PURE Tension: The Gorgeous Car Charger of the Future

The Pure Tension Pavilion was designed specifically to charge the Volvo V60, SDA explains. (Courtesy: Synthesis Design + Architecture)

It looks like a winged creature from the deep, but the curvy, bold, white mesh structure you see in the slideshow above is a visionary new tool for charging electric cars called PURE Tension.

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Los Angeles-based Synthesis Design + Architecture (SDA) is behind PURE Tension. SDA created it specifically for a design competition held by car marker Volvo.

The competition asked designers for "" to showcase Volvo's V60 -- the new hybrid electric diesel car -- at outdoor festivals and presentations, reports archdaily.com.

SDA came up with the , which is a "lightweight, rapidly deployable, free-standing tensioned membrane structure and portable charging station," the firm explains.

The frame is made of carbon fiber rods, which support the tension mesh skin. Flexible solar photovoltaic panels are woven into the mesh, which ultimately work to charge the V60's battery.

"The entire pavilion, in terms of the skin, fits into a small box. Whereas the perimeter frame, because it is a slip fit tube, like a tent, will ," Alvin Huang, founder and principal at SDA, explains in a video on the firm's website.

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PURE Tension was recently unveiled by Volvo in Italy. For more on the project, check out SDA's , as well as our slideshow above.

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GRAFT Roof & Service Pavilion: Better Test Drives

The last time I test drove a potential new (to me) car, it was Thanksgiving Week -- in Michigan -- and it was pouring rain.

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The new Roof and Service Pavilion at the Autostadt in Wolfsburg, Germany is specifically designed to prevent nasty weather experiences for new car buyers who are getting familiar with their purchases.

The Autostadt is best described as Volkswagen's part-theme park, part-showroom, part-museum. Not only can visitors check out some of the company's coolest innovations, but they can test drive cars at the Autostadt's new 'Ausfahrt', which VW describes as a "."

That's where the roof comes in. GRAFT, the behind the gorgeous new pavilion, were tasked with designing a quiet area where buyers could get familiar with the car, which translates into safer driving on the road.

"The space had to be protected from rain and direct sunlight, while allowing enough daylight to avoid the usage of energetically expensive and unnecessary artificial light," GRAFT explains.

The shape of a leaf jumped out at GRAFT, since it "protects the landscape underneath with its organic form."

Discover more about GRAFT and its designs.

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Cardok: Park Underground to Avoid Weather

This is the Cardok Porche garden. (Image Courtesy: Cardok)

Sick of spending an extra 10 minutes of your morning removing whatever mess the elements left on your car overnight? Dew. Frozen fog. Ice. Snow. The Cardok parking system might be the way to take back your mornings.

Designed by a Switzerland-based company, Cardok .

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The Cardok is a hydraulic lift, powered by remote control, that can accommodate one car below the ground and one above it, said Cardok's Patrick Martin. The lift is built out of heavy steel and can hold up 10 tons.

Martin said some customers like Cardok because the earth virtually becomes a safe, hiding your car from thieves. Other customers love how it saves space, leaving the ground open for larger gardens and landscaping. You can see examples of the Porsche Cardok Garden in the slideshow above.

If you lose power, your car won't get stuck in its subterranean space. The Cardok has a small back-up generator just in case.

Cardoks are already installed at homes across Europe, and the company says it's looking for distributors to bring the product to the U.S. The average entry price is $45,000.

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"Good idea for hurricane protection!" Martin says.

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