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Your Neighbor Darth Vader: Doorbells for Fictional Characters

24 Jan

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

the ringer 1

Only particularly perceptive passersby would even notice that they’re standing outside the residences of Marty McFly, Luke Skywalker and the Teenage Ninja Turtles, as labeled on doorbells and mailboxes on the streets of Paris. These subtle guerrilla installations by street artist Le Sonneur will make you wonder what could happen if you actually rang the bell.

the ringer 2

‘The Ringer’ is presented in four sets. The first, Everyday Heroes, makes icons like Superman, Batman, Doc Brown, Darth Vader and Han Solo seem more accessible, as if they might actually appear at any moment if you press the button.

the ringer 3

the ringer 4

But you might not want to come face-to-face with most of the names featured in the Neighbors Charming series, which include Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, Alex Delarge from A Clockwork Orange and Hannibal Lecter.

the ringer 5

the ringer 6

The Lovers series makes these fictional residents overly familiar with labels like ‘My love,’ ‘Prince Charming’ and ‘A pretty girl’ while the Boxes series takes the opposite tact with complete anonymity, telling you only that ‘A man’ or ‘A stranger’ live inside.

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

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Lost & Found: Underwater Ghost Town Resurfaces 30 Years Later

23 Jan

[ By WebUrbanist in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

abandoned village from above

Like a corroded time capsule, this submerged village has risen from the depths after being flooded decades ago when the local lake broke its banks and left Epecuen under dozens of feet of water. In 1985, a rare weather pattern broke a nearby dam first, then the dike protecting the town, quickly making most of it uninhabitable. Today, long-term changes in the regional climate have brought down the overall level of the lake, resurfacing the town.

sunken village resurfaced underwater

Giving a tour of his devastated hometown, the man in the award-winning video above , Pablo Novak, claims his father predicted the return of water to the areas of land on which people were building back in the 1980s – at its peak, the place drew in over 25,000 tourists a year. Today, Pablo is the only remaining resident, slowly exploring the remnants now revealed as waters around the lake have lowered.

villa epecun from above

underwater village before after

Located near Buenos Aires, it is hard to imagine that this place – with a permanent population of 5,000 at one point – was once a busy destination from tourists around the country and even the world, renowned for its high-salinity lake in which people came to bathe. This salt content is largely responsible for the high levels of damage done to the town’s buildings and infrastructure during its years underwater.

underwater deserted abandoned buildings

underwater village ruins

slaughterhouse abandoned town

First, the fields began to flood, driving our narrator’s cows, horses, pigs sheep and goats back further onto land and forcing Pablo to buy a family home in a neighboring village. Now 85 years old, he always assumed the town would be rebuilt, but that has never come to pass.

sunken town ruins

sunken village washed roots

$abandoned underwater town resufraced$

Since the waters have receded, Pablo now tries to appreciate the solitude left in its wake and gives tours to those who come these days not to soak but to see the once-sunken village now risen once again to the surface. Images by Sam Verhaert, Jonathan Evans and Pablo Gonzales via Inhabitat.

[ By WebUrbanist in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Face Hacking: Transformations via 3D Projection Mapping

22 Jan

[ By Steph in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

face hacking 1

Actors gain access to thousands of different faces instantaneously as their facial topography is scanned and altered in real-time using 3D projection mapping. Japanese artist Nobumichi Asai collaborates with makeup artist Hiroto Kuwahara and French digital image engineer Paul Lacroix to create transfixing transformations that track the actor’s movements to keep their ‘new faces’ in place.

Screen shot 2015-01-21 at 7.50.42 PM

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The Facehacking and Omote projects consist of real-time face tracking and projection mapping to ‘re-write’ the actors’ faces in a virtually endless variety of ways. As the actors turn their heads, animations are projected onto the surface of their skin.

Screen shot 2015-01-21 at 7.53.14 PM

Screen shot 2015-01-21 at 7.54.30 PM

facehacking 2

The effect can be quite creepy, especially when these new characters open their eyes as if they have suddenly inhabited the bodies of their hosts. The result looks like especially detailed stage makeup, but changes on demand. While it could certainly be used in film, it’s especially intriguing as a possible element of live performances.

[ By Steph in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

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Seaside Stunners: 14 Cliff-Clinging Houses with Crazy Views

22 Jan

[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

cliff houses mirage 1

Dangling precariously from cliffs, tumbling down hillsides or jutting out over the water, these beautiful seaside homes feature mirage-like rooftop infinity pools, diving boards that lead nowhere, terrifying drop-offs and terraces that seem to float.

