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Brothers in Benches: Pallets Offer Public a Place to Sit

04 Sep

[ By Steph in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

Pallet Benches 1

Packing down nearly as flat as they were before they were modified, six interlocking structures made of pallets unfold to reveal a variety of seating options with greenery poking out of the bench backs. Johannesburg artist r1 was asked to develop the public seating as part of a residence program in the city aiming to enliven public space and come up with innovative ways to contribute to the community.

Pallet Benches 5

Pallet Benches 3

All six units can be combined into one larger structure, grouped together in smaller configurations or used alone. Each one contains two fold-down benches that can be used back-to-back, side-to-side or on a diagonal.

Pallet Benches 2

Pallet Benches 4

Made of discarded pallets, each one is on wheels so it can be moved quickly and easily. In addition to providing comfortable places for locals to congregate, the seats bring a little greenery into the urban environment.

Pallet Benches 6

Pallet Benches 7

Other unconventional iterations of urban furniture have included UFO-inspired loungers, ‘stair squares’ and even seats that require strangers to interact with each other.

[ By Steph in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

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Modern, Modular & Transforming Kids’ Furniture: 13 Designs

04 Sep

[ By Steph in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

Kids Furniture Klou 1

Why spend a fortune on a virtually endless array of aesthetically questionable kids’ furniture, from birth to their teen years, when you could choose customizable, transforming, modern furniture elements instead? These 13 smart space-saving solutions are just as well-thought-out as furniture made for adults, and can keep up with kids’ growth.

Rubik’s Cube Modular Kids Furniture

The Magic Module is a bunch of colorful foam and fabric cushions that can be clipped together to resemble a giant Rubik’s cube, or disassembled into seats, lounges, footrests and beds.

Smart Kid Bedroom in a Box

This kids bedroom-in-a-box starts out as a solid birch and plywood crib and then reconfigures into a variety of items that can be used throughout childhood. Take it apart once your toddler is too big for it and re-assemble it into a playpen, junior bed, desk or chalkboard and book rack.

Dumbo Double-Tuck Bed

Tuck Beds by Casa Kids are ‘modern murphy beds for kids,’ with the ability to be mounted horizontal or vertically to practically any wall. It takes up just 13 3/4″ of floor space when it’s all closed up, leaving lots of space for play. An integrated shelf doubles as leg support.

Convertible Crib Turns into Toy Bin & Bookshelf

The Yiahn Bassinet is another design that goes from birth to late childhood, starting out as a safe place for baby to sleep and transforming into a toy bin and bookshelf for toddlers, and then a chair and table for kids aged 4-8 years. If the family has a second baby, it can be reclaimed for its original use.

SPOT All-in-One Wooden Furniture Series

Free of all the visual clutter typically associated with children’s bedroom sets, SPOT by Polish designer Wiktoria Lenart is a space-saving furniture set with a neutral look and highly customizable character so kids can craft their rooms according to their own personalities and needs. Lofted beds, sliding compartments and a bed frame that doubles as a play space make it fun and easy for kids to create their own personal spaces.

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Modern Modular Transforming Kids Furniture 13 Designs

[ By Steph in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

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Bad by Design: Everyday Objects Reworked to Frustrate Users

03 Sep

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

frustrating watering can redesign

They say great design is in the details, so what would happen if you were to twist a key element here or tweak a core feature there? As it turns out, rendering an item relatively frustrating (but still functional) is quite easy and at times fairly humorous as well.

stacked fork frustrating design

sideways key

handled pot

backward borom

In an ongoing series dubbed The Uncomfortable, Katerina Kamprani “decided to create and design for all the wrong reasons. The goal is to redesign useful objects making them uncomfortable but usable and maintain the semiotics of the original item. Vindictive and nasty? Or a helpful study of everyday objects?”

distorted seat

frustrating seatback design idea

bent chair sloped seat

Much of her work deals with the most common items we use everyday, from tableware and cookware to keys and chairs, each recognizable but distorted, usable but difficult.

concrete umbrella

chain fork useless plate

hinged silverware functionless design

wine glass shape design

frustrating mug

Adding hinges and chains to spoons, forks and knives readily defeats their purpose, as does bending the handle on a mug or adding a nose-bumping extrusion to a wine glass. While the works are conceptual renderings, some are for sale as art prints and many others could be 3D printed as gag gifts, too.

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

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3-in-1 Cargo Shelters: Expandable Containers Triple in Size

02 Sep

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

dynamic shipping container shelter

Shipping container shelters combine the appeal of ultimate portability with rugged durability, but these structures add another dimension lacking in the default configuration: three times as much space thanks to their transforming designs. Below are four examples with varying degrees of technological sophistication for a wide range of applications.

