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Posts Tagged ‘Spaces’

Mosaic Murals: Tile Patterns Spray-Painted in Deserted Spaces

04 Mar

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

tile artwork abandonment

A puzzle of layers rather than pieces, each of this spray-painted works takes aesthetic cues from historic Barcelona, deploying them in novel contexts using unexpected materials.

tile floor spraypaint stencil

tile finished piece

tile in progress

tile exposed exterior

Catalan artist Javier de Riba creates these vibrant works with stencils, one of the original tools of the street artist, bringing them to life so well they could be confused for glass or ceramic tiles.

tile wrapping skate park

tile curved surface stencil

tile floor mural

tile floor art spraypainted

His target locations vary, but his pieces can sometimes be found on sidewalks or the ramps at skate parks, though the floors of abandoned buildings are a popular pick. Deserted places make it easier to take time with a given work, but also add to the element of surprise when discovered by others.

tile painting

tile graffiti stencil outline

tile work floor ground

tile demolished house barcelona

Some are composed in square frames, though many break borders and some even wrap curve surfaces or sweep across entire floors. Currently, some of his work is on display at the Miscelanea gallery in Barcelona, including a large site-specific installation.

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Hiding in Plain Sight: 17 Secret Spaces from Safes to Pubs

23 Feb

[ By Steph in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

hidden gun safe 2

If you don’t have a Narnia-themed playroom hidden behind a wardrobe, a zombie-proof shelter accessible via your kitchen island or a gun safe under your 900-pound bulletproof couch, you just aren’t living. Some of these hidden rooms, secret passageways and cleverly concealed storage spaces are probably a bit excessive, but who doesn’t wish their house contained at least one of these cool features?

Real-Life Bat Cave: Hidden Garage in San Francisco

hidden garage

In San Francisco, where private parking spaces are just as rare and precious as affordable housing, one house in Haight-Ashbury took the situation into their own hands in a way that wouldn’t upset the city council. The base of the Haight-Ashbury house is indistinguishable from the rest of the historical Victorian facade, but at the push of a button, it reveals a hidden four-car garage.

Narnia-Themed Playroom Hidden Behind Wardrobe
hidden wardrobe narnia 1
hidden wardrobe narnia 2

hidden wardrobe narnia 3
When building a new house, the parents of one particularly lucky nine-year-old girl realized there was some extra space next to her bedroom and decided to have a bit of fun with it instead of just using it as storage or sealing it up. A tiny doorway concealed in the back of a wardrobe leads to the small Narnia-themed playroom complete with a mural that stretches up onto the ceiling.

Storm Shelter Under a Kitchen Island
hidden storm shelter kitchen island

In some parts of the country, having a storm shelter is just as essential as having a bedroom. A company called GFS Storm Shelters came up with a brilliant way to fit one into a home – by placing it under the kitchen, with the entrance hidden under an island. While its actual usage might be a bit mundane, it’s fun to imagine it functioning as a hideaway during the zombie apocalypse or just a fun secret. Hopefully there’s another exit that leads directly outdoors in case a real tornado takes the entire house down on top of it.

Porthole to a Playroom
hidden porthole 1

hidden porthole 2
A circular porthole that blends right into the faux wood floor of this modern home spits you out onto a slide that curls down into a colorful playroom.

Covert Concepts: Fireplace Door & Storage
hidden fireplace door

Anyone searching your home for valuables probably wouldn’t think to check the usually-decorative panels on a wooden fireplace surround, making this a pretty safe place to keep items you’d like to conceal.

