At first glance Patrick Morris’ Sky Planter is deceptively simple, consisting of a hanging potted houseplant turned upside down. But upon closer inspection we can see that Morris didn’t stop there. The Sky Planter actually uses a ground-breaking internal reservoir system that feeds water directly to the roots without leaks or evaporation, using up to 90% less water than ordinary pots. The system locks in the soil so there’s no mess, and our favorite part is that you only have to water your plant once or twice a month!

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A welcoming beacon before a shining expanse of sea, Steven Holl Architects‘ LM project will update Copenhagen’s waterfront with two eye-catching photovoltaic-sheathed skyscrapers and a sky bridge studded with wind turbines. The iconic development recently took first place in a competition to design a new gateway for Copenhagen, and it was approved in a unanimous vote by the jury.

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Think being an eco mom means wearing tie-dyed hemp baby slings over mom jeans? Think again! Its now easier than ever to be glamorous, green, and maternal at the same time - and eco parent acessories company Fleurville is making it even easier with their stylish environmentally sustainable handbags for sassy moms on the go. We’re giving away one beautiful Fleurville Lexie Tote (shown above - a value of $165), on Inhabitots as part of our reader survey. You need to be a registered Inhabitots reader to enter the raffle contest, so if you aren’t and you want this bag, register here, and then enter the reader survey >

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We have written before about Jenny Hwa’s work in eco fashion, both on her eco chic clothing collections as well as her recent work in home goods. Her new fall collection is inspired by conservationist and film maker Joan Root. While known for her collaborations with her husband in creating several nature documentaries, Root was also actively supportive in the preservation of the land of her childhood, Kenya. A life of purposeful artistic pursuit was fitting to inspire Jenny to create a collection that is utilitarian but feminine. The collection uses eco luxurious materials such as organic wool and cotton as well as hand-dyed eco silk and is proof that sustainable style can become part of any woman’s everyday personal style.

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Bamboo is being used in everything these days: cutting boards, bikes, folding houses, and furniture. Its versatility, however, is truly evident in the exhibition New Bamboo: Contemporary Japanese Masters at New York’s Japan Society. Images of the exhibition show bamboo doing things you don’t really think of it doing: curving into rope-like knots, weaving into mesh, twisting into triangular angles. While immediately captivating your attention, it also makes you wonder of the un-explored potential of this sustainable material.

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As in her work on the Vietnam War Memorial so many years ago, the contemporary pieces of artist Maya Lin hit the emotional nail right on the head. In her exhibition Systematic Landscapes, which is showing now at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the famous artist remixes topographies and terrains into real, walkable places ready to be explored and dissected by willing spectators. From Bodies of Water, representing landlocked saltwater seas with stacked plywood, to her large wire rendition of the San Francisco Bay Area hanging near the new California Academy of Sciences, her landscape representations combine our scientific tendency to chart landscapes without compromising the wisdom and wonder of studying natural phenomena.

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As part of Inhabitat’s quest to explore future-forward green design it all its forms, we’re excited to announce that we will be covering the 2nd Annual Opportunity Green Conference this weekend in Los Angeles, Calfornia. Hosted by UCLA’s Anderson School of Management from November 8-9, the conference brings together the best and brightest from both the business and design worlds in an attempt to bridge the gap between capital and green innovation. Inhabitants Evelyn Lee and Haily Zaki will be on-site to report the latest on being green and being profitable, and we’re happy to offer Inhabitat readers a discount code for 30% off!

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When Dan Heinfeld, president of LPA Architects in Irvine, set out to build his family’s home, he wanted to practice what his firm preached, which is to build green–and he wanted to do it at no added cost. To achieve this, he and his team combined many passive and active systems to create a cost-effective model for the community. The finished luxury home, the Chestnut House, is set upon a knoll with ocean views in Newport Beach. Although it would be difficult to claim this as affordable housing, Heinfeld does seek to dispel the myth that green costs more, and designed a home that provides the an abundant sense of luxury but also an energy efficient and healthy home.

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KitHAUS modular homes have a breezy backyard feel to them– perfect as a guest house or studio in a lush area of your yard. We’ve covered KitHAUS modular homes before on Inhabitat: here and here. Early models such as the K1 and K2 were aluminum-clad with high ceilings and tall windows. However, the latest KitHaus models, K3 and K4, have beautiful wooden louvers and a bit of a smaller footprint. With an updated look and new add-on options from the K4, a couple in Williamsburg, Brooklyn was able to create a lush atmosphere by simply adding some decking and potted plants.

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Tags: kithaua, k4, williamsburg, brooklyn, new, york, prefab, sustainable, eco, green, architecture

Throughout this past election season we heard both major-party candidates give a lot of love to “clean coal.” The phrase sounds great to Americans concerned about our dependence on foreign oil, and the U.S. has enough coal to generate our electricity for hundreds of years - if it’s “clean”, why not? But what do “clean coal” technologies really entail, and can an ancient energy source responsible for 40% of U.S. CO2 emissions really clean up its act?

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