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Posts Tagged ‘Midair’

Shaolin Flying Monks Temple: Wind Tunnel Facilitates Midair Kung Fu Fighting

26 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

Mixing modern architecture and traditional arena theater design, the Shaolin Flying Monks Temple features a massive wind tunnel that lets combatants in rural Henan, China, fly and fight in front of hundreds of fascinated observers.

The mountainous setting is home to the historical Shaolin Monastery (UNESCO World Heritage Site) and is considered the birthplace of Zen Buddhism and the Kung Fu martial arts practice (as well as the cradle of Chinese civilization more broadly).

Designed by Latvian architect Austris Mailitis, the pavilion is designed to be both contemporary while also deferential to the region and its traditions. The designer was commissioned based on a chance meeting at the Shanghai Expo in 2010.

The mounded shape of the complex and branching, trunk-like protrusion of the tunnel take their inspiration from a translation of Shaolin, meaning: mountain in the wood.

“The architectural and conceptual image pays respect to the beauty of surrounding nature and the historical heritage of the site. Developed in the shape of two symbols – mountain and tree – it serves as a platform for any kind of scenic arts focusing especially on flying performances.”

“The building method combines modern and ancient technologies,” explained the architect” — a laser-cut steel superstructure supports stone steps handcrafted using local quarry resources.”

Tunnel House: (Sub)Urban Street Art Implosion Project

If you had a house that was going to be demolished, scrapped and completely replaced with something else – what would you do with it? Well, a couple of guys thought it would be neat to turn this …

Travel Through Trees: Root-Like Wooden Tunnel Installation

You may have to crouch a little to take a journey through this system of tunnels, but it’s worth it to feel as if you’re traveling through the roots of an enormous tree. Artist Henrique Oliveira …

Mountaintop Museum: Underground Rooms Tunnel into Peak

In a bold yet beautifully contextual move, this embedded mountaintop museum structure is part of a series of buildings set high in the mountains of Tyrol, Italy, and designed by Zaha Hadid …

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Rise of Robotic Graffiti: Drone Vandal Sprays Paint in Midair

06 May

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

drone graffiti

In what appears to be the first recorded work of public aerial drone vandalism, this off-the-shelf quadcopter was hacked to hold and use a can of spray paint, forever transforming the landscape of potential graffiti targets (image above by Arthur Holland Michel).

Attacking a giant Calvin Klein ad in the heart of New York City, this modified Phantom drone sprayed red paint on the face of model Kendall Jenner, able to fly up to and hover around the area of application much faster (then escape much easier) than a human ever could, finished in under a minute. Robot-made murals and computer-generated street art are nothing new, but putting them in the sky could change everything.

spray paint test aerial

The artist behind this intervention, KATSU, has been exprimenting with drone-mounted spray cans for some time now in controlled indoor environments, but wanted to show the potential for his work to reach places inaccessible to humans.

Created with Nokia Smart Cam

More proof of concept than finished piece, this particular work of graffiti was difficult to accomplish, with a great deal of effort put into stabilizing the aerial robot – creating a tag with any kind of precision using this method would be effectively impossible.

spray painting drone

Per Wired, though, the implications are bigger than this test: “Given the enduring privacy, safety, and legal concerns around the technology, conceptually it makes a certain amount of sense that it would find uses at the peripheries of what most people (let alone the law) would consider acceptable. KATSU’s scribble high above SoHo might not look like much, but it represents the potential that drones have to transform graffiti forever.”

