Arcology Systems by Rowin Andruscavage of the University of Maryland.

The windowsills in our loft provide the perfect shelf for plants. Without this small architectural detail, we couldn’t have such happy sun-screening air-filtering companions.

Zumthor’s spa in Vals Therme opens visitors to the surrounding natural environment. Although the building is stone, it’s made of stone from the mountains nearby, although the architecture can be cavernous at points, there is always an experience of moving from the earth-core, the stone-nest out into the open nature. Even in the dead of the Swiss winter, exposure to falling snowflakes while standing in the thermal waters outside felt like a ‘greenspace’.

Patrick Blanc extends the green roof idea to the external walls of buildings.