The City and State of New York bought an old island off it's coast from the federal government for a whopping $1 in 2003. Since then, they've been struggling to turn the once dilapidated island into a tourist destination. But now, with a plan from West 8, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Rogers Marvel Architects, the Governor's Island is going to become one of New York's most interesting and greenest tourist (and local) destinations.

The park will be traveled only by pedestrians and bicyclists, and everyone will have access to a huge bank of wooden bicycles for use on the island. The designers will create a huge amount of artificial topography using fill from construction projects in the city.  The focus of the attractions will be in local nature. A floating restaurant will serve seafood straight from the Hudson, a marine center will open the eyes of young ecogeeks to the splendor of our ocean and several rubber bubble buildings will contain botanical and aquatic research centers.

Via Inhabitat

Menir House began as Architect Andreas Angelidakis’ never-submitted entry for a design competition. The original proposal consisted of a rock-shaped house sitting under an umbrella on the beach. Recently, though he modified the umbrella part – now the house sits under an umbrella-shaped solar installation! But why stop there? The umbrella is shaped like a flower with petals that act as the blades of a windmill, driving a turbine when the winds start to blow.

No matter what the weather, then, the umbrella will be able to generate power. It's an interesting concept, but there would be some obvious difficulties if anyone tried to actually build it.

Most of said difficulties would arise from the fact that the best materials for building wind turbine blades are not usually the best materials for building solar panels, and vice versa. Solar panels aren’t designed to withstand heavy mechanical strain the way turbine blades are. So you would need to design a new kind of solar panel, which is a job and a half in itself. Furthermore, that kind of wind turbine would have to sacrifice a good deal of its efficiency unless it can be made smooth and aerodynamic.

Maybe one day solar and wind technologies will be so ubiquitous that Mr. Angelidakis’ vision can be realized, but until then the albeit pretty picture doesn’t seem to make that much technological sense.

Via Yanko Design