the seed and structure

Here are some good sites on the study on dandelions:

Dandelion discription and structure

Seeds & Fruits Dispersed By Wind

Drawing dandelion in pc?

and the wonderful UK pavilion inspired by dandelion

“334″ Newspapers Bench

paper spiral

Paper Hand Bangles from Space

book folding

papergraphic

paper creations by Jen Stark

Ernesto Neto

chris kirby: 'spiral lamp' at milan design week 09

Cellulose, seeds and rice noodles transformed into amazing sculptures

Lichtenberg Figures: Amazing beauty of captured lightning

latest trend in graffiti art webtagging

Bill Smith sculpture

5th festival of lively architecture

Source: designboom

Sweden’s Sweeping Green Roofed Hillside City

Nestled beneath an undulating series of rolling green roofs, Kjellgren Kaminsky Architects New Heden project transforms a vacant city block is a self-contained sustainable city interspersed with cycling paths and walkways. Envisioned as a “green lung” for Gothenburg, Sweden, the development will introduce a beautiful expanse of fresh green space to an area currently consumed by parking lots and football fields.

Kjellgren Kaminsky Architects' New Heden project aims to establish a vital new community in an underutilized site. The development will house 10,000 people in 5000 new apartments and will provide commercial zones, sports facilities, and parks, reducing the distance that residents need to travel each day.

We love how the development rises up from the earth in a series of gently flowing hills, forming a lovely terrain laced with pathways and plenty of perfect spots for picnics. These green roofs provide excellent insulation to the buildings beneath while absorbing rain that can be purified and reused as household water. The project also includes plans for the local cultivation of fruits and vegetables, and after development the site will feature a much greater biomass than before.

Kjellgren Kaminsky Architects state: “With a unique identity of sustainable densification the new town block Heden creates a vision of a garden block that connects green space, healthy lifestyle and pleasant surroundings to a modern living atmosphere.

Source from inhabitat.com

The Private Life of plants

The Private Life of Plants (Part 2-6) - Growing

49:15 - 1 year ago

Legendado PT-BR, Subtitles ENG Send subtitles to brauliobo at gmail dot com 2. "Growing" Broadcast 12 January 1995, this programme is about how plants gain their sustenance. Sunlight is one of the essential requirements if a seed is to germinate, and Attenborough highlights the cheese plant as an example whose young shoots head for the nearest tree trunk and then climb to the top of the forest canopy, developing its leaves en route. Using sunshine, air, water and a few minerals, the leaves are, in effect, the "factories" that produce food. However, some, such as the begonia, can thrive without much light. To gain moisture, plants typically use their roots to probe underground. Trees pump water up pipes that run inside their trunks, and Attenborough observes that a sycamore can do this at the rate of 450 litres an hour — in total silence. Too much rainfall can clog up a leaf's pores, and many have specially designed 'gutters' to cope with it. However, their biggest threat is from animals, and some require extreme methods of defence, such as spines, camouflage, or poison. Some can move quickly to deter predators: the mimosa can fold its leaves instantly when touched, and the Venus flytrap eats insects by closing its leaves around its prey when triggered. Another carnivorous plant is the trumpet pitcher that snares insects when they fall into its tubular leaves. Attenborough visits Borneo to see the largest pitcher of them all, Nepenthes rajah, whose traps contain up to two litres of water and have been known to kill small rodents