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Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

World’s Weirdest Hotels: 14 Unique Offbeat Accommodations

06 May

[ By Steph in Boutique & Art Hotels & Travel. ]

World's Weirdest Hotels Main

There are art hotels with unusually creative and strangely-themed decor, and then there are hotels shaped like giant anuses, which are in a different class altogether. Hotels so strange and unusual that they qualify as roadside attractions whether you spend the night or not include a massive toilet, an operable crane, a survival pod with disco decor, a giant beer can and a manor where you can eat breakfast with giraffes hovering over your shoulder.

Hotel Shaped Like a Giant Anus, Antwerp, Belgium

Weirdest Hotels Anus
Weirdest Hotels Anus 2

It’s unlikely that you’ve ever thought to yourself, “Gee, I’d love to spend a night or two inside a giant anus,” but you have that opportunity anyway if you’re ever traveling through Antwerp, Belgium. Hotel Casanus began as a tongue-in-cheek work of art but is now actually a functioning rental on a small, isolated island as part of the 30-acre Verbeke Foundation Sculpture Park.

Giraffe Manor, Nairobi, Kenya

Weirdest Hotels Giraffe Manor

It’s certainly not every day that you can enjoy a gourmet meal in a quaint historic mansion as giraffes lean in through the windows over your shoulder. Giraffe Manor is located on a 140-acre sanctuary for one of the most endangered subspecies of giraffes in the world, Rothschild’s giraffes. The manor, which has ten guest rooms, offers up plates of giraffe food that you can feed to these hungry guests so they don’t go after your breakfast.

Sand Hotel, Dorset, England

Weirdest Hotels Sand Dorset

What’s the opposite of an ice hotel? A hot-weather alternative that’s no less ephemeral is the Sand Hotel in Dorset, England. Made of 1,000 tons of sand by British sculptor Mark Anderson, the hotel featured open ‘rooms’ that could be rented for only $ 21 a night.

Sewer Pipe Hostel, Mexico City

Weirdest Hotels Sewer Pipe

In case staying inside an anus sculpture is too extreme for you, perhaps a sewer pipe will be more accommodating. Mexico City’s TuboHotel is made up of stacked, reclaimed concrete sewer pipes with little more than a queen bed and a lamp inside.

Mount Gambier Jail Hotel, Australia

Weirdest Hotels Jail Australia

The spartan rooms of the Mount Gambier Jail hotel in Australia don’t look much different than they did when actual prisoners were staying there, and little has been changed about the entire facility since it was a functioning jail. It’s far from luxurious, but that’s kind of the point: the hotel markets itself as an ideal place to stay for penny-pinchers and the broke.

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Worlds Weirdest Hotels 14 Unique Offbeat Accommodations

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10 in 1 Day: Chinese Homes 3D-Printed from Scraps Materials

05 May

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

3d printed almost finished

Using recycled construction waste and rapid prototyping processes, a Chinese company is showing off how 3D printing technologies can be applied to building at astonishing new speeds and scales. More specifically: Winsun New Materials used a series large 3D printers to frame up 10 houses in 24 hours with a skeleton crew of builders.

These scaled-up printers mimic the additive approach their smaller plastic-extruding cousins, but deploy a mixture of glass fiber and scrap concrete instead.

3d printed extrusion printer

3d printed house china

The function-first walls of these homes are designed to provide shelter via robust solid surfaces and structural support, all while minimizing materials. Built-in truss shapes (with spaces in between) are made to leave calculated gaps for the later insertion of plumbing, electrical, passive and active heading and cooling systems.

3d printed building construction

3d printed wall sections

In this initial run, the resulting prefab frameworks for ten residential structures were assembled in less than 24 hours and for just a few thousand dollars a piece. Securely enclosed by a small crew of builders, the weather-proof shells are then ready to be finished by other teams.

3d printing on site

3d printing in china

Given the pace of urbanization and construction within the country, it seems apt that innovators from China would be pushing limits like these, hopefully with more (and similarly eco-friendly) innovations yet to come.

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Kickin’ The Bucket: 12 Outrageous Fake KFC Restaurants

05 May

[ By Steve in Design & Graphics & Branding. ]

fake KFC
Acquiring a KFC franchise doesn’t appear to be that difficult. Appearances may deceive, however, as do these dozen absolutely unauthorized KFC wannabes.

