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Bracket All the Things: Reclaimed-Surface Tables & Shelves

16 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

floyd shelf gif

What started as a set of infinitely-flexible table legs has now spawned a second but equally stellar sibling design: a series of wall brackets that let you turn scraps into shelving and switch out surfaces whenever you find something neat and new (or old).

floyd table bracket set

Made in Detroit, the Floyd Leg system allows users to choose what kind of material they want to create anything from desks to dining, coffee, side or even ping-pong tables.

floyd sitting chair table

floyd wall desk use

The owner simply splices the desired surface between the colorful and variable-height brackets, be it reused lumber and scraps or new off-the-shelf boards – as a bonus, the bracket system means the surfaces can also be uneven.

floyd shelf bracket colors

Using the same design strategies, the Floyd Shelf mounts to walls and will let you swap in and out whatever you want to use With its industrial aesthetic, the adjustable bracket set lends itself particularly well to rugged or worn found materials.

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floyd table closeup detail

“I was moving frequently between cities and constantly disposing of furniture. The legs were born out of this circumstance and the idea also resonated with our friends. We decided to launch a Kickstarter to gauge what the public reaction would be to the legs,” says Kyle Hoff, creator and co-founder. With an initial goal of producing 100 sets, the pair raised funds for an initial run of over 1,500 sets and shipped to 33 countries.

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“Backers sent in photographs of their creations. It was exciting to see people employ the legs in ways that reflected their own living spaces,” says Alex O’Dell, co-founder. The Floyd Legs are produced in Detroit utilizing the existing manufacturing infrastructure. “We appreciate having our production facility only a 10 minute drive away. It allows us to more close- ly integrate the manufacturing and design processes, while also ensuring the quality of our prod-ucts,” says Hoff.

floyd shelf

The Floyd Leg serves as a pilot piece for a greater line of products that the company will be launching in September 2014. “We’re committed to producing simple, flexible furniture made for denser living in cities. High design furniture is inaccessible and mass produced often means disposable,” says O’Dell. “One of our goals is to really rethink the way people buy and engage with furniture—from the purchasing experience to shipping and assembly,” says Hoff.

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

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Bike in a Backpack Folds Up Tiny & Weighs Just 11 Pounds

15 Nov

[ By Steph in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

bike in a backpack 1

Dubbed ‘Impossible’ for its ability to pull off the seemingly unreachable goal of folding down so tiny it can fit inside a backpack, this electric bicycle can be carried virtually anywhere. The design is based around circles instead of a single horizontal girder to spread weight equally across the frame. While there are plenty of folding bike designs, few of them are quite as small and lightweight as the Impossible, which weighs in at less than 11 pounds.

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The seat and handlebars are set at similar heights so the front and rear wheels do equal work to bear the weight of the rider. Nearly the entire bike is made of carbon fiber to keep the weight as low as it can be, with a steel connecting box in the center of the frame ensuring that it’s strong enough to withstand everyday use and carry a rider weighing up to 180 pounds.

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The riding saddle doubles as the carrying case, keeping the electric charger clean, dry and ready for use. The bike will ultimately be up to 60% customizable with options like colored removable covers. Folding and unfolding the Impossible is achieved in four simple steps. The bike features ten 3.6V batteries and a DC motor enabling it to travel up to 12.4 mph for 45 minutes, or at normal speed for up to 15.6 miles per charge. No pedaling necessary – the bike does all the work.

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Beijing-based Impossible Technology is currently raising funds for the project on Kickstarter, with backers pledging $ 430 CAD or more receiving an all-white Impossible bike from the first production run. Additional designs and accessories will be available in the future.

[ By Steph in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

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Starry Night: Glow-in-the-Dark Bike Path Inspired by Van Gogh

14 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

night cycling visibility green

Opening last night in Nuenen, Holland, this illuminated cycling surface is free to the public, storing sunlight during the day to create stellar patterns to guide riders after dark. First of its kind on the planet, the swirling shapes of this path are recognizably inspired by one of Vincent van Gogh’s most famous paintings.

night path now open

night cycling path glowing

Developed by Dutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde in conjunction with infrastructure specialists from Heijmans, this pathway is a potential prototype for future cycling paths using smart paint technologies as well as an extension of an ongoing series of glow-in-the-dark highway projects and other urban improvement proposals in the works around the world.

night path standing view

night cycling rider shot

Part practical lighting scheme and part installation art project, the path is located along a stretch of a bicycling route passing through Noord Brabant, the region from which van Gogh originated, which in turn connects various notable sites from his personal life and work. Its creator explains: “I wanted to create a place that people will experience in a special way, the technical combined with experience – that’s what techno-poetry means to me.”