Mirage House with Rooftop Infinity Pool

cliff houses mirage 2

cliff houses mirage 3

The glimmer of water on the rooftop of this incredible home on Greece’s Tinos Island seems like a mirage at first, encompassing the entirety of a flat, rectangular surface. Come closer and you’ll see that it’s not a mirage at all – it’s an infinity pool on the cantilevered rooftop of a modern home by Kois Associated Architects. The home was designed to blend into the Aegean Sea so as to be virtually undetectable, with the visible parts of the front of the home mimicking the surrounding stone.

Dangling Modular Cliff House

cliff house extreme 2

All that can be seen of this five-level modular home from ground level is the very top portion. The rest dangles in rather terrifying fashion over the roiling water, producing an effect that’s worthy of a Bond villain. Cliff House by Modscape Concept makes use of a challenging plot of land on a rocky portion of the southwest coast of Victoria in Australia. Each floor has glass walls for maximum views, and the whole thing is anchored to the cliff with engineered steel pins.

Actually Affordable Elevated Ocean Views

cliff houses mackay 1

cliff houses mackay 2

It’s rare that elevated homes with stunning views of the sea are actually affordable, but Canadian firm Mackay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects has created a modest timber box that juts out over a bedrock cliff to make it seem as if it’s floating. Clad in wood to blend into the environment, the 960-square-foot cabin has a galvanized steel frame skeleton and diagonal planks supported by joists to eliminate the need for interior cladding.

Retrofuturistic Mushroom House

cliff houses mushroom 1

cliff houses mushroom 2

Sam Bell’s retrofuturistic Mushroom House is tucked away next to the Pacific Ocean in the cliffs of San Diego, its round design offering panoramic views, a concrete sea wall and elevated living area keeping it from being inundated by the waves. And if you’re wondering just how the owners even access it, there’s an elevator stretching up the cliff face to a larger home above.

Dizzying Drop-Off House Design

What looks like a diving board jutting out of the end of this concrete house in Japan by KA Architects leads nowhere but a cascading rocky cliff, so you probably don’t want to actually jump. The all-white home is all about sharp lines and stark contrast, with no transition between the street and the outdoor room that can be seen on the top level.

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Seaside Stunners 14 Cliff Clinging Houses With Crazy Views

[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Made in China: World’s First 3D-Printed Apartment Complex

21 Jan

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

3d printed apartment complex

The same company known for printing 10 home in less than 24 hours is back with a new record-breaking construction project: a multistory apartment structure built using recycled building materials and fast-hardening cement, paired with an ornate villa assembled using the same technologies.

3d printed villa exterior

Construction waste forms the aggregate base of WinSun‘s quick-drying concrete, while a huge 3D printer array is responsible for building the large prefabricated parts that are then built on site with steel reinforcement and regulation insulation.

3d printing extrusion interior

In a twist that will able to those who enjoy truth in architecture, much of the extrusion process is evident on the interior and exterior walls of the villa component as well.

3d printing apartment

Drawing on CAD files, the printer lays out the pattern like a cake decorator squeezes out frosting, creating space-frame gaps for insulating materials, plumbing and electrical – a high-tech process to quickly create a pair of low- and mid-rise buildings.

3d printed villa design

According to WinSun, “This process saves between 30 and 60 percent of construction waste, and can decrease production times by between 50 and 70 percent, and labour costs by between 50 and 80 percent. In all, the villa costs around $ 161,000 to build.”

3d printed walls demo copy

While the company has yet to reveal just how big of a structure they can build using their existing equipment, their future goals include larger buildings, perhaps even prefab skyscrapers, and possibly bridges or other infrastructure. From 3Ders, “Today’s press conference attracted more than 300 building industry experts, investment bankers as well as media reporters. Ma Yi He, CEO of WinSun explained: the company’s success is due to their unique and leading techniques. First is their exclusive 3D printing ‘ink,’ which is a mixture of recycled construction waste, glass fiber, steel, cement and special additives. According to Ma, waste from recycling construction and mine rest produces a lot of carbon emissions, but with 3D printing, the company has turned that waste into brand new building materials. This process also means that construction workers are at less risk of coming into contact with hazardous materials or work environments.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Open Source Homes: 6 Free Plans Put High-End Design in Reach

21 Jan

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

free open source houseboat

Rendering luxury-class house designs accessible to the public is just part of the beauty of Paperhouses, an endeavor to raise the quality of free house plans and and explore the potentials for architecture to be as open as technology can be. As with Wikihouse, anyone is welcome to download and begin construction on any of the uploaded homes without paying an architect fee.

open source houseboat system

The latest submission to Paperhouses is a houseboat by Carl Turner Architects composed of prefab parts and design to move freely in narrow urban waterways and allow for expansion in ever-more-crowded European capitals.