OFC: Change We Can’t Believe In

fake KFC China OFC UFO(images via: The China Times, CoCoas.net and ViralSlam)

Tea Party types might have stuck with KFC (Kenya Fried Chicken) but the Chinese student-entrepreneurs behind OFC were less concerned with birth certificates, not to mention other legalities. Located near Beijing Aerospace City College, OFC sought to trump a mere Kentucky Colonel by evoking the head honcho, the Commander in Chief, the Big O himself. Speaking of legal issues, it seems KFC won a small victory by forcing the shop to change its name to UFO. Yeah, that really helped.

Kennedy Fried Chicken: KFC + JFK

Kennedy Fried Chicken fake KFC (images via: Jessica Port, Deephouse Page and Jason Klamm)

From one president to another, it’s a coop d’etat! Kennedy Fried Chicken was founded in 1975 by Afghan immigrant Taeb Zia, who named his restaurant after JFK “because Afghans are fond of the former president.” The first store opened in New York City’s Flatbush neighborhood and these days most of the roughly 1,000 outlets are owned by Afghan-Americans. Kennedy Fried Chicken‘s unusually loose control over its franchisees has occasionally brought the chain into conflict with KFC, usually when the owners paint their stores with red & white paint and employ “KFC” on their signage.

FCK’n Good Chicken!

FCK China fake KFC (images via: Life in the Middle Kingdom)

Located in Haiyuan, north-central China’s Ningxia province, FCK “Tea and Hamburger” means no offense in their ongoing effort to serve Fried Chicken Kentucky-style, along with tea and hamburgers (also presumably Kentucky-style). Full props to Canadian English teacher Alison Lentz for discovering the joy of FCK and photo-documenting its graffiti-scarred existence on her blog.

SFC: “Exclusive To Iceland”

SFC Iceland fried chicken bucket fake KFC (image via: MaltaSupermarket)

“I gave my love a bucket, that had no bones…” There ain’t nowhere you can hide when a peeved Colonel’s on your tail, and that includes Iceland (the nation or the British supermarket). SFC‘s Take Home Boneless Bucket above doesn’t display a Viking-ized version of Harlan Sanders, which is unfortunate, because that would be awesome! It does allude to KFC via the branding copy, however, offering buyers “Original pieces of Tasty reformed Succulent Crispy Chicken… coated with a Southern Fried style coating made to Our Secret Recipe of Herbs & Spices”. Tasty reformed chicken, huh? Sounds scrumptious.

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Kickin The Bucket 12 Outrageous Fake Kfc Restaurants

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Ditch Your Car: Get From A to B Using Real-Time Transit Data

03 May

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

transit screen sidewalk projection

What if we could make alternative transportation ultimately faster, cheaper and more convenient than personally-owned cars, the dominant transport devices of the 20th Century? The sharing economy has opened new possibilities for commuters and travelers, but integrating this dizzying array of options together with public transport is an essential next step in this ongoing paradigm shift.

transit car bike bus

OMGTransit is a Minneapolis-based startup that provides free, fast and simple sets of options for getting from your location to your destination without a personal car, be it by bus, shared bike (NiceRide in the case of the Twin Cities), shared car systems like Car2Go or ZipCar or private rides from Uber or Lyft. Available as an iPhone or Android application, OMG also offers a web app version – all with no cost to the user.

omgtransit example page design

Boasting a beautifully-designed interface with attention to usability, color and detail, their free-for-all approach is aimed at helping them grow faster than the competition. Their team, headed by entrepreneur and technologist Matt Decuir, has its sights set first on major cities around the US and then the world (perhaps space thereafter).

transit screen directions wayfinding

More focused on next-step options than A-to-B directions, TransitScreen started out displaying realtime  transit data in residential, commercial and institutional building lobbies. Their boards show people up-to-the-minute information on subways, commuter trains, buses, bike share, ride shares in cities around the United States.

transit screen sidewalk projection

Now, with SmartWalk, this same company has taken to the streets (or rather: sidewalks and walls) outside of offices, apartments and universities, projecting this data onto public surfaces for the benefit of anyone passing by. The data includes color-coded transit option types and times but also wayfinding cues regarding directions and distance.

realtime transit designs

Other players in this space include Roadify and RideScout, though not all offer options for all devices or for every type of regional transport. Some, like Google Maps in its current form, have broader reach but focus more on public transportation schedules (their acquisition of Waze is a step toward realtime data, albeit for personal cars). Whatever system(s) triumph, the goal is a worthy one: reducing friction in the use of alternative transit options to the point where taking, for instance, a bus to a bike to a shared car is easy, fast and cheap enough to obviate the need for a fully-owned automobile.

