Guilt-Free Shopping: Mexico City's Eco-Friendly Underground Mall

San Francisco-based architecture firm, KMD Architects, developed an innovative design for a 700,000 shopping mall with three levels of parking that will be built entirely underground in Mexico City. Directly above it will be the city's Central Park - complete with trees, a jogging track, grass and a performance area.

The mall will be one of Mexico's most sustainable buildings. The green-roof park will insulate the building, reducing air conditioning; on-site solar electric facilities will reduce energy consumption; and massive conical skylights will allow natural light into the building.

The design was the winner of the Design Competition for an Urban Park in Mexico City.

Green-Roofed Municipal Pools of Povoação, Portugal

Designed by Barbosa and Guimaraes Arquitectos, the Municipal Pools of Povoação in Portugal are housed in a series of basalt rock volumes cut into the side of the hill on a site that was formerly used by the city for outdoor sports. Inside, the building is naturally lit by skylights that pierce holes through the green roof and appear like plugs across the surface.

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Port of Portland Headquarters Demonstrates Pioneering Green Strategies Without Sacrificing Design

The Port of Portland recently consolidated their headquarters into a green office building designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects (ZGF). Situated right next to the PDX airport, the new Port of Portland Headquarters is a LEED gold office that unifies the entity responsible for Portland's airport, shipping terminals and more. The project was finished in May of 2010 and it includes a green roof, a living machine to process waste water, geothermal heating and cooling, plus a plethora of other sustainable strategies.

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Belzberg Architects Offer Raw Emotional Impact With New Home for LA Holocaust Museum

LA's newest museum is the permanent home for the Holocaust Museum, a 50 year-old institution. The striking building designed by Belzberg Architects features a generous green roof that acts as an extension of the adjacent Pan Pacific Park. The project was also designed to express one of the darkest moments in human history - a buried organic form greets visitors as they descend into a unique museum space that memorializes those who died and survived the holocaust.

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