open source modular house

As with other homes in the database, this one is intended to be flexible, able to be adapted to different conditions and clients. While intended to float, the modular construction allows the design to be built on land with equal ease while an adjustable pallet of colors and materials allow it to be individualized by each builder or owner.

open winter cold house

open house private sky

open house urban context

Our Private Sky by Florian Busch Architects is part of the same initiative but approaches modularity through the idea of privacy and views. The primary focus of the structure is upward, while variable windows can be added, moved or removed depending upon its context.

open source modular blocks

open source free plan

open house plan layout

The Module House by Tatiana Bilbao is based on series of same-sized blocks that can be arranged and oriented depending on the layout of a site and desired directions relative to the sun, featuring concrete walls and cantilevers to balance daylight and shade.

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Open Source Homes 6 Free Plans Put High End Design In Reach

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Textscape: 3D-Printed Typography Stretches Up Like City Blocks

20 Jan

[ By Steph in Design & Graphics & Branding. ]

type landscape 1

Like braille for the seeing, this 3D-printed text raises off the page to add an extra dimension of physicality and meaning to its subject matter, the end result resembling a cityscape made of typography. The ‘Textscape’ project by Hongtao Zhou includes actual braille, as well as various languages and alphabets, calligraphies and number systems.

type landscape 2

The intent is to connect the text to its visuality in architecture, landscape, portraits and ‘abstract matters,’ profiling it in a way that can be consumed both literally and intuitively.

type landscape 3

Says the artist, “Printing technology was first created in ancient China to reproduce text using woodblocks, however today’s definition had been widely adopted in 3D printing, an additive process more often to create objects instead of duplicative text.”

type landscape 4

In this project, the text itself retains a legible meaning, while other letter-centric works often focus solely on the beauty of the typography. One example is Jaume Plensa’s monumental typographic sculptures. See 12 more works of typography art.

[ By Steph in Design & Graphics & Branding. ]

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Retro Style Tech: 10 Modern Gadgets with a Nostalgic Look

20 Jan

[ By Steph in Technology & Vintage & Retro. ]

philco pc

If you’re nostalgic for Walkman-equipped jogs, need a desktop computer that fits into a midcentury modern design scheme or just want to gaze lovingly at cassette tapes and reminisce while you’re working, these gadgets will scratch that itch while still providing all the functions you expect from contemporary technology.

CURVED/labs Macintosh-Inspired Computer

retro tech macintosh

This computer by CURVED/LAbs features the same sleek aluminum casing seen on the latest slimline Apple computers, but takes the aesthetics in the other direction – way back to the original Macintosh released in 1984. The computer mimics the original in looks, but features a 11.6-inch touchscreen, SD card slots, speakers, microphones and all of the other modern functions and accessories you’d expect.

Rotary iPhone Dock

retro tech rotary iphone dock

Cast in resin to perfectly replicate vintage rotary phones, this iPhone dock by iRetrofone on Etsy features a spot that fits various generations of iPhones just right. It’ll charge your phone, and the handset is actually usable, so you can pretend like it’s 1985 while chatting, even as you swipe at apps on your screen.

Audio Infuser Stereo & Record Player

It may look like it could be, but designer Todd Kumpf emphasizes of the Audio Infuser 4700 that it’s “not your grandpa’s stereo.” The exterior looks just like retro stereos with its stained wood and brushed aluminum, but in addition to playing records, it’s equipped with a Linux-driven Raspberri Pi that operates as the wifi receiver so the stereo can stream music wirelessly from any mobile device, laptop or desktop computer. It can even stream music from the record player out to other wifi enabled speakers.

Vintage Camera iPhone Dock

vintage camera iphone dock

Sometimes high-tech gadgets just don’t fit in with the aesthetics of your personal space. Anyone with a vintage flair in their interior design might like an iPhone charger that fits in with the decor on their bedside table, like the camera docks created by Etsy shop Laboratorio Altieri.

Gramaphone for iPhone

iphone gramaphone

Take it way back to the early 20th century with an iphone amplifier made to look just like an old gramophone, with a solid walnut dock. It’s available at Restoration Hardware.

