Source: Akihisa Hirata

We live in a world where TVs are now in cars and cars can be powered by plug-in. While the emerging high hi-tech and green industries might seem to be headed in opposing directions, Japanese architect Akihisa Hirata convenes the two in his latest stunner, “Energetic Energies.”

Source: Akihisa Hirata

Source: Akihisa Hirata

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Source: Hi-Fructose

Source: Hi-Fructose

It was Joan Crawford who said that, next to talent, the most important thing a woman can have is her hairdresser. Crawford’s words did an excellent job at portraying the incredible demands of women in Hollywood–both physically and mentally–at the time; and in the case of Detroit’s “Hump the Grinder Hair Wars”, an African American hair show, the same could be said today. Photographed by Peter Hapak for Time, the colossal coiffes above and below constitute a 25-year tradition in the Motor City. These styles are no small feat; some of them take upwards of ten hours to complete. To check out more daring hairdos, visit Hi-Fructose.

Source: Hi-Fructose

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In Cateura, Paraguay, townspeople don’t just live on garbage; they live with and from it. The impoverished rural community sits upon a landfill, and it is that trash that provides a source of income for those who pick it for sellable and recyclable goods. A few years ago, though, two Paraguayans decided to recycle the trash for something priceless: re-affirming the dignity of and cultivating the imagination, discipline and dedication of the region’s young, at-risk poor via musical instruments.

Eventually called Los Reciclados, or the Recycled Orchestra, flutes and clarinets are made from buttons and water pipes; cellos and flutes consist of forks, canisters and recycled strings. The result of these truly remarkable transformations is a fully functional orchestra which proves that, with a little creativity, something beautiful, fulfilling and sustainable can be forged from even the most unlikely materials and locations:

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Members of "Los Reciclados".

A recycled violin made of a metal glue canister, a fork, recycled strings and tuning pegs. A real violin is worth more than a typical house in Paraguay.

The refurbished "joints" of the clarinet.

A "woodwind" made of bottle caps, buttons and forks.

Nicolás Gómez, lute fixer and garbage picker.

Favio Chávez, the director of the Recycled Orchestra.

A Paraguayan girl practices her recycled violin.

Check out more on their website.