The RDSS (Rapid Deployment Shelter System) shown above can be deployed by one person in less than two minutes, expanding into a 400-square-foot, rigid-walled shelter – all from a single 20-foot ISO (International Standards Organization) shipping container module.

dynamic folding shelter design

interior cargo container module

While the same company offers a variety of similarly convertible solutions, the particular model in the video comes equipped with on-board heating and air conditioning systems and its own generator. The units can be sent by ship or rail, towed by trucks or flown by helicopters and stacked nine containers high.

Three-in-one cargo modules are made by a variety of manufacturers for deployment under various conditions, including military use, communications headquarters, medical triage, disaster relief centers, homes or offices – the one above is from Mobile Shelter Systems.

A soft-walled variant on the same theme of spatial expansion, the above patent-pending design unfolds two side panels that become floors with curved ceilings arcing overhead. A lower-tech approach, to be sure, but also one that could theoretically be done for much less money and in a do-it-yourself fashion for those inclined to create their own shipping container building.

shipping container home office

transforming pushbutton house design

While less suited for rugged outdoor use, any discussion of convertible shipping container spaces should include a mention of the Illy Push-Button House (which has both commercial and residential applications) designed by Adam Kalkin, the sides of which fold down to form an open-air living room area or temporary storefront space.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Over Board: Sink or Skate on This Amazing Floating Ramp

02 Sep

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

Floating Skate Ramp 1

It’s hard to imagine a more idyllic place to practice skate tricks than a sculptural wooden ramp floating on the crystalline waters of Lake Tahoe. In some of the photos, it almost doesn’t look real, the skaters captured in mid-air seeming jarringly out of place agains the surface of the water.

Floating Skateboard Ramp 4

Skateboarding pro Bob Burnquist got the opportunity to build the ramp in 2013 when Visit California asked him to think big, coming up with an idea that might seem a little nuts at first but was actually achievable. Working with Miami art director Jerry Blohm, Burnquist created a wooden structure on a floating base, featuring a half pipe, a quarter pipe and a 45-degree ramp.

Floating Skate Ramp 2

Floating Skate Ramp 4

The fact that it sits entirely upon the surface of the water is part of what makes it seem so unreal. It’s built on a steel frame with weighted riggers that keep it from moving around too much in the water. It took 30 man hours and 1,250 screws to finish the 7,300-pound structure.

Floating Skate Ramp 3

FLoating Skateboard Ramp 5

You might be thinking, “Isn’t there a danger of skating right off the edge?” Yes, there definitely is, even for professionals – and that’s why Bob had a wet-suited snorkeler waiting to retrieve his skateboard anytime it went into the water during this shoot.

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Top of the World: 9 Incredible POV Climbs & Dizzying Selfies

02 Sep

[ By Steph in Travel & Urban Exploration. ]

Skyscraper Selfies Shanghai 3

Your stomach will drop just looking at the stunning photos captured by some of the world’s most daring urban explorers, who scale insanely high towers all the way to the top and take casual selfies like it’s no big deal. Whether illegally base-jumping off One World Trade Center in New York or climbing to the apex of a 2300-foot-tall skyscraper in Shanghai, these daredevils clearly have no fear of heights.

Hong Kong Trio Scale Skyscraper, Snack on Bananas

Skyscraper Selfies Hong Kong 1

If this picture alone gives you a little bit of vertigo, wait until you watch the video. A trio of teenage photographers – Danuel Lau, Andrew Tso and A.S. – climbed a 1,135-foot-tall skyscraper in Hong Kong. Casually snacking on bananas, they make the whole task of getting to the top and photographing themselves with a wide-angle camera on a stick seem like it’s no big deal at all.

Dubai Daredevils Climb City’s Towering Buildings

Skyscraper Selfies Dubai 2

Skyscraper Selfies Dubai 3

Skyscraper Selfies Dubai 4

19-year-old Alexander Remnev of Russia went on a trip to Dubai with a bunch of friends, and rather than just stick to the typical tourist activities, he decided to go on a little adventure. The daring photographer and his crew climbed many of the city’s tallest and most intimidating buildings and photographed themselves at the top, including the world’s tallest residential building, the 1,350-foot-tall Princess Tower.

Safety-Gear-Free Stunts in Shanghai

Vitaliy Raskalov and Vadim Makhorov got so high into Shanghai’s sky, they were literally above the clouds. The Russian duo sneakily and meticulously planned their stunt to avoid getting busted by China’s notoriously tough law enforcement, waiting until the Chinese New Year day when there would likely be few people around. They spent nearly 18 hours at the top of China’s Shanghai Tower, which reaches an incredible 2,130 feet into the air when you count the extra length of the crane at the top.

