Forget parking in the basement - a new high-rise apartment complex in Singapore is offering car parking inside your apartment, no matter which level you are on. The new 30-storey Hamilton Scotts building in the ritzy Orchard Road area has an elevator for cars, which will deliver the vehicles to the "en suite sky garages", glass cases for cars next to the living room. The owner must drive the car into a garage and on to a turnstile, and then hop out and scan a fingerprint on a biometric scanner, which will use a computer system to send the car to the correct apartment. The downside is the price. The cheapest apartments in the complex cost about US$ 7.5 million and come with two parking spots. The US$ 24 million penthouse residences have four parking spaces. KOP Properties in Singapore is behind the development, and chief executive Leny Suparman said the homes would appeal to a very well-off and particular type of buyer. "These buyers are very discerning. They've seen a lot, so they're very exposed in the world, so they are looking for something that's unique and different. He also said the parking space wasn't just a garage. "It's done in such a way that it's a museum showcase; it's not just a car park." Last year Germany's Porsche design Group and a local developer Dezer Properties announced about their plan to build Porsche Tower in Miami. According to developers it will be the world's first condominium complex with elevators that will take residents directly to their units while they are sitting in their cars. But they were late, as groundbreaking is planned for the 2nd quarter of 2013 and the completion is expected in mid-2016. In 2010 movie star Nicole Kidman and her husband Keith Urban purchased luxurious apartment on the 12th floor in one of Manhattan's skyscrapers. This apartment also has the 32.5 square meter garage in the sky. A special car elevator lift the car to the owner's floor and then you can enter garage with entrance to the kitchen.

Future plans for London's 2012 Olympic Park have been unveiled, and James Corner-the landscape architect behind the famous suspension park High Line in New York-will be taking his talents across the pond to turn the park's south plaza into 222 thousand square meters of "active spaces", reported The Inhabitat. Due to be completed by spring of 2014, the redesigned park will include areas for public performances, picnics and even rock-climbing within the vast urban green space. The redesigned Olympic Park will include a 12-metre wide tree-lined promenade that will open up to a series of outdoor "rooms", separated by tall grasses. These active spaces will host a classic carousel, an amphitheater and a play space with a climbing wall. There will also be spaces reserved for picnics, concerts and other events. The design also includes the addition of variety of trees and plants native to the local area, with planting and horticulture by Piet Oudolf , who also lent his design talents to The Highline. We think London is pretty lucky to be receiving such talent! So for those of us who didn't make it to the Olympic Games this year-no worries-here is a reason to plan a visit to the park grounds for future years to come.

A bizarre new tourist attraction has opened its doors to the public in Dordrecht, the Netherlands - a life-sized Noah's Ark, reported The Inhabitat. The project first began in 1992 when contractor Johan Huibers dreamed that waves from the ocean washed over the Netherlands during a storm. Then he claimed that his dream was followed by even more signs, prompting him to build the Ark. Firstly, while it does float, Huibers has stressed that the Ark is not designed to save people from a global flood. Instead, he built it as a symbol of his faith. Huibers built the Ark exactly to the specifications noted in the Bible resulting in a structure that is approximately 23 meters wide, 13.7 meters high and 137 meters long. That's 50 cubits wide, 30 cubits high and 300 cubits long according to the Bible. Despite planning the Ark's construction since 1992, construction on the full-size Ark only started in 2009. Huibers had previously built a smaller model with volunteers, but sold it to focus on the life-size version. Every detail was taken into account, in order to make the Ark as accurate as possible. There were however deviations in Huibers contemporary construction; according to the Bible, Noah used "gopher wood" when he built the Ark, but this has been disputed so the hull was built by welding the metal hulls of several old barges together and then using Scandinavian pine for the skin. The Ark cost US$ 1.6 million, stands four stories tall, is as long as a football field and even comes complete with animals-although they are not real. However no expense has been spared in that department either, with Huiber's wife Shamlian claiming it cost $US 11 thousand for just one elephant! There were rumors that the Ark could have been sailed to London in time for the Olympics, though this turned out not to be the case. Deborah Venema-Huibers, manager of the Ark, said that they had to abandon plans to sail the ark to the London Olympics, after they were asked to make the wooden boat safer for visitors. Earlier this year, Armenian media reported, that a life-sized Noah's Ark to be built on the rise, next to the "Victory" park. However, then the information was refuted. Press Service of the Public Council announced, that the idea of project was accepted, but the construction site not. Noah's Ark construction at the suggested site architects considered impossible for three reasons. First, the project needs additional space for needed infrastructures. Second, it may push Victory Memorial in the background, and the third Noah's Ark will have a vast impact on the nearby historical and cultural monuments. According to the project, the length of the ark is planned to be 133.5 meters, width - 22.25 meters, and height - 13.35 meters. The building will have three floors. On the ground floor will be a museum, the first floor will accommodate a conference hall, cinema and offices, and the second floor is a hotel. Construction of US$ 20 million building is planned to be completed by 2015, to the 100th anniversary of Armenian Genocide. The project's funding will not be public; the project will be realized solely by benefactors' donations.

