First, construction on The Shard, architect Renzo Piano's shimmering, 72-story skyscraper, wrapped up in London, making it the tallest building in Europe.

ENGADGET: Inhabitat's Week in Green: rise of solar power, cardboard forts and a Death Star ping pong ball

High up on the sixth floor, where he can look down on architect Renzo Piano's famous Pompidou plaza, IRCAM's director, Frank Madlener, describes what's going on down below.

NPR: IRCAM: The Quiet House Of Sound

Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano's 2008 landmark green building, the California Academy of Sciences, houses Pierre the Penguin and 38, 000 other weird and wonderful animals under a "living roof" of California wildflowers.

BBC: San Francisco's blissful Golden Gate Park