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night path holland biking

night biking path lights

The semi-abstract pixelated swirls are a high-tech reference to Starry Night, painted in 1889 and depicting an idealized view from the east-facing window of the painter’s asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (now part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City).

night cycling aerial view

starry night inspired path

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night path cyclist picture

Studio Roosegaarde is known for “tactile high-tech environments in which viewer and space become one. This connection, established between ideology and technology, results in what Roosegaarde calls ‘techno-poetry’. His often interactive work connects people with art and people with people.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

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Well Rounded: 7 Animal Murals on Abandoned Buildings in Africa

13 Nov

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

roa sea creature art

Using the unique regional shapes of structures to his advantage, street artist ROA has created a series of large-scale works as part of a neighborhood art project in Djerba, Tunisia, drawing 150 artists from 30 countries.

roa murals djerbahood

roa murals abandoned buildings

While a number of impressive and well-known painters and muralists contributed to Djerbahood, ROA’s work is particularly site-specific, drawing on the architectural details (like domes) present in the regional landscape, mainly in deserted buildings.

roa north africa graffiti

roa animal skull dome

roa abandoned building lizard

The artist’s signature creatures, as usual, vary with the locality as well – in this case his work features a combination of desert and sea animals, reflecting the water-surrounded space as well as the dry land of the area.

roa skull mural design

The largest island in North Africa, Djerba has become a true open-air museum, contrasting authenticity and tradition with a space for expression by artists of various cultures. This project was made in part to appeal to tourists, aiming to draw in additional visitors from Europe and around the world. Additional work by ROA includes urban street animals in Mexico and Panama City as well as London.

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

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Scalpel Cities: Urban Landscapes Made of Surgical Tools

13 Nov

[ By Steph in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

scalpel landscapes 1

Bird’s-eye views of cities around the world, from Paris to Hong Kong, are visualized in the form of surgical tools like scalpels and skin graft blades against glossy black surfaces by famed British artist Damien Hirst. The ‘Black Scalpel Cityscapes’ series continues the artist’s method of using sharp metal objects to create complex compositions in stark monochrome.

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The depiction of these cities (many of which are sites of recent conflict) from an aerial viewpoint references the ‘all-seeing eye’ of constant surveillance in the modern era. Look closely and among the blades and surgical tools you’ll also see small items that relate to each individual city, like cheap silver keychains of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and even silvery condom wrappers.

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In a video interview with White Cube, Hirst explains that he began working with scalpel blades “because they’ve got kind of a nice and nasty feel to them.” Flying over Milton Keynes, a town in England, he noted how modern and unnatural the landscape looked, sparking the idea for the series. In addition to cities like Baghdad, which have a symbolic connection to the medium used, Hirst depicted cities that are personally meaningful to him.

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“I’ve done one of the Vatican where I’ve used lots of religious symbols. So I think you try to make them into a portrait, but always from a distance they’re going to look totally like a photograph.”

[ By Steph in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

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Next-Level Pop-Ups: 15 Creative Sidewalk Shops & Services

12 Nov

[ By Steph in Drawing & Digital. ]

pop up theater main

Whether you’re in need of some quick sidewalk psychotherapy, a spa treatment in a subway station, sandwich delivery via parachute or a bowl of sugary cereal with a side of technology-dependence guilt, there’s a pop-up concept waiting for you. These 13 off-the-wall pop-up shops offer some of the most unusual goods and services that you could ever expect to find in your path while going about your day in the city.

Pop-Up Psychotherapy

Need to talk to someone about your problems? You’d be lucky to pass by the Unhappiness Repairer in the street, a pop-up psychotherapy stand by artist Silvia Neretti that explores the connection between happiness, psychotherapy and design. Neretti asks – Is it possible to design happiness? Sure, she’s not a licensed therapist, but the idea of having such easy access to mental health services is an intriguing one.

Pop-Up Spa on a Subway Platform

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The typically unpleasant sticky heat of the 34th Street subway platform in New York City was turned into a positive with The Subway Spa, a prank by performance group Improv Everywhere. Figuring you might as well enjoy yourself if you’re going to get sweaty, the group set up a steam room, massage tables, sauna benches and table proffering fluffy white towels. Most of the people who took off their clothes to don robes and relax on the platform benches were actors, but a few citizens actually joined in.

