Mountain Bike Hotel, Pregasina, Italy

Eco-friendliness isn't always about recycling and solar panels. It's also about making a minimal footprint on the land itself, a concept that's liberally interpreted in the Mountain Bike Hotel, proposed for a hill in Pregasina, Italy, near the north end of Lake Garda. Created by architectural students Anton Fromm and Philip Michael Schambelan as a giant puzzle of prefabricated parts to be assembled on-site, the 28-room hotel would be bolted to the side of the hill at three points, which would also serve as gateways to the property. Every guest room is designed to be easily accessible by mountain bike, a function of gently graded slopes and a stair-free plan. And by taking advantage of the natural shade provided by the hillside location plus some clever engineering, no direct sunlight will enter the hotel, saving the need for air-conditioning. What's more, the hotel's steel elements are recyclable. We wonder if they'll add cycle lanes in the corridors…

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