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Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

No Mirage: Unlock a Secret Pool Hidden in the Mojave Desert

07 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

desert pool installation project

An art installation with a side of rugged adventure, the Social Pool is a project open to the public but locked and with a location only revealed via coordinates that lead visitors on a long trek to its discovery.

desert secret hidden pool

Seekers must first travel to the MAK Center for Art and Architecture in West Hollywood and retrieve one of four keys that open the pool, and will be tasked with taking one gallon water to help refill it as well. Los Angeles area travelers do not stumble upon it by accident – it is not on any road, trail or path.

Keys are to be returned within 24 hours, whether or not you find the secret spot and uncover the cool pool of filtered water, powered by solar panels. You cannot reserve a key in advance – you must show up and see if one is available. Uncertainty is part of the experience, like it or not.

Designed by Austrian artist Alfredo Barsugli, LAist describes it as something “meant to reflect on the lengths humans would go to in the pursuit of luxury,” but also as a good excuse to spend some time exploring an amazing desert landscape.

underground beauty resort installation

underground desert spa sand

Barsugli is not new to strange desert installations – a previous piece, the Oderfla Beauty Resort, featured a spa building semi-submerged in desert sand.

It is also worth stocking up on gas, food and water and watching out for snakes, lizards and hares along the way. Hint: the pool is not close to the MAK. Its position is only given broadly to the public: somewhere in the southern Mojave Desert between Joshua Tree and Apple Valley. Images by Alfredo Barsugli and Juliet Bennett Rylah of LAist.

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

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Scattered Marbles: 10 Smashed, Bashed & Trashed Statues

06 Jul

[ By Steve in Culture & History & Travel. ]

smashed statues

As our age’s great and powerful leaders rise and fall, so do the narcissistic, now Ozymandias-like statues they raised to celebrate their fleeting triumph.

Duck, Gaddafi

smashed statue Gaddafi Libya

The 2011 Libyan Revolution was characterized by the release of pent-up hatred against the country’s long-time leader, Muammar Gaddafi. As with most megalomaniacal dictators, Gaddafi diligently promulgated a cult of personality during his four decades at the helm and left the country chock-a-block with self-laudatory statues and monuments.

smashed statue Gaddafi Libya U.S fighter plane sculpture

One of the most famous/infamous was the gargantuan golden Fist Crushing a U.S. Fighter Plane sculpture once located in the elite Bab al-Azizia compound in Tripoli. This sculpture and many others depicting Gaddafi personally were damaged, defaced and destroyed in the wake of Gaddafi’s downfall.

Falling Star

smashed statue China Monroe

Even non-political leaders deemed worthy of statutory immortality find themselves down in the dumps… in this case, a trash dump in the Chinese city of Guigang. Once the tallest Marilyn Monroe statue in the world, the 8.18-meter (26.84-ft) tall painted stainless steel statue had stood proudly within the grounds of a local business center since the end of 2013. Monroe’s reign lasted a mere six months, however, and in June of 2014 the statue was unceremoniously knocked off its footings, chained to a flatbed truck, and hauled to the city dump.

Lenin Towers

smashed statue Lenin Ukraine

smashed statues Lenin Ukraine

smashed Lenin statues Ukraine 2014

Ukraine not weak, nor are the bolts fastening hundreds of statues of Lenin to their plinths so what happened when an irresistible force met these unmovable objects? Hundreds of Lenins leaned, then fell, all across Ukraine’s vast territory in early 2014 as tensions between pro-EU and pro-Russian activists reached a fever pitch. What may have been most surprising was that hundreds of statues of Lenin still stood in Ukraine in early 2014!

Trash Mountain Or Bust

smashed mannequin Trash Mountain New Delhi

New Delhi, India produces 9,200 tons of waste daily and with no effective plan even in the discussion stage, that amount is expected to double by 2024. So, where does it all go? Much ends up in “Trash Mountain”, a 300 – 400m (about 1,150 ft) long and 40m (130 ft) high dynamic dump in the district of Ghazipur. Anything and everything from dinner scraps to the shattered mannequin above ends up on Trash Mountain, there to be picked over by crows, wild dogs, innumerable flies and an army of human “rag pickers”.