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Hiding In Plain Sight 17 Secret Spaces From Safes To Pubs

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Architectural Geodes: Subtractive Sculptor Carves Ornate Spaces

17 Jan

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

carved stone sacred space

Combining the raw exterior remnants of source stones with the finely-tuned architectural details of sacred spaces, these marvelous fossil-like miniatures combine compelling elements of organic forms with heroic amounts of human effort.

architectural geodes

carved stone pillars

Matthew Simmonds studied art history before becoming a stonemason, then turned his knowledge and skill toward a hybrid pursuit: sculpting spaces from sandstone, limestone and marble.

carved interior architecture space

What he uncovers inside each chunk becomes part of a graceful juxtaposition with the rough and unaltered exterior shells that remain. His works also convey a sense of discovery, as if archeologists had dug down to find these marvelous wonders buried in history.

sculpture interior revealed

“Making a play of architectural spaces on a small scale, the solid stone is opened up to reveal internal worlds, often intricately carved, in which the changing viewpoint and light play a strong role in defining the sculptures.”

sclupture carved stone space

“Drawing on the formal language and philosophy of architecture the work explores themes of positive and negative form, the significance of light and darkness and the relationship between nature and human endeavour.”

set in wood

Geoff Manaugh highlighted Simmonds work but also connected it to similar approach taken in a stellar piece of museum advertising set in wood, a promotional image of modern architecture hewn from a log, made for the Cité de l’Architecture.

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Luminous Illusions: 14 Interactive Spaces Made of Light

26 Nov

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

waterlicht main

Step into three-dimensional blueprints made of light, gaze at flickering ghost ships and walk beneath artificial aurora borealis with this stunning set of interactive illuminated installations. Often reacting to physical stimuli like the movement of the wind or the people viewing them, these light art projects blur the lines between what’s real and what’s illusion.

Five-Story Glowing Star in an Unfinished Building
light art glowing star

light art star 2

The concrete shell of a partially completed building in in the Malaysian town of Butterworth is currently occupied by a five-story glowing star by artist and architect Jun Ong. Inspired by glitches, the installation consists of five hundred meters of steel cables and LED strips and is meant to highlight the once-bustling city’s fragmented identity.

Waterlicht: An Artificial Aurora Borealis

light art aurora

waterlicht 2

The sky over Westervoort in the Netherlands is illuminated in swaths of eerie blue, mimicking the natural phenomenon of the ‘northern lights,’ or aurora borealis. Artist Daan Roosegaarde made use of the area’s foggy conditions to reflect beams of blue Led lights to raise awareness about the Dutch waterworks that keep the country from being inundated with water.

Rainbow Tunnels Mimic Movement of Nearby Water

light art rainbow tunnels 1

light art rainbow tunnels 2

Another light-based installation in the Netherlands reminds visitors that without the modern interventions that are in place, the Netherlands would be underwater. These two tunnels linking a newly developed area of Zutphen to the historic city center were transformed by Herman Kuijer, their rainbow hues slowly shifting in time with the movement of nearby water.

Enormous Light & String Installation in Boston
light art string boston

light art string boston 2

Barely visible during the day and illuminated at night, one hundred miles of twine suspended above the city of Boston aims to “visually knit together the fabric of the city with art.” Artist Janet Echelman tied over 500,000 knots to create the 600-foot-wide installation, which undulates irregularly in the wind.

Stellar Caves: 3D Thread Drawings

light art stellar caves

light art stellar caves 2

Artist Julien Salaud coats thread with UV paint so it glows under ultraviolet light, and then weaves it into incredibly intricate three-dimensional drawings that occupy entire architectural spaces. The ‘Stellar Cave’ series creates an enchanting environment filled with silhouettes of animals and constellations for a mystical effect.

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Luminous Illusions 14 Interactive Spaces Made Of Light

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Eerily Altered Faces & Spaces: 14 Projection-Mapping Projects

07 Sep

[ By Steph in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

projection mapping gas tank 1

The lines between three-dimensional objects and digital creations blur as projections alter architecture, sound stages and even human figures in real time. These projection mapping projects create an interplay between real and virtual space, often combining cutting-edge technology with dance and performance art

Hakanai: Dancer in a Projected Geometric Space

projection mapping dancer 1

projection mapping dancer 2

projection mapping dancer 3

projection mapping dancer 4

A solo dancer performs within a surreal cube with projection-mapped walls for ‘Hakanai,’ a performance at BAM’s Fishman Theater. CGI and sensors create a dynamic environment based on the dancer’s movement and location within the cube. Says creator Claire Bardainne of the show, “At the beginning it’s a word. Hakanai. It’s a Japanese old word, which denotes ephemeral, transitory, fragile, and everything you cannot catch. It’s the union of a human being and her dreams. It’s a show made of haikus that try to explain that word.”

