RSS
 

Posts Tagged ‘playground’

Nazi Playground: Cult Compound Now a Twisted Tourist Trap

01 Mar

[ By Steph in Culture & History & Travel. ]

colonia main

A former haven for Nazi war criminals, child molesters and their sympathizers, Villa Baviera is now a bizarrely whitewashed German-themed tourist attraction tucked into Chile’s Andean foothills. Established in 1961, the cult compound formerly known as Colonia Dignidad (Dignity Colony) hosted infamous concentration camp doctor Josef Mengele, known as the ‘Angel of Death,’ and served as a special torture center and illegal arms cache. Now you can drink beer and watch people stomp around in lederhosen as if none of those terrible things ever happened.

colomia 2

colonia

colonia 7

The insensitive nature of the transition of the 54-square-mile compound’s use is just the beginning, considering that an investigation in the ‘90s found evidence of decades of child abuse, torture and mysterious disappearances. Founder Paul Schäfer, a fugitive wanted in Germany for pedophilia, served as the authoritarian leader of 300 residents. Children were separated from their parents and siblings, all media from the outside world was banned, and sex was forbidden without Schäfer’s approval.

colonia 3

colonia 4

SONY DSC

colonia 9

In the ‘70s, dictator Augusto Pinochet made use of the compound to detain political dissidents. Schäfer was finally apprehended in 1997 and died in prison in 2010, and though 20 colony elders were convicted of aiding him in his abuses, the roughly 120 remaining residents were allowed to keep the property and do what they wanted with it, which was to turn it into a money-maker. Rather than making it a memorial to the Holocaust or the crimes that were carried out on the compound, they decided everybody would rather feign collective amnesia.

colonia 6

colonia 8

olonia 10

The result is a 21-room hotel, swimming pool, playgrounds, wedding tents and restaurants along with all the German food and beer you can consume. A guard tower once used to spot escapees still looks out over the property, and the perimeter is still edged with barbed wire fencing, but hey, those hot tubs will help you relax away the memories of the atrocities committed there, right?

colonia 11

Catch more on the history of this twisted tourist attraction at Bloomberg and in the upcoming Hollywood film ‘Colonia’, starring Emma Watson.

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

Mexico’s Creepiest Tourist Destination: Island of the Dolls

Deep in the swampy canals near Mexico City sits a tiny island full of forlorn toys. Created out of superstition, the island is like a nightmare come true.
Click Here to Read More »»


Transportable Tourist Towers Provide Stackable Housing

The Transportable Tourist Tower is a compact, stackable, modular prefabricated residence that can be placed vertically or horizontally for temporary housing.
Click Here to Read More »»


Abandoned Nazi Bunker Converted to Power Plant & Cafe

The words ‘Nazi power’ have taken on a new meaning in Hamburg, Germany as an abandoned bunker formerly equipped with anti-aircraft turrets has been …
Click Here to Read More »»


Share on Facebook



[ By Steph in Culture & History & Travel. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Nazi Playground: Cult Compound Now a Twisted Tourist Trap

Posted in Creativity

 

Suckers! Japan’s Ubiquitous Octopus Playground Slides

23 Nov

[ By Steve in Culture & History & Travel. ]

japan-octopus-slide-1
Weird anthropomorphic, gaudily painted concrete octopus slides lurk within hundreds of Japanese playgrounds, silently traumatizing generations of kids.

japan-octopus-slide-1b

These playground octopi climbing frame/slide installations are so common and have been around for so long, it’s really no surprise Japanese parents are nonplussed by their ominous presence – doubtless they played on the very same structures when they were kids.

japan-octopus-slide-1d

Visibly showing its age, the pastel pink cephalopod playground set above can be found at Hattori Ryokuchi Park in northern Osaka. It was visited by Akira Nakajima in 2009, David Kawabata (sleepytako) in 2013, and Trout Monroe (troutfactory) on January 1st of 2015.

Two-Toned In Tokyo

japan-octopus-slide-2a

japan-octopus-slide-2b

Nestled into a small playground in the Kitasenju neighborhood of Tokyo’s crowded Adachi ward, this unusually two-toned octopus slide and the manicured grounds surrounding it are pristine enough to be a zen garden… for kids. One wonders if children are even allowed to climb on it.

