The Nautilus, designer Javier Senosiain’s bizarre, snail-shaped dwelling, is a mind-bending union of artistic experimentation and simplified living. Inspired by the work of Gaudí and Frank Lloyd Wright, Senosiain has brought to Mexico City another sparkling example of what he calls “Bio-Architecture” — the idea that buildings based on the natural principles of organic forms bring us back to local history, tradition and cultural roots, in turn creating harmony with nature.

Italian artist Guiliano Mauri is the father of this spectacular Cattedrale Vegetale (Tree Cathedral), a unique building created out of rows of real living trees. Located at the foot of Mount Arera on the outskirts of Bergamo in Northern Italy, the cathedral is an ever-changing building that will be fully formed over the course of decades – when the trees outgrow their supporting columns and become a piece of natural architecture.