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Hoverboards are Here! Design Floats Above Metal Surfaces

25 Oct

[ By Steph in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

hendo hoverboard main

Twenty-five years after ‘Back to the Future’ convinced an entire generation that we’d soon be able to zoom around the city on wheel-less floating skateboards, it looks like we might finally get our wish: a working hoverboard actually exists. The Hendo Hoverboard, currently blazing past its funding goals on Kickstarter, features four disc-shaped hover engines that create a magnetic field to levitate the board off the ground.

Hendo Hoverboard 4

Hendo Hoverboard 5

Naturally, there’s a catch: it only works on certain metallic surfaces. The creators are currently using non-ferromagnetic conductor sheet metal, but are working on new compounds that could increase performance while minimizing cost. The magnetic field created by the board levitates it an inch above the ground, offering an ultra-smooth ride that you just can’t get on wheels.

Hendo Hoverboard 3

“While one day we expect to have hoverboards that can effortlessly float over any medium (even water!), our current technology requires special types of surfaces,” says Hendo. “Therefore, we need a hoverpark to go with our boards, and have been busy designing a park befitting the awesomeness of our technology.”

hendo hoverboard 7

In addition to snagging a ‘Whitebox’ developer kit that enables you to play around with the technology yourself, Kickstarter rewards include reserving a brick-sized piece of the eventual Hoverpark with your name engraved onto it. The first 10 production Hendo Hoverboards have already been snagged at $ 10,000 each.

gizmodo hoverboard gif

After all the hoaxes, it’s understandable that people are skeptical – but Gizmodo got to actually give it a try, confirming that it works. Check it out in the video above, and get all the technical details at Kickstarter.

[ By Steph in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

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Radiotopia Fundraiser: Support 7 Story-Centric PRX Podcasts

16 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Culture & History & Travel. ]

radiotopia

Last year, Roman Mars of 99% Invisible and PRX broke records, raising $ 375,000 with a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign – this year, Radiotopia aims to collect $ 250,000 in contributions on Kickstarter page to support its lineup of seven amazing radio shows. So far, this campaign has gained over 2,500 backers and $ 100,000 in its first 24 hours – to see why, read on and listen to a collection of select stories, one per show, embedded for your listening pleasure below.

radiotopia kickstarter crowdfunding campaign

Funded directly by fans, Radiotopia represents “a new model for audience engagement and revenue growth in public radio” as well as a “collective of the best story-driven shows on the planet.” For their last campaign, designed to make 99% Invisible a weekly production, WebUrbanist brought you seven of the show’s most compelling episodes in an effort to support their crowdfunding endeavors. This year, we are highlighting one episode from each of these unique and compelling podcasts. As fellow independent media producers, we encourage you to check these out for yourselves and show your support for these amazing programs.

holdout

99% Invisible has gone from a garage radio startup on design and built environments to one of the most popular and celebrated award-winning audio programs in the world. From this past season, Holdout represents the a great example of how the show explores the intersection of urban planning, zoning laws and esoteric architectural history. At the heart of this episode is the nail house of Edith Macefield, a woman who refused to sell her home at any cost – developers ended up building around it, but, like any good story, the end is not the point, and there are many twists along the way. Bonus: a t-shirt featuring this famous home is one of the Kickstarter rewards you can get for supporting Radiotopia!

radio diaries radiotopia prx

Radio Diaries “tells the extraordinary stories of ordinary life,” enabling citizen journalism since the 1960s and collaborating “with teenagers and octogenarians, prisoners and prison guards, bra saleswomen and lighthouse keepers” along the way. When Borders Move explores the strange phenomena of geographical boundaries defined by landscape features like rivers that stubbornly refuse to stop moving over time. In this episode, personal interviews with impacted individuals are spliced in between larger examples and explanations, showing the human side of these larger historical shifts.

love and radio radiotopia

Love + Radio “features in-depth, otherworldly-produced interviews with an eclectic range of subjects, from the seedy to the sublime.” Bedouin Love is a short show featuring a poignant but “brief conversation of love, death, and camel’s milk” with a guide in Petra, Jordan, an ancient historical site where Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and other films were shot. It represents another side to the tourist experience – those hard-to-capture but powerful person-to-person moments that go beyond the contents of superficial and sanitized travel guides and give you a sense of the day-to-day life and culture of a place.

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Radiotopia Fundraiser Support 7 Story Centric Prx Podcasts

[ By WebUrbanist in Culture & History & Travel. ]

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Ultra-Compact Stairs: 12 Next-Level Space-Saving Designs

16 Oct

[ By Steph in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

Compact Stairs Charlie Girls 1

Clever integration of storage, dangerous-looking alternating treads and unusual wall-mounted designs enable these 12 compact staircases to avoid the problem of wasted space. Whether leading up to lofts in tiny houses and micro apartments or simply taking a smarter approach in larger spaces, these space-saving stairs look cool in addition to taking advantage of every square inch.