Watch Workers Climb to the Top of a 1768-Foot-Tower

Skyscraper Selfies Tower Workers

Have you ever noticed the stairways that are often attached to dizzyingly tall towers, enabling workers to get to the top to perform maintenance? This video gives you somewhat of a perspective on what it’s like to actually climb them to the top.

Rooftopping Photography by Tom Ryaboi

Skyscraper Selfies Ryaboi 1

Skyscraper Selfies Ryaboi 2

Skyscraper Selfies Ryaboi 3

Skyscraper Selfies Ryaboi 4

Skyscraper Selfies Ryaboi 5

Few people get quite the same dramatic city views that Tom Ryaboi is able to take in, daring to climb onto the rooftops of the tallest buildings in any given city to take photos while dangling over the edge. The pioneering Vancouver-based ‘rooftopper’ and photographer told Resource Mag, “Rooftopping is something I do whether I have a camera or not. Being in high places is just something I need to do to keep a balanced head.”

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Top Of The World 9 Incredible Pov Climbs Dizzying Selfies

[ By Steph in Travel & Urban Exploration. ]

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Typographic Shelter: Most Obvious City Bus Stop in the World

01 Sep

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

bus stop art baltimore

If you cannot spot this giant bus shelter in Baltimore, you may have bigger problems than missing the bus and getting to work on time.

bus shelter spells design

bus city street stop

Standing 14 feet high, the signage-plus-bus-stop spells out B-U-S in big capital letters, providing spaces to sit (on all three characters) as well as overhead protection from the rain (in the B and S). Each letter is also seven feet wide.

bus stop urban shelter

Created by mmmm, “BUS is a place to enjoy, interact, and meet while waiting for the bus. It is a leisure space in the middle of the rhythm of the city, a fun place for the inevitable waiting at a bus stop. BUS is made with wood and steel, materials that are typically used to build urban furniture.”

bus stop letters shelter

The idea is to work with simple, conventional and durable materials to create something both functional but potentially iconic – a place that anyone will know when you mention it. Like other guerrilla bus stops and functional urban shelters, it certainly stands out, but also seems more straightforward and civic.

bus stop design concept

“The three letters of BUS are big enough to accommodate two to four people each and protect them from rain, sun, wind, and inclement weather. They allow people to assume different postures of sitting or standing while waiting for the bus. The S allows people to lie back while they wait, and the B provides shelter.”

bus stop typographic installation

From their website, this is “a permanent public art project supported by Creative Alliance and Southeast Community Development Corporation in conjunction with the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), and SPAIN arts & culture. It is part of the initiative TRANSIT, Creative Placemaking with Europe in Baltimore.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

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Boom To Bust: 10 Abandoned Fireworks Stores & Stands

01 Sep

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

abandoned fireworks store Savannah Georgia
Fireworks sales are “fly by night” on several levels, and when boom turns to bust the colors fade faster than the aftermath of a bombshell in a moon-washed sky.

Take the outstanding image above of an abandoned fireworks stand outside Savannah, Georgia. Flickr user Mike Garde employs HDR to tease every last photon out of the corrugated sheet metal shack helpfully painted in explosive yellow and red by its builders. By the way, is “Cheap Fireworks” really the way to go when purchasing explosive materials intended to entertain one’s loved ones up close & personal? Just wonderin’.

Faded Glory

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

Fireworks were invented by the ancient Chinese and Americans have used them to celebrate momentous occasions since, well, since before there even WAS an America. By the looks of it, this long-abandoned wholesale/retail fireworks emporium near, um, Emporia, VA opened its doors not long after John Hancock signed his, er, John Hancock. Kudos to long-time Flickr user Lawrence Beals for capturing the ramshackle edifice in 2006 in all its gritty glory about three years before it was torn down.

Red, White & Blew

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Ever since the first shell slammed into Fort Sumter, America’s proud southerners have loved the sight, sound and smell of explosions. The length and breadth of the former Confederacy is crammed with shotgun shacks selling all manner of fireworks – some open, others not. The 5,000-odd residents of Piedmont, Alabama alone have at least a couple of fireworks stands and credit Second Period Industries with capturing a couple of the more patriotically decorated ones for posterity.

Abandoned Fireworks Warehouse Is Where?

abandoned fireworks warehouse

We won’t tell you where this beautifully desolate abandoned fireworks warehouse is because, well, if we (or BrightBird, where its image can be found) did, it likely wouldn’t look as striking as it does thanks to squatters, vandals and taggers. For this moment captured in time, at least, we all can enjoy the sight of Mother Nature’s own fireworks taking back what’s rightfully Hers.