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Paint Me White Again: Tunnel Type Graffiti Taunts Authorities

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Gratuitous Graffiti: Wild Robot Makes Random Wall Tags

If there is s science to the art of graffiti, well, this is not it – except insofar as this robot-artist was itself born of scientific experimentation!
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Devil’s Slide: Deserted Bay Area WWII Bunker Hovers in Midair

14 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

devil slide pillbox

Built on Devil’s Peak (along a promontory known as Devil’s Slide), this obsolete base end station was designed to spot, triangulate and radio in sightings of enemy ships approaching the San Francisco Bay.

devils slide mound

Rounding the bend along California’s scenic coastal State Route 1 from either north or south, it is impossible to miss the incredible bunker, which appears to float over the earth around it. While the area is fenced off, a parking zone nearby is used by some explorers as a place from which to venture closer to the structure, located just south of Pacifica and past a hillside highway tunnel.

devils slide

Though this is neither safe nor recommended, it is also possible to climb into the viewing slot on the first level then walk the stairs to the top – unofficially: the view is incredible. Meanwhile, the edges of the bunker have turned from supports to supported, cantilevered precariously over their surroundings, allowing you to walk up and sit under thousands of pounds of reinforced concrete.

devils slide cantilever

devils slide behind

While it looks like the work of nature, the apparent erosion surrounding the lone structure is reportedly a man-made effort designed to pave the way for further development, presumably by the military. At the same time, natural causes would not be too much of a surprise or stretch, considering that this section of highway has been known to close due to everything from earthquakes to landslides – the next disaster very well might take this abandoned building with it. The land and bunker are meanwhile owned by a private party and officially off limits (though with limited fencing).

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Devils Slide Deserted Bay Area Wwii Bunker Hovers In Midair

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Brutal but Beautiful: Book of 88 WWII Coastal Military Ruins

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Weightless Space: Ghostly Floating Room Hovers in Midair

A fantastic feat of architectural trickery, this anti-gravity ante-room installation appears to hover in thin air and open up into nothingness. It sports a …
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Weightless Space: Ghostly Floating Room Hovers in Midair

31 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

floating architectural installation project

A fantastic feat of architectural trickery, this anti-gravity ant-room installation appears to hover in thin air and open up into nothingness. It sports a single point of contact with the ground below – a ladder propped against it, ostensibly placed to access the amazing space.

floating ghost building

floating room broken interior

The piece was designed by Leandro Erlich (some images by Martin Argyroglo) of Argentina for an annual art festival in France, but the artist is known elsewhere as well for his vertigo-inducing work.

floating building art installation

floating building in context

The ladder is the secret behind supporting this tenuous chunk of building, being much stronger than it first appears. A set of furniture stacked on it appears to be waiting to be taken to the top.

elevator art installation sideways

The Shaft was set in the Sean Kelly Gallery of New York and took visitors through a sideways version of an elevator void. Stuck Elevator at the same gallery gives one a peek at one of those jarring experiences one hopes to avoid for live.

facade illusion urban art

Using mirrors, Erlich has also turned entire buildings on their side and made them into interactive urban playgrounds, as covered here previously and seen above.

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Leisure Dives: Planking Meets Parkour & Midair Photography

31 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Global & Urbex & Parkour. ]

leisure dive suit drink

Parkour and free-running are fine for athletic types, while planking and the lying-down game are great for lazies, but suspended somewhere in between we find the leisure dive.

leisure dives with cocktails

Blending the action-packed art of diving and cavalier nonchalance of sipping a cocktail, the actual site (Leisure Dive) started as a Facebook phenomena with a few pictures and spiraled out of control from there.

leisure dive newspaper jump

Variants include: hopping off a bike in mid-jump, or holding something other than a drink. Other details aside, though, appearance is critical – the less you look like someone prepared to splash into a pool (or other body of water, or hard-packed dirt) a few moments after your photograph is snapped, the more convincing the effect.

leisure dives various photos

For those wishing to get in on the game, the instructions are as follows: (1) Grab some friends, a decent camera, and head somewhere chill near a body of water. A swimming pool works. A lake will do. A river? You crazy. (2) Put on a bathing suit. Or a linen suit. Or a koala suit. Anything leisurely. (3) Grab something that says you are just a chilled out individual. A piña colada. A pitching wedge. A harpsichord. Whatever. We all unwind differently. (4) Find a nice perch from which to jump. Make sure you have a leisurely backdrop and a safe landing. (5)Now jump in, and embrace the leisure. Tip your glass. Pop your elbow. And most importantly, look at the camera with a face that says, “Does this suit make me look awesome?” The answer is yes. And, SNAP.

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