Stairs Packed with Storage

Compact Stairs Storage Drawers

Combining staircases with storage is nothing new in Japan, where carpenters have built drawers and cabinets into them for centuries. This project by architect Kotaro Anzai is a traditional ‘kaidan dans’ staircase cabinet made of linden plywood. Drawers open both out and to the side to make maximum use of the space.

Incredible Built-In Loft & Stairs from HBO’s ‘Girls’

Compact Stairs Charlie Girls 2

Any architecture and design enthusiasts who watched HBO’s ‘Girls’ probably drooled over the clever built-ins in the fictional Bedford-Stuyvestant home of the character named Charlie. A lounge space is lofted over a semi-enclosed bed, and the stairs leading up to it also function as a closet and storage cabinet.

Built-in Bookcase Loft Stairs

Compact Stairs Bookcase Loft 2

A small apartment in Camden feels far more spacious after a renovation that added a central volume enclosing the bathroom and lots of storage, with a lofted bed on top. The most clever part is the wall of built-in shelves that double as a staircase to get to the top.

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Ultra Compact Stairs 12 Next Level Space Saving Designs

[ By Steph in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

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Rounded Market Hall: Huge Digital Mural Wraps 118,000 Sq Ft

15 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

market hall night view

A massive mixed use project in Rotterdam by MVRDV, this newly-opened building wraps vertically around an open central space but also features one of the largest works of art in the Netherlands: an incredible digital display spanning over 100,000 square feet of the interior surface area.

market hall lit up

market hall ceiling shot

markte hall shop view

The closed-but-open solution is a response to new Dutch legislation requiring produce markets to be enclosed, balanced with a desire to keep an open-air feeling to the space. The resulting design with its vibrantly-colored displays makes the place seem inviting from the outside, drawing people in to visit the nearly 100 shopping stalls within. The complex is expected to have over 5 million annual visitors.

market hall interior display

market hall flowers fruits

market hall apartment view

Glazed on two sides with transparent glass, apartments wraps the others sides and top of the structure, giving over 200 residents views down into the market below as well as balconies toward the outside world on the exterior skin of the structure. The suspended glass panels are held in tension by thin wires, making the supports as invisible as possible while providing protection against strong winter winds.

market hall at nights

market hall inside levels

From the firm’s press release: “The large mural which covers the vaulted interior, ‘Cornucopia’ by artists Arno Coenen and Iris Roskam has a total surface of 11.000 m² and shows oversized images of market produce which can be bought at the market, as well as flowers and insects referencing the work of Dutch still life masters from the 17th century. In order to achieve the required sharpness, the image was rendered by Pixar software. It was printed onto perforated aluminium panels, then attached to acoustic panels for noise control. The print resolution of the art work is comparable to a glossy magazine.”

market hall facade windwos

market hall urban context

markte hall exterior view

market hall night angle

More about the layout: “Markthal comprises 96 fresh food stalls and shop units, ranging from Rotterdam based businesses and market vendors to established local heroes. They will offer a diverse range of products: from fresh fish to game, from cappuccino to cheese, from Chinese to Dutch, from ice cream to local produce, from bargains to exclusive slow food. The ground and first floor accommodate 20 retail units, restaurants and cafés. All shops are food-related and include a crockery- and a wine shop. A supermarket is located on the 1st underground level allowing the shoppers to complete their shopping under one roof.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

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Cyclists Wear Car Skeletons to Prove that Bikes Save Space

14 Oct

[ By Steph in Design & Guerilla Ads & Marketing. ]

car skeletons 1

The absurdity of single drivers taking up so much space on the road was vividly highlighted when a group of Latvian cyclists went for a ride wearing car-sized frames made of bamboo. In celebration of International No Car Day on September 22nd, the cyclists gave their bikes a temporary makeover that forces actual automobiles driving alongside them to treat them like they would another car.

car skeletons 2

Car Skeletons 3

They look ridiculous, and that’s the point. Standing out in the transparent structures, it’s clear how little space each person actually takes up within that space. The frames are easily three times the width and length of the individual cyclist.

car skeletons 4

car skeletons 5

The protest, held by members of Let’s Bike It, highlights how much congestion could be eased on the roads if more people commuted by bike instead of cars, not to mention all of the other benefits.