Pixel: Surreal Reactive Environments

projection mapping pixel performers 1

projection mapping pixel performers 2

projection mapping pixel performers 3

Pixel is a dance show with eleven dancers interacting in a virtual and ‘living visual’ environment aiming to combine “energy and poetry, fiction and technical achievement, hip hop and circus.” Created by the same people responsible for ‘Hakanai,’ it also invokes a bizarrely responsive environment with surfaces that undulate beneath the dancers’ bodies.

320° Licht: Light in a Reclaimed Gas Tank

projection mapping gas tank 4

projection mapping gas tank 3

projection mapping gas tank 2

Using the cathedral-like space within the disused Gasometer Oberhausen to its fullest advantage, this interactive installation creates new worlds within the 20,000 square meters available. “This experience is based on the vastness of the Gasometer. We tried to work with that expression to make the space bigger and smaller, to deform it and to change its surface over and over while not exaggerating and overwriting the original effect of the room.”

OMOTE: Real Time Face Hacking

projection mapping omote 1

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projection mapping omote 3

projection mapping omote 4

A designer, a makeup artist and a digital image engineer came together to create ‘OMOTE,’ an eerie project projecting hundreds of different images onto the faces of live actors in real-time, continuously re-writing their appearances.

Projection-Mapped Music Video for ‘Save Me’ by Irma

projection mapping irma

projection mapping irma 2

Seven digital projectors change the environment around singer Irma on a single soundstage in the video for her song ‘Save Me.’ The process required Irma and her 20 young dancers to perform choreography perfectly in sync with the videotaping content.

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Eerily Altered Faces Spaces 14 Projection Mapping Projects

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Smart Style for Small Spaces: 12 Compact Sets & Modules

31 Aug

[ By Steph in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

compact apartment accordion shelves

City dwellers are making do with smaller and smaller spaces these days, but that doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice style and function. From bathroom fittings that clamp onto a towel bar to luggage-like portable kitchens and even furniture that folds down as small as a notebook, these 12 clever designs for compact spaces make the most of the limited square footage that tiny apartments have to offer.

Bathroom in a Box

compact apartment bathroom in a box

compact apartment bathroom in a box 2

Inspired by the cabins on ships, this wooden all-in-one bathroom design looks like a wardrobe when it’s closed, but opens to reveal a sink, mirror, towel holders, drawers and shelves for all of your toiletries. It’s small enough to fit inside most standard bathrooms, so the only other items you need are a toilet and shower.

Simplify: Flexible Bathroom Fittings

compact apartment bathroom set 2

compact apartmetn bathroom set

A space-saving set that’s easy to adapt to virtually any existing bathroom, the ‘Simplify’ set by Groupworks slots small accessories onto a special towel bar to keep them up out of the way. There’s a soap dish, a vessel for small items like rings, and a larger box that can hold toothbrushes and combs.

Make the Most of Balcony Space

compact apartments balcony set

compact apartments balcony set 2 compact apartments balcony set 3

Even apartment dwellers who are lucky enough to get access to a balcony usually don’t have enough space for tables and chairs, planters and clothes drying racks all at once. The ’Sigh’ set by Spanish designer Pola Clapés is made specifically for such small outdoor spaces and includes tables in three sizes, a three-tier hanging planter and a clothesline, all of which easily hook onto a standard railing.

Luggage-Like Modular Kitchen Set

compact apartment modular kitchen

compact apartment modular kitchen 2

Literally any space with plumbing and a bathroom can become a studio apartment with the addition of the ‘Gali’ module by designer Ana Arana, which makes most basic kitchen functions portable. Four luggage-like modules come together to offer an induction cooktop, refrigerator, sink, drawers and a combination prep/dining table. The idea is that single people who do minimal cooking can just take their kitchen with them from one living space to another, and don’t have to sacrifice precious square footage for functions they don’t need.