Reddy Or Not

japan-octopus-slide-3a

japan-octopus-slide-3c

japan-octopus-slide-3b

Unlike many American playgrounds whose old lawsuit-encouraging equipment continues to be updated in the interest of safety, Japan’s vintage octopus slides are, were and will always be perfectly safe… not to mention easy to maintain. Take the venerable installation above, which needed nothing but a new coat of paint to make it good as new. Once sun-bleached as pink as a beached conch in Flickr user sallyhancox’s 2009 photo, it blazes fire engine red in her image snapped two and a half years later.

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Suckers Japans Ubiquitous Octopus Playground Slides

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

Private Playgrounds: 13 Amazingly Fun Houses

Fun and unexpected features like slides, pirate ship forts, indoor skate parks, tree houses and trap doors turn these 13 homes into private playgrounds.
Click Here to Read More »»


Polyphonic Playground: Making Music with Fun Movement

Climb a ladder, swing on a hammock-like seat and run your hands along various wooden surfaces on this strange polyphonic playground, and your movements will …
Click Here to Read More »»


City Museum: Abandoned Warehouse Full of Caves, Rides & Slides

Somewhere between a huge funhouse, playground and circus, the City Museum of St. Louis may be the most entertaining and interactive urban architectural …
Click Here to Read More »»


Share on Facebook



[ By Steve in Culture & History & Travel. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Suckers! Japan’s Ubiquitous Octopus Playground Slides

Posted in Creativity

 

Polyphonic Playground: Making Music with Fun Movement

29 Sep

[ By Steph in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

polyphonic playground 1

Climb a ladder, swing on a hammock-like seat and run your hands along various wooden surfaces on this strange polyphonic playground, and your movements will create a unique song. Studio PSK teamed up with beatboxer Reeps One to create this multi-sensory play experience for this year’s London Design Festival, encouraging people to interact with an unusual physical fusion of music, design and technology.

polyphonic playground 2

Designer Patrick Stevenson-Keating d Reeps record a bunch of different sound banks of samples, which were then loaded onto the program Ableton Live and mapped to trigger points on the playground. A product called ‘Electric Paint,’ which sends signals to the computer, is screen-printed onto paper tiles and covered in protective acrylic, acting as giant keys on a keyboard.

polyphonic playground 3

The wooden playground frame is like one big musical instrument in this sense, setting off cascades of sound as participants clamber up the steps or take a trip down the slide. In addition to the conductive paint on the wooden elements, the team integrated copper tape into the slide and conductive thread in the swings.

polyphonic playground 4

polyphonic playground 5

“We were always very clear from the start that we wanted ‘play’ to be an important part of the project,” the designer tells Bare Conductive. “…Often we communicate quite complex ideas or narratives, but by employing a playful strategy to do so, we can engage with the audience in more meaningful ways. This was certainly the hope for the Polyphonic Playground.”

 

 

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

Beats on Fire: Music Visualized with Movement of Flames

We’ve seen what audio frequencies look like in mesmerizing resonance experiments using sand – so how does the same concept translate to a more …
Click Here to Read More »»


Sound of the Earth: Vinyl Globe Plays Music of the World

Spin this black globe and you’ll hear the music of the world. The Sound of the Earth by Yuri Suzuki is a spherical, interactive record player.
Click Here to Read More »»


Laser-Cut Record: Music Etched Onto Slices of Wood

Slices of wood take the place of traditional vinyl in these beautiful hand-crafted, laser-cut records by designer Amanda Ghassaei.
Click Here to Read More »»


Share on Facebook



[ By Steph in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Polyphonic Playground: Making Music with Fun Movement

Posted in Creativity

 

The City’s a Playground for Cartoon Characters by OakOak

12 Jul

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

oakoak urban interventions 1

Anything from a crooked cinder block to an ephemeral beam of light falling across the street can inspire a playful interactive scene by French street artist OakOak, making passersby stop and smile. Whether by temporary paper cut-outs or more permanent graffiti, the artist transforms ordinary urban settings in fun and unexpected ways.

oakoak urban interventions 2

oakoak urban interventions 3

OakOak wanders the streets seeing creative possibilities in virtually every quirk and imperfection, turning what could be seen by others as urban blight into playful works of art that might only stick around for a day or so, but still manage to brighten people’s day.

oakoak urban interventions 4

oakoak urban interventions 5

oakoak urban interventions 9

Little Bruce Lee figures bend metal poles or break through concrete and trapeze artists prepare to tightrope across chains. A stain on a wall might become a stream of genie-producing smoke emitted from a magic lamp, or a sewer grate could become a snail shell.

oakoak urban interventions 6

oakoak urban interventions 8

Says OakOak of his hometown of St. Etienne, “I like this city, her atmosphere, and I wanted it to look nicer. It was an industrial city with many coal mines; now it’s in regeneration and still quite poor. But it’s easily travelled by foot with awkward aspects ideal for art. I saw shapes everywhere, and wanted to realize them.”

