Architects in San Francisco and other U.S. cities have begun designing more detailed and visually interesting rooftops.

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The new trend was caused in part by an increase in taller buildings with views of shorter buildings' rooftops and online programs like Google Earth that allow users to view satellite pictures of cities, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron designed a roof for the main building of San Francisco's De Young Museum that included skylights and copper panels to make it more pleasing to viewers looking down from the museum's tower.

At the nearby California Academy of Sciences, Italian architect Renzo Piano has designed a 2.5-acre roof covered with wildflowers and other native plant species that is expected to be completed in 2008.

John Hanke, director of Google Earth, a free program that allows users to view satellite photos of cities around the world, said more than 100 million people downloaded it since it was released in April 2005. The program has become a popular tool for teachers and architects.