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Boom To Bust 10 Abandoned Fireworks Stores Stands

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Interior Land Art: Riverbed Really Runs Through this Museum

31 Aug

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

river interior museum gallery

Art rarely gets as gritty and real as this, particularly in a gallery, with rocks, earth and water running through simple doors, between white-walled rooms and under uniform interior lighting.

riverbed walking closeup example

Olafur Eliasson, a Danish and Icelandic artist, created Riverbed as one of a series of installations for the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, challenging visitors to experience both museums and landscapes in new ways.

riverbed zoomed in doors

Meanwhile, the spaces become both intimate and perhaps uncomfortable as the earthwork slopes upward into ultimately-inaccessible areas.

river runs through art

The artist explains: “What I’m interested in with my work at the Louisiana isn’t really that you experience an object or an artwork. I am interested in how you connect this landscape to the rest of the world and ultimately, how you experience yourself within it.”

riverbed walking visitor tour

Traditional floor tiles slowly give way to a rugged landscape of stones and dirt, leading up to the sides of a real river inexplicably traversing the gallery interior.

riverbed art installation denmark

Aside from other references, the work is a nod to the sculpture garden that used to sit in the same spaces where this section of interior galleries now stands.

riverbed dirt rock water

“When we’re in our familiar surroundings, in our circle of family and friends, our senses are very finely tuned, but the further away we get from the local context, the cruder the sensing becomes. I wonder if our focus on the atmospheric can give us a relationship with something that is very abstract and far away.” (Images by Anders Sune Berg)

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

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Project Wing: Google Testing Drone Delivery Service

29 Aug

[ By Steph in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

Google Project Wing Drone Delivery 1

Google sees Amazon’s Prime Air drone delivery service and raises it with the enhanced aesthetics of its own Project Wing, a series of autonomous aerial vehicles currently being tested. In development for the past two years and a secret until this week, Project Wing was initially conceived as a way to deliver emergency aid like defibrillator kits to people in remote places or disaster areas.

Google Project Wing Drone Delivery 2

Now that the prototype vehicles have been tested (in Australia, which is far more lax about the use of drones than the United States,) it seems that they could be used to deliver goods to customers in a similar way to Amazon Prime Air, as well.

“As part of our research, we built a vehicle and traveled to Queensland, Australia for some test flights,” says Google of the project. “There, we successfully delivered a first aid kit, candy bars, dog treats, and water to a couple of Australian farmers.”

Developed by the company’s research arm, Google X, the Project Wing drones have a wingspan of about 4.9 feet and a total weight capacity of 22 pounds, the bulk of which is taken up by the drone itself at 18.7 pounds. It doesn’t need a runway to take off or land, and can hold its position hovering in one spot.

Looking like tiny blunt airplanes, the drones are at least a visual improvement over Amazon’s design, which was mocked for resembling a flying barbecue grill.

360Photography

Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

Brothers in Benches: Pallets Offer Public a Place to Sit

Modern, Modular & Transforming Kids’ Furniture: 13 Designs

Rubik’s Cube Modular Kids Furniture

Smart Kid Bedroom in a Box

Dumbo Double-Tuck Bed

Convertible Crib Turns into Toy Bin & Bookshelf

SPOT All-in-One Wooden Furniture Series

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Modern Modular Transforming Kids Furniture 13 Designs

Bad by Design: Everyday Objects Reworked to Frustrate Users

3-in-1 Cargo Shelters: Expandable Containers Triple in Size

Over Board: Sink or Skate on This Amazing Floating Ramp

Top of the World: 9 Incredible POV Climbs & Dizzying Selfies

Hong Kong Trio Scale Skyscraper, Snack on Bananas

Dubai Daredevils Climb City’s Towering Buildings

Safety-Gear-Free Stunts in Shanghai

Watch Workers Climb to the Top of a 1768-Foot-Tower

Rooftopping Photography by Tom Ryaboi

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Top Of The World 9 Incredible Pov Climbs Dizzying Selfies

Typographic Shelter: Most Obvious City Bus Stop in the World

Boom To Bust: 10 Abandoned Fireworks Stores & Stands

Faded Glory

Red, White & Blew

Abandoned Fireworks Warehouse Is Where?

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Boom To Bust 10 Abandoned Fireworks Stores Stands

Interior Land Art: Riverbed Really Runs Through this Museum

Project Wing: Google Testing Drone Delivery Service

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Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

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