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

The City is a Playground: 15 Interactive Installations

Art installations that invite or even dare passersby to join in on a fun activity transform even the most stiff and boring urban environments into public …
Click Here to Read More »»


Graffiti Lettering: Cool Characters, Alphabets & Fonts

It’s impossible to give names to all of the lettering styles graffiti artists use. But there are a few well-known alphabets that are seen over and over.
Click Here to Read More »»


The Wilds of Panama City: New Street Art Animals by ROA

Street artist ROA brings bold black-and-white animals measuring three stories in height to the gritty streets of Panama City in a new series of work.
Click Here to Read More »»


Share on Facebook



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

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on The City’s a Playground for Cartoon Characters by OakOak

Posted in Creativity

 

The City is a Playground: 15 Interactive Installations

11 Oct

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

Interactive Urban Art Main
Art installations that invite or even dare passersby to join in on a fun activity transform even the most stiff and boring urban environments into public playgrounds. Musical swings on the sidewalks of Montreal, a giant red ear in South Korea, a massive Monopoly game in Chicago and a submarine erupting from the middle of Milan are among the cool interactive projects that bring out the kid in all of us.

Massive Submarine in the Middle of Milan

Interactive Urban Art Submarine Milan 1

Pedestrians in Milan were puzzled to  see what looked like a massive deep-sea voyager bursting from the pavement  in the middle of Piazza Mercanit. A Smart Car appears to have been caught up in the eruption, barely escaping. Of course, it’s an art installation – actually, a marketing stunt for an insurance group’s ‘Protect Your Life’ campaign. A ‘scuba diver’ at the scene told onlookers about the importance of insurance in safeguarding your possessions – probably a little less exciting than what they were hoping to hear.

Escape Machine

Interactive Urban Art Escape Machine

Where do you want to escape to? Press the red button on this strange black cube in the middle of a French public square, tell it your desired destination and something really, really unexpected will happen.

Urban Shopping Cart Merry-Go-Round

Interactive Urban Art Shopping Carts

In the middle of a municipal theater square in Portugal, a merry-go-round of shopping carts beckons kids and adults alike to interact. It’s a parasitic addition to a lamp post, made to attach to any such structure in a public place. “By counteracting the freedom of movement that normally characterizes these carts (ironically moving in circles) we are reminded that consumerism does not take us anywhere… or in the best case scenario to the starting point.”

Whisper a Message to ‘The Big Ear’

Interactive Urban Art THe Big Ear

Called ‘Yobosayo,’ the Korean word used when calling to get someone’s attention, this interactive sculpture records voice messages from passersby and shares them with others. You speak into the big red ear, and people inside the adjacent Seoul Citizens Hall listen. It’s even more interactive than that, in fact; sensors on the hanging speaker units monitor how much time people spend listening to each message, so the ones people pay attention to remain in the playlist, while the unpopular ones are transformed into music by an algorithm that amplifies and distorts the sound.

Knitting the Andy Warhol Bridge

Interactive Urban Art Andy Warhol

A project called Knit the Bridge brought 1,800 volunteers onto the Andy Warhol Bridge in Pittsburgh to cover the sides, towers and main cables in rectangular panels individually knitted by each artist. It’s a fitting tribute to the only bridge in the United States to be named for an artist.

