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 about London's largest living wall will "combat flooding"
Dutch product design agency Waarmakers have designed a prototype electric scooter with a body made from compressed plants (+ movie). More about Be.e electric scooter by Waarmakers
News: students at the Eindhoven University of Technology have unveiled what they claim to be the world's first solar-powered family car. More about World's first solar-powered family car to race across Australia
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 about Farming Kindergarten by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
Bright red louvres screen the gabled walls of this office building in Tilburg, the Netherlands, by Dutch architects Équipe (+ slideshow). More about Proyecto Roble by Équipe
A plant-covered twisting tower shaped like a DNA strand by Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut is under construction in Taipei, Taiwan (+ slideshow). More about Agora Garden 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 about Asian Cairns by Vincent Callebaut
This leisure centre in Amsterdam by Dutch architects VenhoevenCS was designed as a fortress covered in plants (+ slideshow). More about SportPlaza Mercator by VenhoevenCS
Dutch design studio Tjep. has developed a concept for a self-sufficient retreat with a facade that opens like a cupboard and a moving "solar tree" on the roof (+ slideshow). More about Isolée by Tjep
Vietnamese studio Vo Trong Nghia Architects plans to address the housing crisis in Vietnam by introducing modular homes that use cheap local materials and are easy to assemble. More about Low Cost House by Vo Trong Nghia Architects
News: French designer Philippe Starck and Slovenian engineering company Riko will complete their first sustainable prefabricated wooden house this autumn, as part of a new venture to improve housing standards. More about Philippe Starck to complete first prefab wooden eco-house
Architecture studio Tredje Natur is redesigning a Copenhagen neighbourhood to better handle the floods expected as climate change leads to fewer but heavier rain storms. More about Saint Kjeld’s Kvarter by Tredje Natur
Shanghai architects Polifactory have developed a concept for a rammed earth house that generates energy from a lake on its roof. More about HOUS.E+ by Polifactory
Dezeen Wire: design critic Alice Rawsthorn writes about design that balances desirability with ethical credibility for the New York Times, citing Mathieu Lehanneur's Wi-Fi stations across Paris and Something & Son's temporary spa the Barking Bathhouse as good examples to follow - New York Times
Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson has made these small solar-powered lamps for people who have limited access to reliable energy – almost a quarter of the world's population (+ movie). More about Little Sun by Olafur Eliasson
Eight poles and a board made of forest waste bolt together to make a flat-pack table by Japanese designers Hiroyuki Miyabe and Jun Yoshimura of SPEAC. More about For Rest Table by SPEAC
Architect John Lin has adapted the traditional style of a rural Chinese courtyard residence to create a village house that is entirely self-sufficient (+ slideshow). More about House For All Seasons by John Lin
Royal College of Art graduate Hal Watts has come up with a bicycle-powered electronic waste recycler that could save lives in developing countries (+ movie). More about Esource by Hal Watts at Show RCA 2012
Plants sprout through the patchwork aluminium facade of this pharmacy and clinic in Japan by architects Kengo Kuma and Associates (+ slideshow). More about Green Cast by Kengo Kuma and Associates
Dutch designer Pepe Heykoop has worked with people from one of Mumbai's poorest areas to transform traditional water carriers into leathery vases. More about Matka Vases by Pepe Heykoop