[ By Steph in Design & Guerilla Ads & Marketing. ]

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Juice to Go: 13 Ultra-Portable Phone Charger Designs

14 Oct

[ By Steph in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

portable phone charger

Tiny phone chargers that you slide onto your keyring, store on your belt buckle or snap onto the spokes of your bike can help feed your addiction to technology when wall chargers aren’t available. Since most of us can’t go ten minutes without using our phones, staying juiced up is crucial. These 12 offbeat and innovative portable cell phone chargers use everything from kinetic energy to boiling water to make sure you’re never cut off from your emergency contacts and all of your favorite apps.

World’s Smallest Emergency Phone Charger

key ring cell phone charger 2

Shaped like a gasoline can, the tiniest cell phone charger yet fits easily onto your key ring and provides an extra 20-30 minutes of talk time or a few hours of standby time per charge. It plugs directly into your phone and can hold its own charge for 1-3 months between uses.

Siva Cycle: Pedal Power Charger

siva cycle phone charger 3

A compact gadget snaps onto any bicycle within minutes to harness the kinetic energy you create while you ride. You can either plug your phone or any other USB-powered device directly into it, or store the energy in a detachable battery pack. The creators envision it as the perfect solution for bike commuters who miss out on the phone-charging time that other commuters get in the car.

Belt Buckle Phone Charger

belt buckle phone charger 2

An ordinary-looking belt buckle pops off and plugs into the wall to charge your cell phone. The Volt Buckle eliminates the problem of being unable to carry a charger without a purse or bag of some sort, keeping it as compact as possible. A hook on the belt ensures that your pants stay up while your phone is charging.

Flame Stower: Charging with Fire

Going a step beyond solar power, the Flame Stower is a portable phone charger designed with campers and hikers in mind. One end of the charger is placed in a campfire, and the other connected to your cell phone. Any flame source will do, so you can also use BBQ grills or candles.

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Juice To Go 13 Ultra Portable Phone Charger Designs

[ By Steph in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

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View Forward: Driverless London Train Cars Arriving in 2020

13 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

new tube train car

Called the New Tube, the next phase in London’s Underground system will feature partially and entirely automated cars, including ones that let passengers sit up front in the space heretofore reserved for drivers.

new tube front face

new tube train design

This forward-looking plan calls for 250 driverless trains for the Piccadilly, Central, Bakerloo and Waterloo & City lines, rolling out in the year 2020 and beyond, each with larger doors for faster entry and exit capabilities.

new tube london design

new tube continuous interior

These new models will not be segmented in traditional cars but instead be continuous and segmented (able to be walked from front to back) and feature built-in wifi as well as passive air conditioning. The newly-freed front ends of these will feature emergency egress doors as well.

new tube driverless trains

new tube side doors

An LED lighting system will glow to show the speed and direction of travel and light up to let passengers know when doors are opening or closing as well. Digital displays will replace paper advertisements inside the cabins, too.

new tube sleek sides

new tube day view

These sleek new machines are being made to operate 24 hours a day with a projected lifespan of 30 to 40 years so their technologies must, as much as it is possible, take into account existing issues as well as population growth and other future-proofing concerns.

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

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Punched Cards: 12 Closed & Abandoned Bingo Halls

12 Oct

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

abandoned Hippodrome bingo hall Dudley 1
These 12 closed and abandoned bingo halls couldn’t compete with an increasing variety of online gaming options and the gradual spread of gambling casinos.

Down & Out In Dudley

abandoned Hippodrome bingo hall Dudley 2

abandoned Hippodrome bingo hall Dudley 3

Bingo can trace its history back to early 16th century Italy but the classic cards & numbers game really took off in the 1920s when its rules, format and equipment were standardized. Bingo boomed in Great Britain as well when, following the flight from movie theaters to in-home television in the 1950s, many newly-closed cinemas were converted to bingo halls.

abandoned Hippodrome bingo hall Dudley 4

abandoned Hippodrome bingo hall Dudley 5

The Hippodrome in Dudley, just northwest of the city of Birmingham, was one of these re-purposed silver screens. The 1,750-person capacity Hippodrome opened in 1938, closed (as a theater) in 1964, reopened as a bingo hall operated by Gala Bingo, and finally closed for good in 2009. Cheers to Flickr user Mikey Jones (donebythehandsofabrokenartist) for capturing the once-grand Hippodrome in its current (as of November 2010) sad state.

Punched Card

abandoned church bingo card Brownsville

Bingo was (and still is) popular at traditional social gatherings held at and by churches so when the church is abandoned, so is the bingo. Credit Flickr user Forsaken Fotos for the evocative image above depicting a scattered remnant of fun times past from Brownsville, PA.