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

In Orbit: Transparent Suspended Net Playground in the Sky

A suspension of transparent nets hovering 80 feet over the floor of an indoor courtyard makes for a surreal playground for the brave, and a terrifying sight …
Click Here to Read More »»


Interactive Light Art Installation Operated by Smart Phones

A five-story light art installation in Frankfurt billows and contracts like a curtain or a veil, controlled by swipes of users’ fingers on their smart phones.
Click Here to Read More »»


Next Page:
The City Is A Playground 15 Interactive Installations

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

In Orbit: Transparent Suspended Net Playground in the Sky

A suspension of transparent nets hovering 80 feet over the floor of an indoor courtyard makes for a surreal playground for the brave, and a terrifying sight …
Click Here to Read More »»


Interactive Light Art Installation Operated by Smart Phones

A five-story light art installation in Frankfurt billows and contracts like a curtain or a veil, controlled by swipes of users’ fingers on their smart phones.
Click Here to Read More »»


Share on Facebook



[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on The City is a Playground: 15 Interactive Installations

Posted in Creativity

 

The City is a Playground: 15 Interactive Installations

09 Oct

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

Interactive Urban Art Main
Art installations that invite or even dare passersby to join in on a fun activity transform even the most stiff and boring urban environments into public playgrounds. Musical swings on the sidewalks of Montreal, a giant red ear in South Korea, a massive Monopoly game in Chicago and a submarine erupting from the middle of Milan are among the cool interactive projects that bring out the kid in all of us.

Massive Submarine in the Middle of Milan

Interactive Urban Art Submarine Milan 1

Pedestrians in Milan were puzzled to  see what looked like a massive deep-sea voyager bursting from the pavement  in the middle of Piazza Mercanit. A Smart Car appears to have been caught up in the eruption, barely escaping. Of course, it’s an art installation – actually, a marketing stunt for an insurance group’s ‘Protect Your Life’ campaign. A ‘scuba diver’ at the scene told onlookers about the importance of insurance in safeguarding your possessions – probably a little less exciting than what they were hoping to hear.

Escape Machine

Interactive Urban Art Escape Machine

Where do you want to escape to? Press the red button on this strange black cube in the middle of a French public square, tell it your desired destination and something really, really unexpected will happen.

Urban Shopping Cart Merry-Go-Round

Interactive Urban Art Shopping Carts

In the middle of a municipal theater square in Portugal, a merry-go-round of shopping carts beckons kids and adults alike to interact. It’s a parasitic addition to a lamp post, made to attach to any such structure in a public place. “By counteracting the freedom of movement that normally characterizes these carts (ironically moving in circles) we are reminded that consumerism does not take us anywhere… or in the best case scenario to the starting point.”

Whisper a Message to ‘The Big Ear’

Interactive Urban Art THe Big Ear

Called ‘Yobosayo,’ the Korean word used when calling to get someone’s attention, this interactive sculpture records voice messages from passersby and shares them with others. You speak into the big red ear, and people inside the adjacent Seoul Citizens Hall listen. It’s even more interactive than that, in fact; sensors on the hanging speaker units monitor how much time people spend listening to each message, so the ones people pay attention to remain in the playlist, while the unpopular ones are transformed into music by an algorithm that amplifies and distorts the sound.

Knitting the Andy Warhol Bridge

Interactive Urban Art Andy Warhol

A project called Knit the Bridge brought 1,800 volunteers onto the Andy Warhol Bridge in Pittsburgh to cover the sides, towers and main cables in rectangular panels individually knitted by each artist. It’s a fitting tribute to the only bridge in the United States to be named for an artist.

Next Page:
The City Is A Playground 15 Interactive Installations

Share on Facebook

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


    




WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on The City is a Playground: 15 Interactive Installations

Posted in Creativity

 

In Orbit: Transparent Suspended Net Playground in the Sky

12 Sep

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

Tomas Saraceno Net Installation 1

A suspension of transparent nets hovering 80 feet over the floor of an indoor courtyard makes for a surreal playground for the brave, and a terrifying sight for those afraid of heights. Artist Tomás Saraceno created this 2500-square-meter installation at the Kunstammlung  Nordrhein-Westfalen museum in Dusseldorf, Germany for visitors to explore.

Tomas Saraceno Net Installation 2

The interactive exhibit invites museum guests to walk out onto the cloud-like nets amidst transparent and mirrored spheres, for the sensation of hovering in some kind of dream space. The steel wire construction spans the museum’s glass cupola on three levels.

Tomas Saraceno Net Installation 3

The transparency of the nets make it look like the people engaging with the installation are floating when viewed from ground level or some of the mid-floors. “When several people enter the audacious construction simultaneously, their presence sets it into motion, altering the tension of the steel wires and the intervals between the three meshwork levels,” states the museum on its website.