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Smart Style For Small Spaces 12 Compact Sets Modules

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X-Ray Urbanism: Laser Scans Record & Reveal Sub-City Spaces

12 Aug

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]

scan 3d london underground

Produced from over 200 laser scans, this remarkable 3D representation covers surface features as well as subterranean spaces of it’s London subject, captured and stored as a series of over 10 billion points. This data-rich compositing process has been called everything from spatial scanning to volumetric photography, but the goal is simple: capturing all dimensions of the subject matter in digital space. And as the cost of the requisite technologies continues to drop, it may not be long before lidar (laser + radar) scanners become commercial household products or even smartphone features.

scanlab subeterranean mail rail

The duo behind ScanLabs has done remarkable projects around the world, both artistic and documentary in nature, but their work with Mail Rail illustrates the near limitless potential of the technologies they employ. Using scanner that sent out millions of laser light bursts per second, they have generated a ground-piercing, interactive rendering that is ahead of its time. Static views and videos do not do their captures justice, which may someday be best experience via virtual reality or in some other format yet unimagined.

scanlab tube details

scanlab volumentric photography rendering

Matthew Shaw and William Trossell were commissioned to help document The London Post Office Railway by the British Postal Museum & Archive before a section is converted into an underground ride. The nearly 100-year-old and 23-mile-long LPOR, or ‘Mail Rail’ for short, transported millions of pieces of daily mail beneath the city at its peak. Before a massive revamp changes this subterranean landscape forever, stakeholders wanted a method for preserving all elements of the existing spaces.

scanlab seen from below

As Geoff Manaugh summarizes this novel approach to spatialization, “Their 3D point clouds afford a whole new form of representation, a kind of volumetric photography that cuts through streets and walls to reveal the full spatial nature of the places on display.”

scanlab forest view

ScanLab has engaged in many other projects as well, including augmented archeology at concentration camps and digital preservation of D-Day landing sites. Some, however, are simply experimental, designed to push the limits and explore ways to hack the technologies they use. The company has done everything from generating surrealistic renderings of forests to scanning clouds and mist simply to see what will come out the other side of the process. They have even snuck into famous works of architecture and surreptitiously scanned buildings, then recreating them in perfect detail with 3D printers or CNC routers. Regardless of the short-term applications, the key is the long-term data storage – the information being preserved today may be redeployed in the future in ways not yet envisioned.

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Tiny Apartment Tricks: 13 Ideas for Ultra-Compact Spaces

16 Apr

[ By Steph in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

tiny apartment hammock 2

If you want to live in a tiny apartment without murdering your significant other or feeling like your home is a jail cell, you might want to employ a few of these clever small-space tricks, like roll-away closets, double-duty room dividers and multi-level built-ins. These organization ideas include everything from IKEA hacks to full-on remodels and even a hammock that takes up the entire second level of a studio space.

How to Fit An Apartment Into 182 Square Feet
tiny apartments 182 square feet 2

Tiny Apartments 182 square feet 1

tiny apartments 182 square feet 3

How do you cram an entire apartment worth of stuff, including two bicycles, into a 182-square-foot basement – making it comfortable enough for a 6’2” occupant? Engineer Steve Sauer took inspiration from boats when he designed the layout for his personal space, noting that the most important aspect of making it work is ensuring that everything has its place. Sauer split the space vertically in thirds to create a seated lounge area, an office and a lofted bedroom.

Studio with a Crawl-In Library

tiny apartments library

crawl in library

crawl in library 2

Think you don’t have room for a library in your apartment? This imaginative remodel shows that pretty much anything is possible, even when you’re living in 240 square feet. Inspired by the cabinetry of furniture maker George Nakashima, the wood-paneled addition is built over the kitchen and includes a crawl-in, cubby-like library beside the bed.