Odeon, Odeoff

abandoned Bradford Odeon bingo hall 1

abandoned Bradford Odeon bingo hall 2

abandoned Bradford Odeon bingo hall 4

When Bradford’s New Victoria cinema opened in 1930 it was the first such theater to be designed especially for showing “talkies”. The stately Renaissance Revival building underwent multiple changes in ownership over the next few decades until it was bought by Odeon Cinemas in the late 1960s. Odeon converted part of the building into the 1,000-seat Top Rank bingo hall, which shut its doors in the late 1990s. Credit Flickr user jST. with photographically capturing the abandoned bingo hall in mid-March of 2011.

Under The B: INGO

abandoned bingo hall sign

The photographer who snapped the image above didn’t give any details whatsoever on where the sign is located or what bingo hall it advertised – and the striking yet generic sign itself offers no clue either. Give Flickr user geo3pea credit, however, for bending over backwards (literally) to create an outstanding image that gives real perspective on the current state of the bingo “industry”.

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Punched Cards 12 Closed Abandoned Bingo Halls

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Schematic of Structures: 90 Buildings, Prehistory to Present

12 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Graphics & Branding. ]

pop charts architectural poster

This stunning blueprint-inspired poster takes you on a visual tour of 90 celebrated structures around the world, highlighting architectural achievements from the Greek Parthenon to Buckingham Palace to Taipei 101 to the Freedom Tower, “a lineup of landmark landmarks and eminent edifices erected and perfected throughout history.”

ImgAB_ThumbAB_IfYouLikeThis

An 18-by-24-inch print available from Pop Chart Lab for around $ 30, this frame-worthy work of art and design may solve your architectural gifting needs for the foreseeable future. The juxtapositions of old and new, Classical and Modernist, help show off the rich historical variety of buildings and monuments. Some structures made the cut for being canonical classics, while others are record-setters or unusual examples of unique typologies. Rendering them all in a way that would make them consistent but bring out their different characters was also a challenge for the creators.

pop charts full size

More from the creators: “Each breathtaking building has been beautifully hand-illustrated to scale in blueprint-like style—and is accompanied by notations for location, height, year of construction, and architectural mode. For the serious sight-seer, history hobbyist, or architectural aficionado, this collection of captivating cornerstones is sure to tower above all others. Using 100 lb. archival stock certified by The Forest Stewardship Council, this poster is pressed on an offset lithographic press with vegetable-based inks in Long Island City.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Graphics & Branding. ]

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Solar-Powered Art Etched with a Magnifying Glass & the Sun

11 Oct

[ By Steph in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

sun powered pyrography 1

Magnifying glass clutched in his fist, Jordan Mang-osan uses nothing but focused rays of sunlight to burn detailed drawings onto panels of wood. A native Igorot from the Cordilleras of the Philippines, the artist draws inspiration for both his imagery and his unusual techniques from his heritage, using indigenous materials.

sun powered pyrography 2

sun powered pyrography 3

pyrography art 4

Other than a pencil used to draw on his initial designs, a magnifying glass is his only tool, and no paints or inks are required. Mang-osan holds the glass steady to burn one tiny detail at a time onto the wood.

pyrography drawings 6

pyrography drawings 7

It takes several months to complete a single work, slowly moving the glass just millimeters at a time in a technique that’s similar to pointillism. It’s another unusual way to harness the power of fire to make art – see 14 more pyro-centric sculptures and installations including ‘fire sculptures,’ portraits drawn in soot, and graffiti set ablaze.

360Photography

Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

Hoverboards are Here! Design Floats Above Metal Surfaces

Radiotopia Fundraiser: Support 7 Story-Centric PRX Podcasts

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Radiotopia Fundraiser Support 7 Story Centric Prx Podcasts

Ultra-Compact Stairs: 12 Next-Level Space-Saving Designs

Stairs Packed with Storage

Incredible Built-In Loft & Stairs from HBO’s ‘Girls’

Built-in Bookcase Loft Stairs

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Ultra Compact Stairs 12 Next Level Space Saving Designs

Rounded Market Hall: Huge Digital Mural Wraps 118,000 Sq Ft

Cyclists Wear Car Skeletons to Prove that Bikes Save Space

Juice to Go: 13 Ultra-Portable Phone Charger Designs

World’s Smallest Emergency Phone Charger

Siva Cycle: Pedal Power Charger

Belt Buckle Phone Charger

Flame Stower: Charging with Fire

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Juice To Go 13 Ultra Portable Phone Charger Designs

View Forward: Driverless London Train Cars Arriving in 2020

Punched Cards: 12 Closed & Abandoned Bingo Halls

Down & Out In Dudley

Punched Card

Odeon, Odeoff

Under The B: INGO

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Punched Cards 12 Closed Abandoned Bingo Halls

Schematic of Structures: 90 Buildings, Prehistory to Present

Solar-Powered Art Etched with a Magnifying Glass & the Sun

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Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

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