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Scattered Marbles 10 Smashed Bashed Trashed Statues

[ By Steve in Culture & History & Travel. ]

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Sprawling Vision of the Past: American Suburbs From Above

06 Jul

[ By Delana in Art & Photography & Video. ]

cristoph gielen aerial suburban photographs

Suburbs are far older than most of us tend to realize, but when we talk about urban sprawl we most often think of the planned communities that popped up during the industrial revolution. Photographer Christoph Gielen spent seven years documenting some of these communities in America from a helicopter, creating a fascinating series that he calls Ciphers, which he published in a book of the same name.

urban sprawl seen from above

Seen from within, urban sprawl seems like little more than closely-built homes that all look the same. But there is a deeper meaning to these communities that is sometimes glossed over. They were built at the height of the country’s growth phase, when driving miles to work didn’t seem like a bother because gas prices were low and expected to stay that way.

american suburbs from above

But the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry, and eventually suburbs became more of a headache and an eyesore than the pleasant communities they were meant to be. A 45-minute commute between work and home became an extremely expensive proposition, but suburban homeowners were stuck with their “American dream” hoames. Today, these relics of a time gone by are still mostly inhabited, their residents still driving long distances each day.

cristoph gielen ciphers

The goal of Gielen’s project was to draw attention to the effect these communities have on the environment. The practice of building further and further away from city centers, and in turn creating the need to use cars to drive long distances, creates an environmental burden that he calls “fascinating and profoundly unsettling.” Regardless of your opinion of these far-flung planned communities, there is a certain sort of lovely aesthetic to the patterns and shapes formed by the streets, green spaces, and tiny box houses that make up the American suburb.

[ By Delana in Art & Photography & Video. ]

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Floating Beach: Recreational River Barge Campaign for NYC

05 Jul

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

Manhattan City Beach 1

Manhattan is packed full of world-class restaurants, a vast array of shops, a beautiful nature preserve and virtually everything else required to satisfy the modern urbanite – except for a beach. That might seem obvious; it’s an island built up from swampland, cut off from the sea. But that doesn’t mean beach-craving creative thinkers can’t come up with a way to incorporate one into America’s most densely populated city. City Beach NYC is a project seeking to build a floating beach park on a barge in the Hudson River.

Manhattan City Beach 2

Starting with a reclaimed barge, the project would create a two-level destination with shops and restaurants tucked beneath a curving, sand-covered platform overlooking the water. You can’t exactly swim in the Hudson, but the park would have misters for cooling off, as well as a large water feature that mimics the sound of the sea, drowning out the city cacophony.

Manhattan City Beach 3

Changing rooms, a surf shop and a marine science lab would also be incorporated into the 260-foot park. The plan is to permanently moor it on the west side of Manhattan, with the possibility of renting small personal watercraft like kayaks and paddle boards.

Manhattan City Beach 4

The creators of City Beach NYC are currently raising the first round of funding on Indiegogo to hire a team to develop the operational plan; additional milestones will build scaled 3D models, fund the services of architects and engineers, and gain permits. They’re hoping that the people of Manhattan want a beach badly enough to come together and donate. Sure, you could just cross a bridge and go to Coney Island or Brighton or Rockaway, with access to the actual ocean, but a floating beach with views of the city would certainly be a novelty.

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Retractable Stairs Open to Reveal Urban Wheelchair Lifts

04 Jul

[ By Delana in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

sesame stairs retractable stairs

Getting around the city in a wheelchair can be challenging, but a British company called Allgood Trio has devised an interesting way to help wheelchair users get into and out of buildings with steep stairs. Their Sesame Stairs are a brilliant barrier-free way to provide accessibility in buildings which would otherwise be difficult for wheelchair users to enter.

retractable stairs wheelchair lift

In order to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (in the US) and Disability Discrimination Act (in Britain and Australia), buildings must provide a wheelchair-accessible entrance. For some older buildings with limited space, this can be a rather tall order. Sesame Stairs are a retractable set of stairs that open up to reveal an electric chair lift.

The ingenious chair lifts are tailor made for each building, so even buildings with extremely narrow entrances or historic façades can comply with the law without making major alterations. Since ramps are unsightly and can be difficult to use – not to mention the amount of space they occupy – the retracting stairs can be a brilliant alternative.

sesame stairs wheelchair lifts

In the company’s demo video, they show that the person trying to enter the building needs to push a button to call someone outside to activate the lift. This aspect of the Sesame system doesn’t seem to be convenient for the user, but it may not be the only option offered by the company. The hidden chair lift can help preserve the integrity of historic buildings’ appearances and architecture while providing the necessary access for wheelchair users.

[ By Delana in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

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Time-Traveling Trams: 30,000 LED Lights Vanish Street Trains

04 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

seasonal time traveling tram

Extended exposure photography combined with a unique art installation project creates an incredible time lapse illusion on the streets of Budapest, making train cars appear to disappear in a burst of light.

seasonal christmas tram lights

seasonal time lapse art

Started for Christmas 2009, this is a project of a regional transport company since captures by a number of intrepid photographers, each showing different speeds and resulting effects.

seasonal installation art series

seasonal train photo shoot

Via Colossal, this seasonal lighting is meant to attract tourists and additional riders, a decorative nod to the holidays as well as a moving work of photogenic art.

seasonal train light art

seasonal disappearing train view

Images here were taken by Andras Csore, Victor Varga, Krisztian Birinyi, Krisztian Birinyi, Zsolt Andrasi English Hungary and the Centre for Budapest Transport.