Bed Nooks, Built-Ins and a Second-Floor Hammock

tiny apartment hammock 2

tiny apartment hammock 1

tiny apartment hammock 3

Two students designed this 33-square-meter apartment to be as functional as possible with a few fun and unexpected tricks: a series of rolling modules in the living space that can be rolled together or apart to create custom couches, lounge areas or beds, and a hammock stretching across the space leading to the awkwardly shaped upper level. The slanted ceiling didn’t leave much room for furniture, so the hammock makes the space usable.

Lego-Like Tetran Cubes

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tiny apartments tetran cubes 2

tiny apartments tetran cubes 1

Put your living space together like a set of Lego blocks, assembling just the right shapes to fit your home and lifestyle, with modules by Tetran. These storage cubes can be stacked and assembled in all sorts of ways to form the basis of couches, beds, side tables, desks, bookcases and practically any other kind of furniture you need.

Bed Stows Away Under the Kitchen Floor

tiny apartment roll away bed 3

Architects Marc Baillargeon and Julie Nabucet collaborated to convert what was once the master bedroom of a larger living space into a micro-apartment measuring just 130 square feet. The kitchen is elevated onto a platform that hides a roll-away bed, which can be partially pulled out for use as a couch. A coffee table hides under a counter when not in use, and the steps double as storage.

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Home Room: Plug-and-Play Modules Make Instant Living Spaces

17 Feb

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

cubitat bed pull out

Resembling a house turned inside out, the Cubitat is a hybrid architectural and interior design prototype designed to be a modular all-in-one solution that can turn any empty space into your new home on demand.

cubitat interior architecture hyrbid

In essence, it takes the idea of a mobile kitchen island and expands the concept to include everything you need to live, containing a bathroom inside and featuring an array of furniture and fixtures on its exterior.

cubitat bathroom interior design

Certain novel applications seem particularly promising, like quickly upgrading old condo spaces or converting open-plan warehouses, factories or schools, for instance, into instant apartments.

cubitat shower storage space

A pullout bed on one side slides open while panels above reveal a series of shelves, including one that can be fitted with television. A sink and stove, some storage and other kitchen amenities can be found on an adjacent face of the cube. Individual pieces and parts can be swapped out over time as needs change or things wear out as well.

cubic habitat module

A collaboration between Luca Nichetto and Urban Capital, the design is made to be as portable as possible, constructed from prefabricated parts but also made to be assembled and deconstructed with ease. It features durable laminate surfaces on the outside and warm wood accents within (all materials could, of course, also be customized by buyers).

cubitat mobile home kitchen

From the designers: “Fitting the bathroom in was our biggest challenge. The only way to approach it was to start with that, and place everything else around it. There’s no reason why it couldn’t be built with that as the central piece, with smaller cubes plugged in around it, like a giant Rubick’s cube. Just plug in all your ’colours’ once the middle is in place.”

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Invasions: Clouds of White Balloons Take Over Public Spaces

10 Feb

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

invasion 1

Profusions of white balloons seem to explode from the interiors of houses, squeeze through basketball hoops and hover between the trees in the forest like odd bulbous clouds in this series by artist Charles Pétillon. ‘Invasions’ gives these normally free-floating objects a life of their own with a swarm-like presence within architectural spaces and landscapes.

invasion 3

Each photograph depicts a particular metaphor, making a statement on various topics. ‘Family Memories,’ top, shows the white balloons “symbolizing childhood naivety,” while ‘Play Station 2′ aims to “question the viewer on the uses of games in all forms, their evolution and their influence in society.”

invasion 5

The forest scene, entitled ‘Mutation 2,’ mimics the molecular structure of DNA, placing it in a picturesque environment to symbolize the effect of humans on natural spaces, with our tendency to modify everything to our own uses.

invasion 2

invasion 4

‘Invasions’ brings the balloons to retrofuturistic architecture designed in the late ’70s and early ’80s to examine our visions of the future and how quickly they become obsolete. ‘CO2′ represents the scars we leave upon the world with our lust for objects like cars. The artist sees the balloons as a way to visualize each of these ways in which we thoughtlessly proliferate, invade or evolve.

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