A house made with hemp you ask? Yes! Tony Budden and Duncan Parker worked with Michael Orchard of New Earth Architecture and Wolf & Wolf Architecture to create this South African home where they used lots of the underrated hemp. Hemp insulation, hempcrete used to make the external walls and 85% of the furniture and cabinetry is made from hempboard. The Hemp House also boasts numerous other eco-friendly design innovations. A beautiful home that is earth friendly with forward thinking design. Well done.
(all photos from Inhabitat)

Imagine if your home were as earth friendly as it was functional. The home at 58 Stevens Street in Australia is just that. To be deemed zero-carbon, the home has to generate as much power as it uses thereby giving it no carbon footprint. Earthcare Developments worked with Officer Woods Architects and used software created by eTool to develop the Earth respecting townhome. Most of the materials to build the home were salvaged from the home site and 90% of whatever was left over was recycled. All of these fabulous Earth respecting facts aside, the home is beautiful and unique. Way to go to all involved!!!
(photos from Inhabitat and Earthcare Developments)

This car shaped house near Salzburg, Austria has got to be one of the most creatively designed homes ever! The Voglreiter Auto Residence was designed by Markus Voglreiter. He took a 70's style house and transformed it into a Beetle-esque 900 square foot, 3 story home for his family.
Years after creating his Auto Home, Markus designed a restaurant/bar with a very similar exterior! Read about the restaurant here!
(photos from Inhabitat and freshome)

This gorgeous house (in Valle de Bravo, Mexico) came across my path via Inhabitat today. "Casa en el Bosque" (designed by Parque Humano Architects) means "House in the Forest" and has some extremely beautiful surroundings complete with mountain views. The house was constructed using locally sourced and sustainable materials and was designed with the surrounding nature in mind. The inside of the home actually has cutouts in the ceiling with pine trees growing through them!!
(photos from Inhabitat and Contemporist)

I saw this today on Inhabitat. Atlanta Botanical Gardens collaborated with Lighting Science Group and CD + M Lighting and Design Group to create this LED topiary light display. The lights are synchronized with music. It's so beautiful and so different.... I bet we see more of this next year!
(photos from Inhabitat, Pegasus Lighting and My Atlanta Mommy)