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Photo from Inhabitat

Recently, Roy Stokes, a spokesman for Great Britain’s Environmental Agency urged citizens to build snowmen to help prevent flooding. The thought was that tightly packed snow would take longer to melt and help avert flooding in urban areas.

Stokes’ advice was soon retracted, but he may be on to something. When the weather gets warmer, often ground snow melts into city sewers, causing flooding. Although a single snowman probably won’t make a difference, if cities took an initiative to start packing snow in urban areas, it may help stall melting and prevent urban flooding.

What do you think?

Picture from Native Trails
We love when old objects get new life as household fixtures. Check out the clever re-use of old wine barrels as sinks. The San Luis Obispo-based artisan furnishings company Native Trails produces these beautiful pieces from salvaged wine making materials. Take a look at the full article from Inhabitat. Where would you put this piece in your home?

The Twin Cities must be doing something right because we were named the #8 US travel destination by Lonely Planet. Take a look at the article and let us know what places and events you would recommend tourists visit while they stay here!

Curtains on the outside of your home? This apartment building in Austria uses them to prevent extra heat making its way into the apartments. What do you think? Would you like these to keep your place cool? Read the full article at Inhabitat.

London 2012 Olympic Stadium from franksteiner's flickr page

As the 2012 London Olympics kick off today with the opening ceremonies, the spectators will not only enjoy the athletic events, but they will also take in the games from sustainable arenas. It is the London Olympic committee’s goal to host the greenest games on record. One of the major initiatives includes using existing or temporary venues. For example, basketball is not a popular sport in London, so that arena was built so that it can be packed up and sold to a location where it will be more frequently used. Additionally, some of the arenas which were built for the games will be converted to smaller facilities in order to accommodate the general public after the games are finished. The site of the Olympic Park also underwent a makeover, restoring five miles of River Lea with native trees and wetland plants. Although the London Olympic committee came up short in a few goals, such as making the Olympic torch carbon neutral, the games set a precedent in sustainability that we hope to see going forward in athletic events.

To learn more information please read the following articles from The Huffington Post and Fast Company.

Tomorrow evening, many parts of the world will go dark in honor of Earth Hour 2012, a worldwide initiative led by the World Wildlife Fund to promote awareness of energy conservation and sustainability in general. Will your house be dark tomorrow at 8:30pm?

Well, they were right about the skyscrapers, but it's 2012 and we still don't have airplane landing fields on top of buildings or a separate road for slow drivers. Maybe by 2050?

"Future city streets, says Mr. Corbett, will be in four levels: The top level for pedestrians; the next lower level for slow motor traffic; the next for fast motor traffic, and the lowest for electric trains. Great blocks of terraced skyscrapers half a mile high will house offices, schools, homes, and playgrounds in successive levels, while the roofs will be aircraft landing-fields, according to the architect's plan."

Here's a breakthrough for you...a newly discovered fungus from the Amazon rainforest can eat plastic! These little guys not only love eating polyurethane, but they can also do it in anaerobic conditions (meaning they can survive in a landfill). It will be interesting to see how this affects our waste management system. Read the full story here.

Care for a picnic? This grass-topped dinner table designed by Haiko Cornelissen Architects lets you enjoy a picnic-style meal from the comfort of your dining room. No need to clean up when any crumbs or spills only enhance your dining surface!

Via Architizer.com.

This Freshome.com post features some interesting and unique business cards by architects, but these 3-D cards were our favorites! Especially the Legos...