnant water for disease-carrying moquitos to breed in, and causing epic flagrations that can burn for years. Now we live in eco-friendlier times. Recycled tires are (somewhat fittingly) being used to line roads, to make playgrounds safe, to prop up houses…and as these six examples show, to add quirky style to our homes.

(Image via: igreenspot)

Not only is tire furniture hard-wearing (having already been rolled for thousands of miles) – it looks and feels like nothing else. Could it be the next designer super-material? Sturdy enough to keep in shape, flexible enough to cushion impacts – and able to withstand any extreme of weather. Pictured above is a coffee table set, but surely this material is born to make garden furniture.

(Images via: recycoool)

But if you want comfort over durability – add a little air. Recycoool’s inflatable furniture is the work of Israeli designer Nir Ohayon, and consists of inflated inner tubes crossed with industrial strength rubber bands. The result looks deliciously comfortable, if rather startling.

(Images via: englishretreads)

Stretchy but unbreakable, waterproof and available in staggering quantities – why have bag-makers been using plastic and leather when recycled tire rubber fits the bill so exactly? These examples from English Retreads show how it should be done.

(Images via: le souk and Apartment Therapy)

Or maybe you want a durable alternative to ceramic? Tire rubber containers won’t chip or fracture, will flex as they get filled and will take any punishment you throw at them. Perfect for pots to throw your kichen utensils in, as with le souk’s Recycled Tire Bucket (left) – or these Eastern-style tubs and planters (right), fit for any use, any environment.

(Image via: BadAss Paddles)

And lastly…um. Well. What can we say? Apart from offering our congratulations to BadAss Paddles (sadly no longer in business) for their lateral thinking and their creativity…and also for taking the phrase “brand spanking new” so very literally.

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Squeaky-Green: Two Waste-free Ways To Wash Up

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Anti-Cancer Purple Tomatoes

(images via: Tomato Casual and The Great Beyond)

Fancy a little flower with your tomatoes? Not flour, flower – as in snapdragons. Researchers found that by injecting genes from snapdragon flowers into normal red tomatoes, the latter produced an increased amount of the pigment anthocyanin. Besides adding deep reddish and bluish tonnes to fruits like cranberries and blackberries, anthocyanin is a potent anti-oxidant that shows promise in inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, easing the symptoms of diabetes and relieving a number of age-related illnesses. Should human trials pan out, you may be seeing healthy purple pizza on the menu some day!

Hypoallergenic Tomatoes

(images via: Like To Cook and University of Szeged)

Allergic to tomatoes? It’s more likely than you think – up to 16 percent of people are sensitive to tomatoes, adding extra complications to life in a world of free-flowing ketchup, tomato sauce and burgers with the works. It’s not tomatoes themselves that are at fault, it’s a small protein called Profilin. By silencing two genes responsible for Profilin production in tomatoes, scientists can create non-allergenic fruit that are otherwise completely normal in taste, texture and appearance.

Healthier Papayas

(images via: Green Daily and ChrisChee18)

Now here’s a fun fact we bet you didn’t know: Half of all commercial papayas grown in the United States have been genetically modified to resist the Papaya Ring Virus. While GM papayas may not be any healthier for you or I, they HAVE saved the American papaya industry, which was nearly wiped out by the onset of this virus in the 1990s. The use of GM papayas does have one noteworthy consequence: genetically modified papayas are not allowed into Japan, the industry’s largest export market. Only non-GM fruit is sold to Japan; the rest is sold domestically.

Golden Rice: Kids Can See The Difference

(images via: Mythgarr, PRI and The Korea Times)

While rice is technically a grain, genetically engineered Golden Rice shares something with its vegetable cousins: a gene that produces Vitamin A, necessary to keep eyes healthy. The precursor to Vitamin A is beta-carotene which is found in yellow and orange vegetables like squash and carrots. It’s estimated that widespread consumption of Golden Rice, which will become available to farmers in 2011, will prevent blindness in as many as 500,000 children.