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

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Compact Cube Home: Storage Unit Turned Micro Apartment

03 Jul

[ By Steph in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

Compact Cube Apartment 1

A compact space with thirty years’ history as a storage unit is now a sleek, modern apartment outfitted with everything a single occupant needs with the addition of a built-in bed platform with storage. Architect Karin Matz purchased the unit in a state of total disarray, as the previous owner had begun a renovation in the 1980s that was never completed. When she began, it was a mess of peeling wallpaper, no electricity and “a bathroom only with signs of rats as inhabitants.”

Compact Cube Apartment 2

Compact Cube Apartment 3

The new architectural volume consists mostly of IKEA kitchen units, extended beyond the food preparation space to form a storage-filled platform for the raised bed. A small void under the bed offers a closet space, and a glass partition gives the little loft a sense of separation from the kitchen.

Compact Cube Apartment 4

Compact Cube Apartment 6

Aside from the bathroom, which was modernized, the rest of the apartment has been left virtually as Matz found it, with all surfaces remaining the way they’ve looked for the past 20 years. The rough, weathered surfaces of the walls contrast with the smooth new wood of the floors and furniture.

Compact Cube Apartment 7

Says Matz, “In a city like Stockholm with enormous housing shortage and with every square meter increasing in price by the minute, this story was somehow impossible to understand and resist. The finished apartment is the result of a fascination for this; a try to let the previous layers and stories of a space live on and at the same time fill the requirements for the new story that will take place.”

[ By Steph in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

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Experimental Architecture: 14 Boundary-Pushing Pavilions

03 Jul

[ By Steph in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

Experimental Architecture Pavilions

Before a new form of architecture can be executed on a large scale, it has to be demonstrated through smaller structures, making temporary pavilions an ideal way to experiment. These 14 pavilions represent novel and often radical designs and construction methods, from carbon fiber structures woven by robots to living architecture made by silk worms.

Evolving Pavilion Made by Silk Worms

Nature and technology work together on a pavilion that grows and transforms like a living organism. The Silk Pavilion by the MIT Media Lab features a basis of silk threads made by a CNC machine, which grows into a cloud-like structure with the addition of natural netting from dozens of silk worms. The worms were essentially deployed as a biological ‘printer’ to create the secondary structure on top of the geometric base. If the sculpture were to remain in place indefinitely, it could reproduce on its own, with new generations of silkworms constructing up to 250 additional pavilions.

Serpentine Pavilion by Sou Fujimoto

Pavilions Fujimoto 2

This 2013 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion by Sou Fujimoto is a contradiction in form, translucent yet solid. 20mm pipes are arrange din a lattice form to create a cloud-like appearance, inviting visitors to enter and climb the framework.

Abstracted & Faceted Bloomberg Pavilion

Pavilions Bloomberg 2

Looking like an oversized piece of paper origami, the Bloomberg Pavilion by Akihasa Hirata is actually inspired by a tree and constructed from pleated metal. “I wondered what would happen if the walls were to keep growing upwards and present an uneven surface like ‘pleats’. Pleats resemble a tree in the way that they spread out and capture the sun and I felt that they would produce a bright, impressive exterior. I also thought that the space beneath this surface would present a relaxed atmosphere, similar to that of tree shade that would be an ideal quality for an exhibition space.”

Carbon Fiber Pavilion Based on Beetle Shells

Pavilions Beetle Shell 2

This incredible carbon fiber pavilion inspired by the lightweight shell encasing the wings and abdomen of a beetle was woven by a robot. Installed at the University of Stuttgart, the ICD/ITKE Research Paviliion 2013-14 was fabricated using a custom-built system of robotics used to create a series of modular fiber-composite components. Says team member Marshall Prado, “”It offers not only a unique architectural expression and spatial experience, it is also extremely lightweight and resource efficient.”

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Experimental Architecture 14 Boundary Pushing Pavilions

[ By Steph in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

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Perspectival Street Artist Pierces People in New Photo Shoot

02 Jul

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

street art neon colors

Known for his geometric art installations, Aakash Nihalani is back with a mind-bending sequence of shots that show humans interacting with his reality-warping work.

street art bent blue

street art abstract geometry

street art person pairs

street art interactive geometry

In Landline, individual and paired persons become part of the project, standing in front of urban surfaces and seemingly skewered by abstract shapes.

street art skewered figures

pierced orange rectangle neon

White shirts become backdrops for black squares sliced from each set of outfits, shot through in turn by bright neon pink, green, orange and blue rectangles.

street art straight yellow

"Landline" by Aakash Nihalani

For more of this artist’s work, including additional closeups that show the trick behind each sequence, you can follow his posts on Eye Scream Sunday.

