I want the power... to move you.*

But until I get those, I just want to live in this weird and wonderful structure to be built in Sungnam, South Korea. The 360-degree views, the 10,000-square-feet surface, and the glass and metal space look., with built-in garden and in the middle of a forest. It really doesn't get any more megalomaniac than that. [Kyungam Architects via DesignBoom]

*

This stunning home is embedded in a hill in Vals, Switzerland, but it still has some amazing views. Seriously, you could just grab a chair, a beer and look at it all day. Hit the link to see what I mean. [Iwann Bann via Link]
If there ever was a house that lived up to the name "Universe," this space in Roca Blanca, Mexico would do it. The design is based on the Jantar Mantar Astronomical Observatory, which was built in Jaipur, in 1724. The home has 360 degree open air views of the ocean with swimming pools and hammocks. In short, everything you could ever want in a place to relax. [Link]
If you had a treehouse when you were a kid, you probably considered it as your own private sanctuary. Imagine what it would be like to have a treehouse that is 11 stories tall, with dozens of rooms for you to run away and hide in. [Link]
Spending a few nights in a hotel is a great way to escape from our miserable lives, but the Winvian in Connecticut is more exciting than most. It features themed rooms that would be so much fun you would have little reason to go out during the day. There are golf rooms with putting greens, a treehouse cottage, a music room with playable architecture and even a helicopter room with an actual Coast Guard chopper inside. [Winvian]
As much as I can't stand the Cowboys, I have to admit that their ridiculously over-the-top stadium is probably the best place to watch a game on the face of the Earth. Super field-level luxury boxes, a mind blowing assortment of concessions and a HDTV that measures 159 feet across. If you were Joey Fatone's brother, you would have even had the privilege of playing Gears of War 2 on that gigantic screen. Of course, that would mean you would actually have to endure the shame of being related to Joey Fatone.
There should be a crime against spending $2 billion dollars on a private home, but I'm sure you could have a lot of fun hanging out in Mukesh Ambani's pad. Needless to say, this 22-story monstrosity has every kind of entertainment and relaxation facility you could imagine...and then some. [Link]
Prison may not be the most desirable place to be, unless you happen to be staying at the Leoben Justice Centre in Austria. Seriously, take a look at the pics in the following link. It looks more like a resort than a correctional facility. [Damn Cool Pics and Link]
Electronic House's Home of the Year for 2009 is short on taste, but high on gadgets. If you were hanging out here, you would be treated to beautiful views, the latest in home automation, racing simulators and an absurd amount of home theater equipment. [Electronic House via Link]
This list contains some extreme homes, but Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich's yacht takes excess to the high seas with a price tag rumored to have cost in the billions. While on board, you would be treated to every kind of luxury imaginable—and you wouldn't have to worry about intrusion because the yacht is fitted with a missile defense system and anti-paparazzi laser shield.
What if one of the best places to kick back and relax was your office at work? Google has taken that approach with the design of their Swiss headquarters. It features cozy seating, pool tables, foosball and a top notch lounge. [Link]

The architects, however, say that the Aqua Tower is inspired by the limestone outcroppings in the Great Lakes.

Whatever the inspiration was, the building is pretty. Not as pretty as the lençóis, but pretty enough. [Archdaily]

Designed by SeARCH, a Dutch architecture firm, and Christian Müller Architects, the home features an enormous patio with an elliptical opening designed to accentuate the view. The old-looking barn in the distance even features an underground tunnel that serves as an entrance into the home. All in all, the design was so unique that the builders were able to skirt around the notoriously strict building requirements in the area. Absolutely beautiful—which is why you should hit the following link for more images. [Iwan Bann via Arbitare via Fast Company]

Dubbed the GreenOpolis, the pavilion was designed by SC M&C Strategy Development, and will cover about 21,527 square feet of space. The 5 levels will include music and cultural performance areas, plus restaurant, terrace, and office facilities.

Seriously, if the 2010 World Expo wasn't in China, I'd head over with the sole purpose of dropping acid or something. The event kicks off on May 1st next year. Oh, and next cab off the rank is South Korea. Here's the first taste at what they've got planned for World Expo 2012. [GreenOpolis via Arch Daily and China.org]

This door, created by Matharoo Associates for a diamond merchant in India, is flat-out crazy. It's 17 feet tall, five and a half feet wide, and is made up of 40 sections of Burmese teak. The door uses a counterweight, 80 ball bearings and 160 pulleys to create the incredible effect of reconfiguring into a sinusoidal curve when you push on any one section. Amazing.

[Architectural Review via FastCompany]

We always feature the most amazinglytastic and awesomerest architecture, packed with high-tech materials and impossible shapes. And yet, every time I come across something like the Universe house, I keep coming back to the same thought: The best architecture is the simplest one. No need for titanium plates, no need for complex computer-aided design—just good design integrated in the perfect natural spot. Add a hammock and an internet connection, and you'll be set, thank you very much.