Yes, We Have No Non-GM Bananas

(images via: ABC News, HubPages and The Makan Club)

There’s a race going on – and if we lose it, we’ll also lose our bananas. Every last one. The culprit is Panama Disease, an incurable fusarium blight that has roared through Asian banana plantations and is poised to strike across the ocean to Latin America. The original export banana, known as “Big Mike”, was wiped out by PD and growers replaced it with the much more resistant Cavendish variety that originated in Vietnam. Now a new variant of Panama Disease has sprung up and the Cavendish looks to be going the way of Big Mike… unless scientists can engineer the fruit to fight the blight. To that end, researchers are looking at genes from an Indonesian wild banana from Indonesia that is resistant to PD To get the genes into commercial bananas, the genes are first implanted in a type of bacteria that is used to infect banana plants.

Fishy Strawberries

(image via: Freaking News)

If you think there’s something fishy about that ripe, juicy strawberry you just bit into, you could be right. Scientists have been experimenting with so-called “anti-freeze genes” found in cold water fish like Sea Flounder and Arctic Char. When implanted into fruits and vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes and strawberries, the gene acts to makes the plant in question more resistant to freezing in bad weather. The strawberries don’t actually taste fishy… though one imagines the flavor would be somewhat like fruit clamato. Yum!

Multivitamin Corn

(images via: Science Planet, 21-Food and Ars Lounge)

Peaches & Cream Corn is familiar to most of us but it’s understood that the corn only looks like fruit & milk; it’s not made from it. Now there’s a new type of corn that does incorporate the genes of foreign plants – not for good taste, but for a good cause. Multivitamin corn: it tastes good and it’s good for you! Scientists from Spain and Germany used genetic engineering techniques to cause South African elite white corn to produce three types of vitamins (Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Folic Acid) within its kernels. Beta Carotene, found naturally in carrots and squash, tints the kernels a curious shade of orange.

Viral Vegetable Marketing

(image via: UC, California Agriculture)

Studies conducted at the University of California have uncovered a novel way of using genetic engineering. In one case, zucchini prone to infection by viral diseases were able to not only survive, but thrive thanks to a gene taken from the offending virus which was implanted into the zucchini plant. The addition of only a single gene from the virus made a huge difference – note the rich, green color of the genetically modified plants above right compared with their unprotected brothers on the left.

Apple Cinnamon Apples?

(image via: WIRED)

Like cinnamon on your apples? How about IN them? That’s what you get with Cinna-Del, a genetically modified apple from agri-giant Monsanto that tastes sweet and cinnamony with every bite. Not to worry though, both the image and the concept of Cinna-Del apples are but a figment of some graphic artist’s imagination… for now.

Frankenfruits: Viral Veggies We’d (Not) Like To See

(image via: Freaking News)

It seems that when it comes to genetic modification, anything’s possible. The phab photoshoppers over at Freaking News took this particular ball and decided to run with it… some of these crazy combos look rather tasty!

With that last note in mind and knowing the capabilities of genetic researchers, it seems likely we may see genetically modified fruits & veggies even beyond our imaginations. Even though much GM research has gone towards improving the hardiness and nutritive value of our foods, one must recall an old TV margarine commercial in which it is said, “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature!”

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We all know that strange animals camouflage themselves for all kinds of reasons, from the need to sneak up on prey to the advantages of being stealthier predators, but this is the first known case of an exotic plant that ‘pretends‘ to be ill as an evolutionary advantage in order to avoid being eaten.

Found in the rain forests of Ecuador these sick-looking plants appear to have already been attacked.  As a rule of (green) thumb, plants that compromise their ability to transform sunlight into energy via photosynthesis die out. However, in this case the survivors seem to be those that sacrifice light-harvesting capacity for a clever camouflaged appearance.

Typically, the top predator of this particular plant lays its eggs on the leaves , which in turn hatch into larvae that leave a trail of white behind as they feast on the leaves. By displaying a white pattern from the outset, however, these plants look already-inhabited and thus further egg-laying moths are deterred from laying their own offspring.

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Spectacular Desert Plant Life

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