Foster and Partner's carbon-neutral Masdar City is springing to life in Abu Dhabi, and Inhabitat recently had a chance to take a first-hand look inside this ambitious sustainable development! Just last Friday we checked out the city's first eco street fair and Organic Market -- a family affair complete with cotton candy, clowns, and princess fairies that also gave locals and visitors their first glimpse of some of the world’s most advanced architectural and cleantech developments. — Inhabitat

Or rather, what is the value of using the traditional tools, processes and sensibilities of architecture, urban planning and related disciplines to the processes and practices of producing cities?

In particular, I'm trying to focus on the idea of 'identifying the right questions', rather than letting discipline-based thinking or unthinking define answers to what may be the wrong questions — City of Sound

"To complement the minimal styling of the Kohler Numi toilet, Marmol Radziner created an urban, sleek environment to convey the brand image of Numi as one that reinforces the leadership position of Kohler in the luxury living space.

Marmol Radziner designed a modular prefab gallery to showcase a series of Numi display models, utilizing a dark color palette of gray lacquer, ipe decking and gray carpeting to capture a mood of mystique and desire" — Ron Radziner, design principal, Marmol Radziner

María-Paz Gutierrez, a University of California, Berkeley, assistant professor of architecture, has been named to the 2011-2012 Fulbright Regional Network for Applied Research (NEXUS) Scholar Program as part of a 20-member team working to promote best practices in fighting poverty and inequality in the Western Hemisphere. — newscenter.berkeley.edu

Troon Golf, Waterstudio.NL and Dutch Docklands have announced plans to build a floating golf course in the Maldives islands, in the Indian Ocean, with holes connected by underwater tunnels. — wired.co.uk

When the Vancouver Convention Centre was first completed we were totally blown away by its gorgeous (and huge!) green roof as well as its many green features. So we weren't surprised when the convention centre was recently recognized by the AIA landing its place among the Committee On The Environment's (COTE) Top Ten Green Projects. — Inhabitat

We like to think of our architectural treasures as milestones of human progress. The Egyptian pyramids, say, or the Eiffel Tower. Perhaps we imagine a Planet of the Apes-like scenario where our ruined monuments will stand as testament to our civilisation long after we're gone. But what will most probably outlive anything else we have ever built will be our nuclear legacy. — Guardian

"It's about future-proofing yourself - nobody wants to be at the bottom of the pile on this agenda." — Mr. Buckingham

Most buildings in New York will undergo renovation over the next twenty years. A number will also get demolished. As well, many building enclosures will soon need replacement, particularly post-WW2 curtain wall buildings. Gut renovations of office spaces take place on a regular basis. There is great opportunity to re-imagine and reduce energy consumption in all these buildings. — huffingtonpost.com

The sculptural form is meant to advertise the center's building-innovation mission. The low, sloping volume encloses tall industrial space for experimentation, while the higher slab building houses labs that focus on a variety of evolving technologies, like indoor air quality. — James S. Russell, Bloomberg

Chad Oppenheim's competition-winning plan for a new Desert Lodge scheme takes this ersatz upscale canvas and blends it with minimalism, drama and, perhaps most importantly, sustainability. — wallpaper.com

Steven Holl just completed construction on his much anticipated Museum of Art & Architecture in Nanjing. The museum celebrates Chinese art and architecture and is based on the Chinese theory of 'parallel perspectives' -- it explores shifting viewpoints and layers in space, while taking advantage atmospheric mists and surrounding water. Green design, recycled materials and energy-efficient geothermal heating and cooling play a large role in the museum's design. — Inhabitat

On Thursday, the City Planning Commission will be asked to give its final approval to both the environmental impact report for the project and the development itself, with a final hearing before the Board of Supervisors looming. — sfgate.com

Inspired by artificial structures for marine environments, Burt developed a conceptual array of Olympic facilities, including a stadium, that could be transported along waterways and moored in major port cities. — news.discovery.com

... a new exhibit is having fun imagining what [Paris] will look like in the year 2100: 2º C warmer, due to climate change, but also a whole lot greener, where pedestrians rule and every building has a roof garden. — treehugger.com