Created by Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco and architect Tatiana Bilbao, Universe's design is based in the Jantar Mantar Astronomical Observatory, which was built in Jaipur, in 1724. Orozco—who visited the observatory in 1996—wanted a house that captured the concept of the Indian building. Bilbao's office drafted the detailed plans after his sketches, and a team built the house in the traditional way, which included the help of a donkey called Panchito, who ferried some of the materials and stones into this wild spot in the Sea of Cortez.

The house offers a 360-degree view, with no glass windows—just some wood planks in case a hurricane comes by—with a swimming pool in the middle replacing the observatory bowl from the Indian temple. A design change that I strongly agree with—and I would enjoy, Margarita in hand, if I were so lucky as to watch the sun set from there. One day. [Tatiana Bilbao and Interview with Gabriel Orozco via Archdaily]

Click to see the full resolution image

Created by Studio Lindfors, these images show scenes of New York and Tokyo after massive floods caused by climate change. Never did the end of the world as we know it look so dreamy and romantic. I can only hope that Al Gore keeps flying around the world in his private jet, because I can't wait to go down Broadway in a gondola, singing in the rain. [Studio Lindfors and Flickr via Bldgblog]

Well, not all the time, since storms aren't exactly a daily occurrence in Dubai. In a way, though, that makes the sheer number of occasions this has been caught on film all the more impressive. Cue neck hair standing on end...now:

A proposal: When the hotel finally opens in January, this should be their advertising campaign. --Thanks, Cuyler!

Instead of being built on top of the soil, the whole structure rests on over 300 isolators. These giant bearings let the building move laterally during an earthquake. After Istanbul got rocked by a magnitude 7.4 monster in 1999, and another major quake predicted to occur within the next 30 years, you can see why engineers decided to make this massive building shake-resistant.

As terrible as a massive earthquake would be, it would be incredible to see a building this huge move from side to side. Maybe we will in a future "World's Strongest Man" event. [Wired]

$35,000 was the final bid in a charity auction that will take the winner and a small group of friends around the Gates' Lake Washington property, with the house pater familias as the exclusive tour guide. Last year, the winning bit was only $8600.

If I had tons of money to spare, I'd probably bid next year. I'm curious to see his house. Can I play Natal with him? Who is his favorite painter? Can I browse through his record collection? And his personal, dearest bookshelf? Do his sofas have plastic covers? Can I open the fridge and make a sandwich? Oh well, since that is not going to happen, I'll just watch the 3D video like everyone else.

[Techflash]

They are not just light sources, however. These LED towers also collect rainwater and funnel sunlight to the multiple levels of the 1-kilometer long Expo Boulevard. [World Architecture News via Inhabitat]

The giant bubbles would be structural, decorative, and be used to project weather info, spectator numbers, and race results. They'd be constructed from of a type of plastic called Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), the same stuff used to build the Beijing Aquatic Centre.

The Cloud has been shortlisted in the competition set-up by London's Mayor, and has been called "a sculptural spectacle, and a celebration of technology" by the senior curator of
architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The designers intend to build The Cloud using micro-donations from millions of people. One of the architects, who's from MIT, told the BBC: "We can build our Cloud with £5m or £50m. The flexibility of the structural system will allow us to tune the size of the Cloud to the level of funding that is reached."

I hope they get all the cash they need, because that design is straight out of my Sci Fi dreams. [The Cloud via BBC] Thanks Tom!

According to Panasonic, their system controls lighting to guarantee "good sleeping." I don't know about you but, to me, "good sleeping" means a large bed, a good duvet, and someone special to spoon with all night. Still, if you want to get close to the experience of hibernation in a deep space vessel, this is the place to go. [9hours via 9h]

These images of the bridge—called the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge—were shot in September 2009, as the 1,060-foot twin-rib concrete arch advances towards its late 2010 opening. The $240 million, 2,000-foot bridge is part of a larger project, a 3.5-mile corridor that begins in Clark County, Nevada, and ends in Mohave County, Arizona. [Hoover Dam Bypass via Industrial Interface via DRB]

The building is made up of 14,000 equilateral triangles. Some are solar panels, some are windows, others just fill out the structure. The net result is a building that manages to mask the black behemoths you're used to seeing.

I love how the exterior influences the interior lighting, not to mention how great it all looks when lit up. [Inhabitat]

Such gorgeous design. When I snuggle up in my own cocoon of blankets tonight, I'm going to dream of being in that building and of being that particular super heroine. Right after I figure out a proper alter ego name that is. [WAN]

The Klein Bottle House—located in Rye, Australia—is made of concrete sheets and black metal, surrounded by trees and next to a beach. I like it, but if I had to choose something, I would rather get Ben Rose Home, Cameron's house in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Or if you want to get all freaky funky nerdy with me, I'd pick Rem Koolhaas's Maison à Bordeaux. [McBride Charles Ryan via Design Boom]