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

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Metro Koi: Thousands of Fish Occupy Abandoned Bangkok Mall

02 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Travel & Urban Exploration. ]

fish mall floor views

Built, closed, partially demolished, boarded up and ultimately deserted, the New World Mall in the capital city of Thailand has become home a strange and unexpected attraction.

fish mall vertical shot

Abandoned nearly two decades ago after violating building codes, the roof of the structure collapsed in a subsequent fire, leading the building to be partially filled with rainwater.

metro colorful wild fish

metro koi closeup picture

Standing pools throughout the place gave rise to a serious mosquito infestation, which the locals sought to combat by introducing fish that, in turn, bred, spread and inhabited the ruins.

fish mall front facade

fish mall outside vendors entrance

Since then, the mall has turned into a kind of alternative tourist destination where visitors flock to feed the fish, now occupying over 5,000 square feet of space originally intended for retail. Vendors have even sprung up in the area to sell scraps of food – throwing anything else into the standing water is strictly forbidden. More images of the building and its context can be found here.

fish mall escalator level

fish mall closeup columns

fish mall occupation habitat

RenegadeTravels explains how to get to this centrally-located abandonment: “The mall is only around 5 minutes’ walk from Khao San Road. Walk to the end of Khao San Road where the small glass police station is and turn right onto Chakrabongse Road. Then walk straight ahead until you come to the junction with Phra Sumen Road. This intersection is known as Bang Lam Pu Junction. You will see the main entrance to New World Mall here, but you can’t get in from the front.”

360Photography

Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

No Mirage: Unlock a Secret Pool Hidden in the Mojave Desert

Scattered Marbles: 10 Smashed, Bashed & Trashed Statues

Duck, Gaddafi

Falling Star

Lenin Towers

Trash Mountain Or Bust

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Scattered Marbles 10 Smashed Bashed Trashed Statues

Sprawling Vision of the Past: American Suburbs From Above

Floating Beach: Recreational River Barge Campaign for NYC

Retractable Stairs Open to Reveal Urban Wheelchair Lifts

Time-Traveling Trams: 30,000 LED Lights Vanish Street Trains

Compact Cube Home: Storage Unit Turned Micro Apartment

Experimental Architecture: 14 Boundary-Pushing Pavilions

Evolving Pavilion Made by Silk Worms

Serpentine Pavilion by Sou Fujimoto

Abstracted & Faceted Bloomberg Pavilion

Carbon Fiber Pavilion Based on Beetle Shells

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Experimental Architecture 14 Boundary Pushing Pavilions

Perspectival Street Artist Pierces People in New Photo Shoot

Metro Koi: Thousands of Fish Occupy Abandoned Bangkok Mall

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Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

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Half Invisible: Deserted Desert Cabin Remixed with Mirrors

Walk on Water: Hydro-Floors Hide Secret Swimming Pools

5 Stunning Modern Secret Rooms, Hidden Doors & Passages

Duck, Gaddafi

Falling Star

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Digital Suburbs: Logic-Defying Fictional Aerial Views

Sandcastle Suburbs: Beach Buildings Form Fragile Sprawl

Antarctopia: A Vision of Past & Future Polar Architecture

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The Future is a Beach: 5 Artificial Floating Island Cities

Floating Islands Add 100,000 Square Feet to Downtown Seoul

Swim the Thames: Pair of Pools for London’s Polluted River

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Open House(s): 10 Wonderful Open-Plan Home Designs

Living Staircase: Spiral Stairs Wrapped in Organic Greenery

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Infrastructural Art: Colorful LEDs Lights Up Shipyard Cranes

Subway Parasite: Stealth Projector Lights Up Train Tunnels

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100 Cubic Meters: Split-Level Urban Micro-Condo in Madrid

Storage Tubs for Bathrooms with Precious Little Space

That’s Sketchy: Rough Sketches Turned Into Real Furniture

Evolving Pavilion Made by Silk Worms

Serpentine Pavilion by Sou Fujimoto

Abstracted & Faceted Bloomberg Pavilion

Carbon Fiber Pavilion Based on Beetle Shells

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Living Architecture: Evolving Pavilion Made by Silk Worms

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Little People of London: Miniature Urban Street Art Images

Perspective-Shifting Geometric Street Art by Aakash Nihalani

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7 Amazing Aquariums and Fish Tank Designs & Systems

Urban Suburbs: 4 McMansions Atop Chinese Shopping Mall

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Scattered Marbles 10 Smashed Bashed Trashed Statues

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Experimental Architecture 14 Boundary Pushing Pavilions