After six years of planning, preparation and construction, London's Olympic Park hosts its first non-athlete visitors. The US$ 11 billion Olympic Park contains several of the 2012 Games biggest sporting venues, including the Olympic Stadium and the Zaha Hadid-designed Aquatics Centre, as well as the Olympic Village. In addition to the Aquatics Centre, the Olympic Park also includes the Wilkinson Eyre Architects-designed Basketball Arena, a large 12 thousand-seat temporary structure that will be taken apart and recycled once the games have ended. And towering over the Olympic Park is Anish Kapoor's controversial ArcelorMittal Orbit observation tower, which is made from recycled steel and has received mixed reviews from observers. Today the Opening Ceremony will mark the start of the 2012 Summer Olympics, and visitors will get their first look at the Olympic Park. Hosting the Olympics is a massive undertaking for the host city. In 2006, London demolished more than 200 buildings to make room for what would eventually become the Olympic Park. When those buildings were demolished, an impressive 98 percent of the materials were reused and recycled in the construction of the Olympic Park and elsewhere. The Olympic Park was built on former industrial brown fields, which cleaned up before the games. About 1.4 million cubic meters of contaminated soil was excavated from the site, and five enormous soil washing machines were brought in to wash the soil and filter out oil, tar and heavy metals. After the 2012 Summer Olympics are over, the Olympic Park will again be transformed. In 2013, the roughly 500 thousand square meters Park in East London will reopen as Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The 114.5-meters tall ArcelorMittal Orbit will still tower over the park, and the Olympic stadium will be downsized to a permanent stadium that will seat 25 thousand people.

It was only a few years ago when Beijing proudly unveiled National Stadium, also known as "The Bird's Nest" an architecture marvel and centerpiece for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Unfortunately, just four years after the venue was built, Reuters photographer David Gray captured a series of disheartening images revealing to the world an unused and neglected facility. While on site, Gray also discovered that several other Olympic buildings, including the rowing, beach volleyball and cycling facilities, all built new, were rusting and beginning to fall apart. According to NPR reports, Ai Weiwei, the highly praised artist who consulted on the design of "The Bird's Nest" felt the structure has become propagandized and failed to be integrated into the life of the city. For this reason, the artists had refused to go inside the stadium. With limited use since the 2008 Games, the estimated US$ 10 million to maintain the structure is unavailable, leaving the once thriving building vulnerable to decay. In an effort to avoid the "chronic Olympic legacy" and financial burden, 2012 London Olympic organizers are taking a closure look at sustainability - hoping to extend the shelf life of these expensive and unique venues. According to the International Herald Tribune, as there was no need for permanent facilities - many of the London 2012 host buildings were designed as "temporary venues" that can be recycled or dismantled. The 12 thousand-seat basketball court might be "the most temporary grand building in Olympic History". Event organizers are confident the entire structure including court, infrastructure, changing rooms and all 12 thousand reusable spectator stands can be easily deconstructed. The 55 thousand-seat Olympic stadium is built using one third the amount of steel used to construct the Bird's Nest and the roof will be completely dismantled following the Olympic and Paralympic Games. A report by World Wildlife Fund and BioRegional, an independent trust that advocated sustainability, released just last week found that these Olympic Games met their green goals. Inevitably, the 600 thousand additional visitors to Games will put a strain on the urban area in areas of transportation, fuel use and pollution - but recent efforts to maintain sustainable structures may set a new bar for future Olympic host cities.