I don’t know about you, but when I make my first billion dollars, I’m going to have George Lucas design me a spaceship and take my closest eight friends for a joy flight to Dantooine. Errr, any takers? C’mon!

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I didn’t think there were many cooler buildings in the world than the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain -until I stumbled on another of Frank Gehry’s architectural masterpieces in the unassuming village of Elciego. Deep in the heart of the Rioja wine region, the Marques de Riscal is a luxury hotel, and its contemporary style is certainly at odds with the historic, green surrounds. However, if you’re not prepared to fork out for a meal at the restaurant, or upwards of 600 euro a night to stay there, you can forget getting any closer. Unpaying guests aren’t allowed through the gates, and you’ll feel like a nosey neighbour trying to peer over the towering fence for a glimpse. Even still, it’s definitely worth a try.

This new construction in Dubai has been designed to ‘harness solar energy for heat, power and illumination’. The residential, hotel and entertainment complex is expected to be certified by a LEED Gold rating.

Forget battery powered vehicles. Cars made from ice are the future of transportation: no pollution, no honking horns, no painful rap music blasting out of souped up stereos. And if they melt, they melt. You just swim the rest of the way down the slipstream.

I remember as a kid frantically trying to please my craft teacher by constructing a toy car out of matchsticks. The fact that it looked more like a science experiment was irrelevant. It was the journey, the process that mattered. Or at least I thought until I saw what other people were capable of. These startling creations were made entirely from matchsticks and I bow down to their grandiose splendor.

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The Architects Journal has compiled a cleverly-made video tribute to ‘the greatest illustrated urban spaces’.

When I was a kid, our swingset was embedded in the rather uncompromising textures of rock hard cement. What can I say, Greek relatives! They love their concrete. This creative and functional playground design by Norwegian architects 70°N Arkitektur features mobile walls which hide toys for kids to discover.

London-based Make Architects have designed this nine-storey building with its asymmetrical pattern, which, according to the Arch In Home website, ‘is determined by the constraints of the site, with the southern elevation curving gently to address the Monument and define an enlarged and newly activated public square at ground level. This elevation is clad in a faceted glazed facade which reflects the Monument to provide a spectacular backdrop to the new public square. The facade also lifts up at ground level to create entrances to the building and to the retail units on the ground floor’.

Beijing architecture firm MAD Ltd. recently completed a design for the new Taichung Convention Center in Taiwan. The impressive building strives to be a ‘continuous weave’ with the local landscape with its fluid lines and airy ‘outer-skin’ which doubles as a solar power generator that greatly reduces the building’s overall energy demands.

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Designed by Slade Architecture in collaboration with Ga.A Architects and Mass Studies, the Dalki Theme Park in South Korea’s Kyungki Province is a shrine to a popular cartoon character used to promote clothing and other goodies to young Korean children.

The problem with building ice figures is that the damn things are always so determined to melt. These remarkable looking ice figures were created recently by the World Wildlife Fund to raise awareness about global warming. There were 1,000 figures all up, each of which melted throughout the day on the steps of the concert hall at Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin.

Deep in the heart of the Dominican Republic lies an unusual bookstore, aptly named Selexyz Dominicanen. It is housed in Maastricht, in the bowels of an ancient church which was constructed in 1294. Since it’s interruption as a church (Napoleon invaded Maastricht in 1794 and forced the loyal parishioners out of the country), this beautiful church has seen use as a parish, warehouse, and most notably (and creatively), a large parking lot for bicycles.

The renovations, which took months to complete, were led by architecture firm Merkx + Girod, and include massive black steel bookshelves that are so high, to reach the top books, one must use a lift or the cleverly manufactured staircase that was built right in. And this church boasts the same comforts as any bookstore — a small cafe (now nestled in the church choir) and tables so one could pursue books — so it’s a wonder why if one lives in Maastricht, you’d shop anywhere else.

Ok, so this is actually an artwork by Will Cotton, but it fits every criteria for my dream house, aged 6. Smartie wall coatings? Check. Biscuit entryway? Check. A smiling lollipop garden, sitting over luscious dollops of magnificent cream? You betcha. Ah, please, take me there. Now. And give me a decent sized spoon for my troubles.

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These days you can practically make a house from anything: matchsticks, cards, even bits of wood scrap. This Pallet House actually comes with a purpose. Designed by Azin Valy and Suzan Wines of I-Beam Design, the intention is for it to be used in disaster environments where there really is no other choice of resilient materials.

When I grow up, I want to have a house like this one: with creaking furniture, calming floral wallpaper, and a giant cat that visits whenever I crack open the milk. [photo by Sage Sohier]

Continuing our recent obsession with outrageous swimming pool designs, is this one by The Office for Metropolitan Architecture — led by Rem Koolhaas, Ole Scheeren, Ellen van Loon, Reinier de Graaf, Shohei Shigematsu and Victor van der Chijs. According to architect, Michael van der Gaag, who wrote about the project: ‘The client wanted a glass house with a swimming pool on the roof and two separate apartments — one for the parents, the other for the daughter’.

‘They also wanted a panoramic view — from their swimming pool — of the surrounding landscape and the city of Paris. The house is conceived as a glass pavilion containing living and dining areas, with two hovering, perpendicular apartments shifted in opposite directions to exploit the view. They are joined by the swimming pool, which rests on the concrete structure encased by the glass pavilion’.

There’s something kinda fun about a swimming pool that dangles enticingly off the edge of a luxury hotel while the rest of the world watches on with a mixture of mock envy and bemused contempt. In my next life, I want to own one of these, then taunt the other half with graceful aquatic antics on windswept Dallas afternoons. [photo by Justin Terveen]

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German-based Michael Arndt spent six years and a bucket of dough constructing a McLaren Formula One car from 956,000 matchsticks and 1,686 tubes of glue. The car, which can be broken down into 45 pieces for transport, has a top speed of zero miles per hour. But damn, it looks fun to drive.

Generating power from the wind, this amazing rotating building was originally designed for the rather appropriate city of Chicago by architect David Fisher in a way that packs enough power to fuel another ten similarly sized buildings.

This remarkable looking building is a ‘meeting and starting point for visitors wanting to explore the new Rheinauhafen harbour’ in Cologne. The construction is 70 meters long, 34 meters wide and more than 60 meters high and is the work of architect Hadi Teherani, who conceptualized the project alongside fellow architect, Alfons Linster.