Remote Controlled Pop-Up Shop

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The world’s smallest pop-up shop is no more than a tiny box with a red awning reading ‘SHOP’ on top, zipping around the streets of Tokyo all on its own. The shop is built on a tiny remote-controlled car that zooms up to passersby to hawk British designer Duncan Shotton’s tiny push-pin figures. That’s certainly one way to get your products noticed.

Pop-Up Sandwich Shop Delivers Food via Parachute

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A pop-up sandwich shop called Jafflechutes delivers piping hot sandwiches from the 7th floor of an apartment building to the street below using parachutes. Customers pay via PayPal and wait on an ‘X’ marked on the street until their sandwich comes floating down.

Pop-Up Store Tool Kit to Transform Vacant Lots

Got an idea for your own pop-up? Made in the Lower East Side (miLES), a group promoting urban revitalization, offers a Storefront Transformer that makes it easy for anyone who wants to open their own shop in a vacant storefront with plug-and-play shelving, partitions, tables, seats, lighting, wifi, power strips and more. miLES also facilitates the short-term rental of these vacant spaces.

Stairway Cinema: Pop-Up Sidewalk Theater

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Duck under a red awning and take in a film with ‘Stairway Cinema,’ a mobile pop-up movie theater by experimental design collective OH.NO.SUMO. Fitted with a movie screen and a projector, the theater can be grafted onto the steps of vacant buildings. The designers created it in response to the lack of interaction seen between huddles of people waiting at bus stops and outside launderettes on the corner.

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Next Level Pop Ups 15 Creative Sidewalk Shops Services

[ By Steph in Drawing & Digital. ]

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Split & Slide: Modular Dividers Make 3 Rooms in Single Space

12 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

modular room system design

Complimenting a flexible open area on one side of this apartment are a series of suspended separators that provide storage but also move along rails, opening up a variety of additional functions on demand. If the system looks familiar: it is based on the sliding stacks often used to save space in libraries.

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Designed by PKMN Architectures in Madrid, Spain (with images by Javier de Paz García), this cost-and-space-saving solution employs relatively cheap materials including engineered particle wood boards (composed of glued wooden flakes) and a ceiling-hung system of industrial rails.

modular living room space

modular room shuffle sliding

modular room system

modular osb oriented board

The three suspended sections offer shelves and cabinets and variously create a kitchen, dining or living room depending on how they are configured and positioned relative to the room and one another.

modular murphy folding bed

modular living room blackboard

modular apartment sliding rooms

modular cooking kitchen closeup

Fold-down tables and a fold-out bed are able to be accessed as needed while the walls are variously occupied by storage, openings or unique decorative, fun and functional touches (like a blackboard for sketching ideas during meetings).

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Sliding panels can also provide privacy when desired, separating the more open space from the modular-room side of the apartment. The fixed-in-place spaces are reserved for open living and dining areas as well as a bathroom in one corner of the unit.

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

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Arcatecture: 12 Cat Homes Created by Architects for Charity

12 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

space international cat home

Raising funds for an feline-focused area non-profit group, these architect-designed cat dwellings span the spectrum from adventure spaces to cozy nooks for your furry friends to explore or sleep within. If you also enjoy supporting canines, it is well worth checking out these 14 architect-designed doghouses likewise built to support a charitable purpose.

hok cat house

dsh architecture cat house

lehrer architects cat home

With proceeds going to FixNation, the Giving Shelter fundraiser (with photographer Grey Crawford) drew an impressive array for architects, firms and designers, including RNL, NAC, DSH, HOK, Wolcott, Lehrer, Space Int’l, Formation Association, Perkins + Wil, and Standard Architecture and Design.

standard architecture cat house

standard architecture modular concrete wood

With tunnels, tubes, ramps and platforms from wood, metal, fake grass and the materials used to make scratching posts, participating designers showed off the huge range of possibilities for catering to domestic cats, in some cases integrating elements of human functionality (with pieces doubling as furniture) as well.

nace cat house design

nace cat tunnel homes

Their robust materiality and construction is intended to make the shelters able to be placed outdoors. More photos from the live benefit can be found via Fixnation and Flickr.

rnl architecture cat house

perkins wil cat house

Architects for Animals “Giving Shelter” is an awareness raising initiative. “The one-night event in Los Angeles benefitted FixNation, a 501c3 organization dedicated to helping community cats in need. Participating architectural design firms designed, built, and donated creative outdoor shelters.”

