Welcome to the early, Thanksgiving edition of The Weekly LOdown - where we gather our favorite links from the architecture and building industry and share them with you.

We’ve got lots of good stuff to heap on your plate today. Here’s what we’re clicking this week:

Allison

The architecture and construction firm Whole Trees takes the concept of building a tree house to an entirely new level. Featured on the design blog Inhabitat, Whole Trees uses weed trees, which are commonly considered “scrap” lumber, to create “beautiful displays of locally sourced and sustainably managed materials.” This eco-friendly building practice allows Whole Trees to design and construct a variety of structures, including commercial, residential and greenhouse projects.

Garrett

This is a great installment from VW’s “Fun Theory” Campaign:

Jack

This blogger makes a good point about how much code and compliance information is out there and suggests ways to stay up to date.

Lauren

This week, I am loving Jetson Green’s update on the winning design in the Vision Dallas competition. Apparently the purpose was to create a a design for a sustainable city block near Dallas City Hall. Dubbed “Forwarding Dallas,” the chosen design looks like it won’t disappoint. Jetson Green describes an “undulated fabric of buildings with green roofs covered in native vegetation.” Based on the description and renderings, it seems truly amazing. Perhaps a move to Dallas is in order!

Nick

They’re calling it the Urban Garden Room - a green, mossy “living sculpture” inside the LEED Platinum Bank of America Building in Manhattan.  I chose this link because 1.) I used to work right across the street from this building and 2.) it inspires debate: a comment below this article calls the project “greenwashing” because the sculptures are not contributing anything green.  The article says that the sculptures serve as a “reminder” of the greenness of the building itself.  Do you think there’s any value in constructing mossy monoliths in the lobby of a building to remind people that the building is green, or do you think it’s just a waste of time and energy? Personally, I don’t think it’s greenwashing, but at the same time I don’t find the design astounding enough to make a real statement. Bottom line: High-profile buildings need high-profile designs. The Bank of America building could have done much worse by using all high-end, manufactured materials.

Any thoughts or opinions? Any links that you found particularly interesting this week? Post them below in the comments section.

Thanks for reading!