Tomas Saraceno Net Installation 4

“By virtue of its magnitude and radically, in orbit has no precedent in Saraceno’s oeuvre to date. Even visitors who do not wish to climb the net or hang suspended above the abyss, but who choose instead to explore the installation in exclusively visual terms are confronted with themes of flight, falling, and floating, are inevitably gripped by the archetypal emotions associated with these states.”

Tomas Saraceno On Space Time 1

Tomas Saraceno On Space Time 2

A previous installation by Saraceno, ‘On Space Time Foam,’ utilizes a similar effect with translucent PVC membranes at a museum in Milan. The work plays on the ‘mutual dependence’ that becomes necessary when multiple people are moving within the installation at once.

Share on Facebook

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


    




WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on In Orbit: Transparent Suspended Net Playground in the Sky

Posted in Creativity

 

Olympus opens “OM-D: Photography Playground” in Berlin

29 Apr

omdplayground.jpg

Olympus has opened an exhibition that it’s calling the “OM-D: Photography Playground” in Berlin, Germany. Situated in the Opernwerkstaetten gallery space, it’s an installation of works by 12 artists and collectives that visitors are encouraged to explore, interact with, and photograph.  It’s open daily from 11am to 7pm until 24 May 2013, and entry is free. Visitors can also borrow an OM-D E-M5 during their visit, to try out the camera at no charge.  

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Olympus opens “OM-D: Photography Playground” in Berlin

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Bridge in Paris: Inflatable, Jumpable Urban Playground

20 Nov

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

With space increasingly at a premium in cities around the world, bodies of water – and the structures that span them – are becoming host to all sorts of unexpected functions. This concept by Paris-based studio AZC spurns the idea of an ordinary bridge, creating an inflatable urban playground that infuses joy into the everyday routines of city inhabitants.

‘Bridge in Paris’ aims to bring urban dwellers back to “a state of primal happiness, of ancestral times when body and spirit were essentially free.” Rather than simply crossing a pedestrian bridge without thought, users take a few moments for uninhibited playtime.

Installed near the Bir-Hakeim Bridge on the River Seine in Paris, the bridge is made of three life raft-shaped inflatable modules with trampoline mesh stretched between each one. The concept is designed to be adaptable to other sites as well, including smaller rivers.

“Located in direct relationship to eiffel’s tower the installation becomes symbol of ephemeral architecture designed to provide a unique experience: a view of all of Paris,” says AZC.

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebUrbanist:

Green-Roofed Shelter is Urban Curbside Lounge for Paris

This ‘rest station’ for a busy Paris street offers chairs with desks and electrical outlets, a touch-screen information center, free wi-fi and a green roof.
2 Comments – Click Here to Read More »»


Creative Urban Furniture: Convertible, Inflatable & Portable Homeless Shelters

Regardless of your view of street dwellers or opinion regarding the best solutions to these problems, suspend your judgment for a moment to take in these extremely cool designs!
64 Comments – Click Here to Read More »»


Share on Facebook



[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Bridge in Paris: Inflatable, Jumpable Urban Playground

Posted in Creativity

 

At the playground | Reality (HD timelapse 1080p)

07 Jul

Miniature scenes from the ocean, Gothenburg city and Strömstad all on the Swedish west coast. All edits and post processing done on a wee MacBook Pro 13″. Most of the scenes with zoom and pan are output as 3K (3072 x 1728) high-res intermediate videos downsampled in iMovie by the simple Ken Burns crop tool. I shot around 10.000 RAW-images for the film but not all of them ended up in the final editing. I used a homemade rapid interval timer for some of the scenes, shooting continous up to 3 frames/sec for smooth motion. Footage stabilization and deflickering managed in VirtualDub with the Deflicker and Deshaker plugins. For the tilt-shift effect I used Alien Skin Software’s plugin ‘Bokeh’ in Photoshop, some of the scenes were processed with their latest plugin ‘Exposure 3’ for filmic looks in classic Technicolor. Let me just say it took ages to develop and render thousands of high-res frames… Equipment used: Nikon D300 / D300s, Nikkor AF-S 70-200/2.8 VR, Nikkor AF-S 17-55/2.8, Nikon TC-17EII Teleconverter, DIY Nikon 10-pin Rapid Interval Timer (RIT), Manfrotto 035 SuperClamp w/ ball head 488RC2, Manfrotto 745B video tripod. Uploaded as 2K high-res x264 for best vertical detail at 1080p and 720p.
Video Rating: 5 / 5

 
25 Comments

Posted in Nikon Videos