It may not be as jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring as Detroit’s decaying Michigan Theater parking garage, nor quite as multifunctional as the stunning Herzog de Meuron structure at 1111 Lincoln Road in Miami – but this new structure in Belgium is definitely one for the books. The undulating wooden slate facade of this staff parking garage for the Cliniques Universities Saint-Luc hospital in Brussels is beautifully fluid, with a clever design that disguises most of its bulk underground while remaining architecturally interesting.

Modulo Architects and De Jong Gortemaker Algra Architects were charged with creating a functional industrial structure capable of holding 985 cars that would also serve as a welcoming introduction to the hospital itself, incorporating daylight, natural materials and a striking look. Taking inspiration from natural canyons, they created a stepped design that brings sunlight down into the first two subterranean levels.

The two above-ground parking decks “bridge the terrain gradient” between street level and the green roof, which is designed to be both a functional outdoor space and something pleasant to look at from the higher floors of the adjacent hospital. The parking garage effectively raises this green space above street level for a sense of privacy, avoids obscuring views of the surrounding architecture and manages to be pretty cool to look at, itself.

“We challenged ourselves to also make the underground decks clear and pleasant,” the architects say. “By introducing a sinuous ‘canyon’ encompassing the garage that allows light and air to reach even the lowest deck. Natural light and this (eventually green) canyon-wall contribute to orientation and ensure a positive experience for the user. The facades, made of meandering hardwood slats (FSC), naturally relate to the character of the canyon. An appealing building, nicely embedded with added value for the user is the result.”

These skyscrapers, homes and city concepts eschew typical architectural silhouettes, taking inspiration from cliffs, mountains and hills to create artificial landscape features of their own. Whether attempting to blend into the surrounding landscape or rising defiantly from the flattest of environments, they seek a sense of harmony with the natural world.

Walkable Green Roofs on a Mountainous Mixed-Use Complex

The Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) is behind the vast majority of recent terrain-inspired architectural concepts, including this stunner commissioned by a Taipei developer. The mixed-use complex of housing, restaurants, cafes, pedestrian walkways, gardens and more features unparalleled vertical accessibility with walkable green roofs.

Glacier-Inspired Hungerburg Train Station by Zaha Hadid

Architect Zaha Hadid wanted her glacier-inspired design for the Hungerburg Train Station in Innsbruck to merge with its snow-covered surroundings in winter. The structure contrasts heavy concrete with light, airy, amorphous glass overhangs that seem to float.

Chaoyang Park Plaza by MAD Architecture

Gleaming like polished black basalt, the towering structures that make up MAD Architects’ Chaoyang Park Plaza explore the relationship between architecture and the natural landscape. The silhouettes are an interpretation of mountains and other shapes in classical Chinese paintings.

Wroclaw Mountain by Vicente Guallart/Guallart Architects

Guallart Architects designed this mountain-inspired structure to represent Wroclaw, Poland in the race to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

The Berg by Jakob Tigges

The skyline of Berlin would be dramatically altered if this wild vision by Jakob Tigges ever came to be. The Berg is a 1,000-meter mountain partially bounded by the Tempelhof Airport. While Tigges says the proposal is more symbolic than a serious idea, it’s meant to provoke thought about how architecture can be integrated with the land to provide natural habitats for wildlife and recreation space as well as places to live, shop and work.

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Architecture As Landscape 15 Terrain Inspired Buildings

Construction has begun on an incredible 19-story, 5-star hotel that will be located deep within a 100-meter (328-foot) abandoned quarry near the base of Tianmashan Mountain in the Songjiang District of Shanghai. The 380-room Shimao Intercontinental Hotel seemed almost too wild to be true, and though its initial estimated opening date of May 2009 has long past, photos show progress at the quarry.

Designed by British engineering firm Atkins Global, the Shimao Hotel mimics a waterfall with a glass atrium that extends from the ground-level roof all the way down into the quarry. Three of the floors will be above-ground, with the rest extending into the pit. Instead of pumping the water out of the flooded quarry, the designers aim to turn it into a man-made lake.

Activities will take advantage of the unique landscape, including rock climbing, bungee jumping and water-based sports, and the hotel will also have its own cafes, restaurants, swimming pools, shopping and sporting facilities. Several of the public areas will be underwater, with others facing a 10-meter-deep aquarium.

Songjiang Intercontinental Hotel will be powered with geothermal energy, and above-ground structures will have green roofs for insulation and to help them blend in with the surrounding scenery. Rooms are expected to start at $320 per night, and the hotel is scheduled to open in late 2014 to early 2015.

Navigating the unfamiliar streets of a new city, sometimes you just want to find a quiet place where you can take a breather and figure out what’s next on your itinerary. And, chances are, you’re not going to be pulling out a big folded paper map to do so. So a public, shaded resting spot where you can not only consult a city guide, but also access wi-fi and charge your gadgets, would certainly be welcome.

JCDecaux, the North American company that invented the ‘street furniture’ concept of outdoor advertising, collaborated with designer Mathieu Lehanneur to create a cool green-roofed rest stop for pedestrians in Paris. The garden platform makes the curbside lounge area more aesthetically pleasing for people viewing it from their upper-floor apartments nearby.

Designed for an urban development project commissioned by the city, ‘Escale Numerique’ features a green-roofed platform held aloft over the sidewalk by tree trunks. The swiveling concrete seats are equipped with little desks and even electrical outlets to charge up your computer and phone on the go.

The shelter also features a large touch screen that provides information about city services like guides and news. Escale Numerique is meant for the Rond Point des Champs-Elysées.

“Like the Wallace fountains, which since the end of the 19th century have offered Parisian the free drinking water circulating beneath their feet, Escale Numérique allows everyone to benefit from a high-speed wi-fi connection by raising it from beneath the ground,” says Lehanneur.