Unlike Tokyo’s bed-only cabins where customers climb into a human equivalent of a honeycomb for a night’s rest, Yotel pods at Gatwick and Heathrow airports in London and Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam come in larger and more comfortable formats. These self-contained mini hotel rooms are equipped with a bed, table, HD TV and Wi-Fi.

The fourth Yotel is set to arrive in New York in 2011 with a location opening on 42nd and 10th street boasting 669 luxury rooms and the largest outside terrace in any hotel in New York

Also in Amsterdam, Citizen M has a hotel with 230 mini rooms at Schiphol Airport and a 215-room hotel in Amsterdam City. Citizen M plans to open similar hotels across Europe.

Qbic Hotels has opened two “cheap chic” hotels with mini rooms in the Netherlands: Qbic World Trade Centre Amsterdam and Qbic Maastricht, plus one in Antwerp, Belgium.

Taking the next step in rest and space efficiency, Russia’s Arch Group designed the SleepBox.

Along with an airport version of the rest pod, equipped with the usual, high-tech necessities offered by other companies, Arch Group has also designed an easy-to-relocate version fit for hostels. A small, mobile compartment, 2m (l) x 1.4m (w) x 2.3m (h), SleepBox is made of wood and MDF. SleepBox is meant to “allow very efficient use of available space and, if necessary, a quick change of layout”, making it perfect for hostels where demand and space available often come in conflict with each other. The hostel-specific SleepBox features bunk beds, flip-out tables and sockets for computers or phone chargers and not much else.

2-B-2 architecture’s andrey bondarenko has designed the arctic mobile unit which accommodates life support for 3 people – who are researching in the north pole and arctic – for a duration of 15 days, operating between -40 to +10C and withstanding winds of up to 85 km/h. It is comprised of module parts which make up a washroom, work / rest area, galley and power engine-generator.

The arctic mobile unit is equipped with a solar battery, 5kW power generator and snow melter and is built from a steel frame, carbon panels and polyethylene, thermo-insulating membranes. Overall, it weights 1500 kg and measures 2000 x 1600 x 2300mm making it relatively easy to transport from location to location.

One of the most original ideas I’ve seen for a while, Eko is an ecological and economical traffic light concept designed by Damjan Stankovic, a Serbian based industrial designer.

Benefits ranging from less fuel consumption as drivers can turn their engine off while they wait to less stress for the driver as you know exactly how long you have to wait.

Berlin Hauptbahnhof, or Berlin Central Station, is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany and the largest crossing station in Europe. It began full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is now Europe’s largest two-level railway station. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, and until it opened as a main line station, it was a stop on the Berlin S-Bahn suburban railway temporarily named Berlin Hauptbahnhof–Lehrter Bahnhof. The station is operated by DB Station&Service, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn AG, and is classified as a Category 1 station, one of 20 in Germany and three in Berlin, the others being Berlin Sudkreuz and Berlin Ostbahnhof.

On 26 May 2006 the station was ceremonially opened by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who arrived together with transport minister Wolfgang Tiefensee in a specially chartered InterCityExpress from Leipzig. A “Symphony of Light” was performed immediately following the dedication. Reamonn and BAP performed at Hauptbahnhof, and there were also events at the other new stations: Gesundbrunnen, Potsdamer Platz and Südkreuz. Berlin Hauptbahnhof officially went into operation on 28 May 2006.

Berlin HBF Panorama in Berlin: 360 Cities