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Retro Style Tech 10 Modern Gadgets With A Nostalgic Look

[ By Steph in Technology & Vintage & Retro. ]

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Power Grows on Trees: Wind Energy via Leafy Green Turbines

19 Jan

[ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

urban wind farm designs

Addressing noise and visual pollution associated with wind energy generation in urban contexts, these new trunk-style towers support suspended leaf-shaped turbine housings, hung from organic-looking branches.

energy generating tree design

Inspired by the movement of leaves in the wind, New Wind founder Jérôme Michaud-Larivière developed this project with technology and aesthetics equally in mind, conceiving of the design as part public art and part civic infrastructure.

urban wind tree generator

The technology behind the design is robust, sophisticated and efficient. Even the tiniest gusts of wind (starting at a few miles per hour) will turn the small blades secreted away within each individual leaf making them well-suited to all sorts of city environments. Each blade can rotate and generate power in both directions and thus more versatile. According to New Wind, “With 72 artificial leaves serving as micro-turbines spinning on a vertical axis, the Wind Tree is designed to harness more gentle winds. The developers say this can extend to breezes blowing as slowly as two meters per second, making the turbine useful across more than 280 days of the year. Its power output is calculated at 3.1 kW.”

urban wind turbine tree

A prototype has already been deployed in Paris and the idea is to eventually roll out small pockets (or perhaps: forests) in various public spaces, from gardens and parks to squares and shopping centers. Of course, potential applications in non-urban areas exist as well, particularly as future iterations evolve even greater levels of efficiency.

urban wind tower prototype

Currently, the plan is to power street lamps or energize electric car charging stations. Eventually the hope is to add photovalics to the trunks and branches, adding energy-harvesting capacity in another form to the same structures. Ultimately, these creations may supplant the need for power grids in localized areas like parks where bringing in energy adds more infrastructure that well-placed generators could provide instead. For now, the price tag still seems a bit steep: just over $ 36,000 USD, but that could come down in time as the production process is refined and if sufficient buyers express interest in scaling the strategy.

[ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

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Prism Break: China’s Eye-Soothing Rainbow Road Tunnel

19 Jan

[ By Steve in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

China Rainbow Tunnel 2
A 1,000-foot long rainbow underpass in Zhengzhou, China is designed to help drivers’ eyes adjust from daylight to a artificial lighting and back again.

China Rainbow Tunnel 2b

China Rainbow Tunnel 2a

Break out the Skittles, it’s time to drive the rainbow! Well, almost… the Cheng Avenue rainbow tunnel isn’t quite ready for prime time though it’s already cost Zhongmou County a pot of gold – about 100,000,000 yuan (about $ 16 million) and counting.

China Rainbow Tunnel 6

China Rainbow Tunnel 8

China Rainbow Tunnel 8b

The tunnel (actually a shallow underpass) is located about 50 meters north of the S223 Provincial Highway intersection just outside Zhengzhou in China’s east-central Henan province. The area around the project appears rather dry and drab; the soil radiating the pale yellow hue of dust blown eastward by strong winds scouring the Gobi Desert.

China Rainbow Tunnel 9a

China Rainbow Tunnel 9

China Rainbow Tunnel 7b

China Rainbow Tunnel 7a

If civic planning authorities intended to alleviate the visual monotony by injecting some color into the landscape, a 400-meter (1,312 ft) long “rainbow tunnel” is one way to do it. No matter if some bureaucratic committee can’t decide on a single hue: the rainbow tunnel has got ‘em all!

360Photography

Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

Your Neighbor Darth Vader: Doorbells for Fictional Characters

Lost & Found: Underwater Ghost Town Resurfaces 30 Years Later

Face Hacking: Transformations via 3D Projection Mapping

Seaside Stunners: 14 Cliff-Clinging Houses with Crazy Views

Mirage House with Rooftop Infinity Pool

Dangling Modular Cliff House

Actually Affordable Elevated Ocean Views

Retrofuturistic Mushroom House

Dizzying Drop-Off House Design

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Seaside Stunners 14 Cliff Clinging Houses With Crazy Views

Made in China: World’s First 3D-Printed Apartment Complex

Open Source Homes: 6 Free Plans Put High-End Design in Reach

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Open Source Homes 6 Free Plans Put High End Design In Reach

Textscape: 3D-Printed Typography Stretches Up Like City Blocks

Retro Style Tech: 10 Modern Gadgets with a Nostalgic Look

CURVED/labs Macintosh-Inspired Computer

Rotary iPhone Dock

Audio Infuser Stereo & Record Player

Vintage Camera iPhone Dock

Gramaphone for iPhone

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Retro Style Tech 10 Modern Gadgets With A Nostalgic Look

Power Grows on Trees: Wind Energy via Leafy Green Turbines

Prism Break: China’s Eye-Soothing Rainbow Road Tunnel

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Prism Break Chinas Eye Soothing Rainbow Road Tunnel

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Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

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Darth Vader Goes Fishing: Unwanted Paintings, Reimagined

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Unbelievable Illusions: Adding a 3rd Dimension to 2D Surface

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Chalkboarding: Applied Art of White & Black Typography

Temporary Legacy: Large-Scale Ice Typography Installations

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