A remarkable composite with an incredible amount of detail, this photograph was assembled from nearly 200 different images of NYC representing 10,000 megapixels of data, all put together over the course of a year.

Photographer, engineer, and entrepreneur Dan Piech decided to capture his stunning shot of Manhattan (from a rooftop in Queens), titled A New York City Dream, in tribute to the bustling city on one of its busiest nights: New Year’s Eve.

“I wanted to create an extremely high-resolution photographic artwork that captured the vibrant energy our city continually bursts forth with—a seemingly chaotic energy that nevertheless has structure, order, and rhythm,” he says of the piece. Being spun into a ‘tiny planet’ type image, the city also wraps endlessly, a world unto itself.

To put all of the photographs together and align them in terms of subjects but also color content took around a year. The finished image can be zoomed in almost endlessly to the point where, as a physical print, it would span dozens of feet, while still retaining a crisp quality. VAST now sells prints.

From My Modern Met, “Piech launched VAST with an aim to bring fine art photographers with stunning aesthetics together with technical experts specialized in producing high resolution (1,000+ megapixel) images. VAST currently works with a roster of 11 artists who create these specialized images. Using high dynamic range imaging, focus stacking, image blending, and other techniques, these special photographs can be printed on a large scale with razor-sharp quality.”

A new amusement offering on the 70th floor of the highest skyscraper on the West Coast is stepping up the game, going beyond glass viewing platforms, swimming pools and bridges to boast a fully-transparent outdoor slide for bold adventurers, all at a lofty 1,000-foot elevation.

Owners of the U.S Bank Tower are adding this extreme sightseeing measure to thrill (or terrify) visitors who wish to simulate the experience of jumping out of a skyscraper. The 36-foot Skyslide will take guests from the 70th down to the 69th floor.

The so-called Skyslide is part of a new observation deck expansion that will charge $25 per ticket, or another $8 to ride the side of the scraper via a trap door.

Attached by minimal metal supports, the clear glass will give stunning views of the surrounding city, at least for those brave enough to keep their eyes open on the way down. Meanwhile, on the East Coast, visitors can experience a similar thrill in slightly less overtly-dangerous environs, touring 50 years of history in 1 WTC elevator ride.

Somewhere between architecture, art and fashion, this series of 3D-printed shoes by five famous designers for United Nude pushes the limits of new technologies to make fresh forms of fancy footwear. Not meant to be everyday apparel, these unique party-oriented accessories were created for Milan Design Week 2015.

Rem Koolhaas invited architects Zaha Hadid, Ben van Berkel and Fernando Romero as well as designers Ross Lovegrove and Michael Young to participate in creating these pairs, each requiring around a day to print on a sPro 60 selective laser sintering (SLS) machine made by 3D Systems.

All shown above, Flames by Zaha Hadid features pointy protrusions casting stellar silhouettes, UNX2 by Ben van Berkel looks almost like a hoof and Ilabo by Ross Lovegrove features open heals and toes. Below, the Young Shoe by Michael Young provides comfortable support on all sides, looking much more awkward, reportedly, than it actually feels when in use and Ammonite by Fernando Romero is abstractly patterned off of the spirals of sea creatures.

More on the process and materials from Dezeen: “The process starts with a container filled with powder, which is heated in places, as specified by a digital file. This fuses the material together layer by layer until the final form is built up. Once complete, the excess powder is broken away to reveal the design.Each pair was created using two different materials: the soles were printed in hard nylon, while the uppers were formed from thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), which is softer and more flexible.”

With downtown densification usually comes a lack of light in surrounding spaces, leading one architecture firm to develop the world’s first algorithm-driven strategy to allow a tower to fully shed its shadow. Architects of NBBJ developed this set of adjacent skyscrapers that work in tandem to eliminate shade year-round in the spaces between them, proposing the pair for a prominent site in central London. As the simulation of No Shadow Tower illustrates below, considerations are made for all times of day, reflecting the passage of the sun through the sky from dawn until dusk.

The model inputs are complex, using real sun-tracking data tied to a specific location (though easily changed) but also taking into account everything from basic physics and structural engineering to public spaces and programmatic functions for building users. At the same time, considerations must be made for diffusing any reflected light to avoid creating obnoxious glare or even lighting adjacent spaces, vehicles or objects on fire. Fortunately, it is easier than ever to 3D model as well as implement a complex building shape with custom 3D-printed parts, as architects like Frank Gehry have increasingly demonstrated in recent years.

This proposal was inspired by the rapid growth of skyscrapers in areas like London, where 250 are currently planned or in progress, and New York City, where residents are resisting tall buildings that would cast long shadows over Central Park. Large-scale sunlight reflection can be found in built environments already, such as a mountain town in Norway found frequently or for long periods in shade during cold and dark winter months. Conversely, structures in hot climates could also be shaped to deflect sun from occupied spaces during warm summer months – shade and shadows, sunlight and heat can all be shaped, in short, for different environmental needs and conditions.

In this case, of course, the reflector is itself a building, which of course then casts a shadow of its own – arguably a limitation of the scheme applied in other places (in this instance the second structure’s shadow would fall over water). However, a series of structures could conceivably cancel shadows in sequence, creating multi-block solutions if designed in a coordinated fashion, the shape of each informed by the needs of the previous one in the series. Moreover, this is not just about elimination but control – the ability to redirect sun and shade dynamically through design rather than letting it be a byproduct of accidental shapes. Whether or not this particular pair of structures makes it past the conceptual phase, the idea behind them is powerful and the attitude could be applied more readily by (heat- and) light-sensitive architects down the line.

‘Please do not apply if you’re scared of heights,’ warns AirBnB about this private sky-high chalet located at the very top of the Holmenkollen ski jump, where some of the world’s top skiers have launched themselves onto the slopes. The fully-furnished apartment is 250 steps above the world’s first ski museum, and features the highest roof terrace in all of Oslo. Tell AirBnB why you’d like to stay here in 100 worlds or less, and you could win the chance to experience it yourself.

The vacation rental service is offering up a one-night stay at the Holmenkollen ski jump and as long as you’re available on March 26th or 27th, if you win, they’ll fly you in from anywhere in the world. You have until midnight on March 16th to submit your entry.

The ski jump superstructure was first built in 1892 and hosted the 1952 Winter Olympics, where expert skiers gazed out onto the Nordic landscape before flying off the ramp in front of thousands of spectators. Since 1923, it’s also been home to a museum displaying over 4,000 years of ski history. The pinnacle, where the apartment is located, is 200 feet in the air.

Only pros are allowed to use the ski jump, “so don’t think you’re going to be pulling any tricks in your toboggan,” says AirBnB. But you’ll be steps away from thousands of miles of ski slopes, and if you want, you can even leave via zip-line when your trip is over. Apply here.