Tourism opportunities and jobs are also being created via the construction of a model lodge and a microcredit system, among other initiatives.

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Designing the model while the building was still under construction made the process much more difficult.

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While it remains to be seen if Calera can produce cement strong enough to be useful in construction, the company is toying with a radical business model: It will give away cement while charging polluters a fee for removing their emissions.

FORBES: Thought Leaders

To sell the Baccarat Residences, a 50-story glass condominium tower under construction across from the Museum of Modern Art in midtown Manhattan, a model set up in the building's showroom includes striking materials like lacquered ziricote-wood walls and a crackled bronze sculptural wall embedded with tiny pieces of glass made by a British artist.

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Instead, it's everything else that has been given the shuffle: a smaller Blu-ray drive and more clever overall construction appear to be the tickets to the 20 percent volume reduction compared to the last model.

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Though the Opera del Duomo chose Brunelleschi's model, it appointed a four-man team to oversee construction, a team that included Ghiberti.

FORBES: Dome of the Brave

At Blu's 120, 000-square-foot factory outside Springfield, Mass. a 1, 650- square-foot model called the Glidehouse (ordered by a retired Boeing engineering executive in Seattle) is under construction.

FORBES: Entrepreneurs