It’s a simple but powerful idea, spreading out and embedding hotel rooms into the urban fabric to give visitors a space from which to explore as well as a place that feels like it’s more part of the city than a monolithic tourist resort. The Hotel Enso Ango features a series of zen-inspired buildings and landscaping in what it boasts as Japan’s first ‘dispersed hotel’ in the ancient capital of Kyoto.

The idea, in part, is to encourage travel between the buildings in the hotel network, both to experience their amenities but also to explore more along the way. In simple terms: it aims to combine the best of staying at a cozy bed-and-breakfast with the benefits of a high-end hotel.

Each unit features courtyard gardens and meditation spaces, aimed at providing a relaxing experience to compliment city exploration. There are also spaces, like a central bar, that are open to the public, offering opportunities to mingle with locals.

The spaces are spread out through key neighborhoods of Kyoto and crafted to be both contemporary while also including local art and craftsmanship. As the hotel grows, it aims to build out additional spaces around the city.

Each building is located within walking distance from the others, as well as from a hotel hub space where the lobby, gym and tearoom can be found, providing an opportunity for guests to mingle, but at their discretion rather than by necessity. Those who wish to can participate in group meditation lessons, tatami craft and runs through historic parts of the city.

“Welcoming visitors is a building which embodies classical Machiya construction featuring a front desk and corridor-cum-gallery space decorated with art by Masanobu Ando. At the end of this corridor, the gallery space opens into a lounge area with a small garden known as Tsuboniwa – a typical feature of Kyoto houses, providing a spot to enjoy nature and relax in the safety of a private space.”

Slated to be constructed in just 7 years and cost $300 billion (more than the GDP of Egypt), this ambitious design for a brand new capital city of 5 million people is unprecedented – if completed, it will be a record-setting endeavor. And it is not just a conceptual vision, or at least not entirely- the site has been selected and a 100-square-kilometer test section has already been approved by the Egyptian government.

The new capital-replacing city is described by its proponents as “the catalyst for an Egyptian renaissance” and “a momentous endeavour to build national spirit, foster consensus and provide for the country’s sustainable long-term growth.” Inspired in part by Silicon Valley, buzzwords about in the promotional materials related to the project, tentatively titled “The Capital.” It is intended to be a “smart city” and “hub of innovation” to carry its country into the future of technology and sustainability.

Transportation is to be a big component of the design, both within and beyond the city – it is meant to become both a hub as well as a walkable metropolis. Lessons are being taken from extant clogged and congested urban centers, particularly Cairo. However, it is not clear through the gloss and glamour just how these innovations will manifest themselves – there are some statistics, though, that are at least superficially impressive.

Environmental friendliness is also high on the list, with plans to sustainable local food, use eco-friendly modes of power generation (wind and solar) and, of course, deal with waste and recycling in a green and efficient manner, avoiding a repeat of Cairo’s infamous “Garbage City.”

Some might question whether the futuristic renderings are really representative of what is planned or if they are simply designed to impress. Critics note that the scheme seems too good to be true, and may be intentionally positioned as a Utopian project in order to draw outside investors. Building a new city from the ground up may result in that space being more efficient, but it leaves one wondering what the country has planned for its former capital. Perhaps there is room for generosity in expectations, however – lessons learned and developers deployed in this massive construction project could be turned around afterward and reassigned to fix existing cities.

Imagine the state of it: the United States executive mansion after 150 years of continuous occupation. By this time, the already-aging White House had been retrofit with a maze of modern amenities like plumbing, electricity and heating – none of which this expansive estate was constructed to house.

Per reporter Brian Resnick, sagging ceilings, scaffolding and supports had rendered the structure an unsanitary fire hazard by the late 1940s – some suggested scrapping it entirely and starting from scratch, but President Truman lobbied to keep and rehabilitate it.

As these amazing photographs from the National Archives & Truman Library illustrate, the entire interior had to be ripped out. Historically valuable materials and decor were meticulously cataloged and stored, and temporary steel columns and beams erected to keep the exterior from collapsing.

To get equipment like bulldozers inside and clear debris required disassembling machines to avoid bursting holes in the sides of the structure – rebuilding would have been cheaper and faster, but this careful treatment preserved irreplaceable pieces of US history.

In all rooms and on all levels, lathe, plaster, brick and mortar were laid bare, giving a unique one-time view – fortunately captured in photographs – into the hidden structure and secret architecture of the most important residence in America.