formation association cat house

formation association cat bench

“These shelters were on display to the public at a one night event at the Herman Miller Showroom in Culver City. FixNation and Architects for Animals offered this unique exhibit and cocktail reception that combines the love of architecture with the love of animals. Attendees enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and wine from the open bar while viewing the original shelter designs.”

space international dynamic cat

space international cat seat

More on the non-profit benefiting from the series: “FixNation is a non-profit organization committed to cats, and to supporting Trap-Neuter-Return. We provide a free, full-time spay/neuter clinic for cats with two full-time veterinarians capable of sterilizing as many as 100 cats per day. We also provide low-cost, affordable spay/neuter services for tame pet cats. We loan out humane traps and equipment to the public free of charge, provide training on how to humanely trap feral cats and kittens, and offer guidance and information on long-term care and management for feral colonies. We are located in the heart of the San Fernando Valley and have been operational as a non-profit since 2007.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

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Balance Lamp Forces You to Sacrifice Your Phone for Light

11 Nov

[ By Steph in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

balance lamp 2

Chances are good that if you keep your phone nearby while you’re working, you’re going to be tempted to pick it up every now and then, checking Instagram and sending texts. Get in the habit of doing it compulsively, and you’re sucking away a lot of time that you should probably spend focusing on the tasks at hand. This lamp by designer Weng Xinyu aims to solve that problem by forcing you to give up your phone in order to illuminate your desk.

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Consisting of a balancing lamp pole on a simple wooden tripod, the lamp leans its light source to the desk when it’s turned off. If you want light, you’ll have to insert your phone into the slot on the end of the pole. This turns the light on automatically and balances the lamp to its proper position.

balance lamp 1

Sure, you could cheat and find some other object that fits into the slot so you don’t have to give up your precious smartphone. But as we all heard from authority figures throughout our childhoods, the only person you’d be cheating is yourself.

“Superfluous information is flowing from everywhere,” says Xinyu. “The sense of priority is fading, resulting a precarious Balance between work and amusement, true and virtual life. It is time we ask the question, what do we really want? ‘Balance’ might help us find the inner balance in this information exploding society.”

[ By Steph in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

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Intangible Data in Physical Form: 12 Scientific Sculptures

11 Nov

[ By Steph in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

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Mathematical theorems, the physics of an object moving through space, and intangible scientific data are visualized three-dimensionally and made into works of art in these 12 sculptures and installations.

Kinetic Sculptures Based on Mechanical Waves

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“Inspired in equal parts by math and nature,” Reuben Margolin’s kinetic sculptures use pulleys and motors to recreate the complex movements seen in nature. These mechanical installations capture the crawl of a caterpillar, the movement of waves and other physical phenomena in a way that’s entirely unexpected and beautiful to take in.

‘Cosmos’ Sphere Made of Scientific Data

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If you were to happen upon this sphere while walking in the forest, you couldn’t be blamed for wondering whether you’d discovered an alien spaceship of some sort. But the reality of ‘Cosmos’ is just as interesting: it’s scientific data in three-dimensional form, a record of a year’s worth of carbon dioxide patterns and measurements from the trees of Alice Holt forest in Surrey, England. The grooves on the exterior of the sculpture contain the data, which was collected from a nearby tower.

Interactive Sound Tapestries

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A series of capacitive sensors were applied to suspended fabric using conductive paint for ‘Contours,’ an interactive tapestry installation by creative laboratory Bare Conductive and designers Fabio Antinori and Alicja Pytlewska. As people pass nearby, the sensors gather data about their movements and translate it into ambient sounds, making reference to the relationship between science and the body.

Cell-Inspired Sculpture Made of 1200 Mirrors

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An egg-like sculpture made of 1,200 mirrors hovered in a tree in the city center of Nantes, France, visually representing the creators’ research into cells. French studio Collectif Timée based the sculpture on the Voronoi Diagram in which a mathematical formula creates cells from halfway lines around random space points. As the cells converge, a kaleidoscopic effect is produced.

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Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

Bracket All the Things: Reclaimed-Surface Tables & Shelves

Bike in a Backpack Folds Up Tiny & Weighs Just 11 Pounds

Starry Night: Glow-in-the-Dark Bike Path Inspired by Van Gogh

Well Rounded: 7 Animal Murals on Abandoned Buildings in Africa

Scalpel Cities: Urban Landscapes Made of Surgical Tools