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Three buildings - one twenty storeys high - have collapsed in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, killing at least five people and injuring many others. The collapse occurred late on Wednesday (Rio time), near the municipal theatre on the city's Cinelandia square. The tallest of the buildings was twenty storeys high, says the city's mayor Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes, whilst the second tallest had ten floors and the third had three or four. The latest developments come as Rio remains under worldwide scrutiny in the lead up to host the World Cup soccer in 2014 and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Traditional elements of construction create a sense of timelessness that can be a plus point even today. Read about this Brazilian residence and leave us your views...

One major green belt that has seen the devastating results of deforestation is the Amazon jungle. From 1991 until 2001 the total area cleared jumped from 415,000 km2 to 587,000 km2, proving that this massive, unsustainable deforestation effort has not been just a thing of the past. In fact, it was only last year that deforestation figures slowed to their lowest numbers yet. For many in the green building industry, that is how they would like it to continue. Offering to lead this conservation effort is London-based architectural firm Marks Barfield. Who have impressed architecture and environmental communities worldwide with their £6.4m proposal for a research centre in the Amazon, which will include a central, tree-shaped observation tower and 6 miles of tree top canopy walkways. Due to the nature and function of this tower, in addition to the limitations that the rural, fragile Brazilian environment holds, a sustainable building ideology forms the foundation of the proposal.