U.S. Marine Alex Minsky lost his leg and nearly died in Afghanistan three years ago, when he and his fellow Marines fell victim to a roadside bomb. After recovering from a coma and learning to use his new prosthetic leg, the Purple Heart recipient fell into depression and started drinking.

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.