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No Ice Cream in Back Pockets: America’s Weirdest Laws

03 May

[ By Steph in Art & Photography & Video. ]

America's Weirdest Laws 1

In Alabama, it is illegal to carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket. But New York-based photographer Olivia Locher is a rule-breaker, and she’s got the photo series to prove it. In ‘I Fought the Law,’ Locher visually documents dozens of ridiculous laws from around the country, including some real head-scratchers that make you wonder how they ever got on the books in the first place.

America's Weirdest Laws 2

America's Weirdest Laws 3

In Utah, you’d better not walk down the street carrying a violin in a paper bag, and in California, riding a bicycle in a swimming pool is strictly prohibited. Pickles must bounce to be legally considered pickles in Connecticut, and in Hawaii, you can’t walk around with coins in your ears.

America's Weirdest Laws 6

America's Weirdest Laws 7

Kansas makes it illegal to serve wine in teacups, while Wisconsin won’t let you serve apple pie in public restaurants without cheese. In Oregon, you’re not allowed to test your physical endurance while driving a car on the highway. If you want to sell logs in Tennessee, they better not be hollow.

America's Weirdest Laws 8

America's Weirdest Laws 4

America's Weirdest Laws 5

The photos highlight just how absurd and outdated these laws really are (though most of them are likely not enforced much anymore.) See the whole series (including some that are NSFW) at Olivia Locher’s website and tumblr.

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Tour Tiny Worlds: 6-Camera Cube Creates 360-Degree Video

02 May

[ By WebUrbanist in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

3d bike ride video

The ultimate at-home hacker project, this strange small-world effect was created using a half-dozen GoPro cameras, a 3D printer and a technique that turns ordinary panoramic shots into a surreal world-warping wraparound experience.

German photographer, journalist and inventor Jonas Ginter cobbled together his cubic ball of cameras then mounted this oddball creation above his bike, all to generate the effect you see in the video above. Given the accessibility of the constituent technologies (and his helpful instructions), suddenly the idea of 3D video capture is within reach of any enthusiastic hobbyist.

cubic 360 degree camera

The stereographic distortion, while a neat effect, is also helpful in rendering a three-dimensional view into a two-dimensional frame. As for the idea, here is a bit more from the creator (summary translation to follow): “Ich habe mir seltsame Konstruktionen mit Spiegeln angeguckt und frustriert festgestellt, dass das absoluter Quatsch ist. Stück für Stück kam die Erkenntnis, dass ich 360-Grad-Videos nur realisieren kann, wenn ich das Bild in einem Take aufnehme. Die logische Konsequenz hieß also: Viele Kameras.”

3d printed and go pro parts

panoramic creation process illustration

Above, Ginter explains his slow realization that to realize a 360-degree video he would have to do everything in a single take, which in turn means having multiple cameras.  While his takes so far are interesting in themselves, the possibilities are amazing – but consider just the fun consumer applications, like capturing a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree skydive or mounting this on the car roof for a road trip. You can read his summary on Ginter’s website, either in the original German or using Google Translate.

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Floating Finnish Sea Sauna: Relaxing Multistory Steam Boat

02 May

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

floating sea sauna finnland

Northern Europe is known for its sauna culture, evolved to combat the cold and gather people in the dark of winter, but this seaworthy version adds a mobile twist to a longstanding tradition.

floating sauna rooftop deck

floating sauna at night

Built from recycled wood, floating on salvaged plastic barrels and powered by an outboard motor, the Saunalautta was created by friends who have since decide to rent out the structure.

floating sauna interior space

floating sauna to go

More than just a nautical sauna, onboard amenities include a barbecue as well as tents and hammocks for overnight adventures and relaxation outside of the super-heated central space.

floating sauna recycled barrels

floating sauna trampoline test

The crow’s nest at the top provides a lookout point and diving platform as well as shelter for the cooking space located directly below. They have even tested putting a trampoline on the second story, but safety concerns won out in the end.

floating sauna upper levels

floating sauna docked port

More from Architizer on the long cultural history of saunas in the region: “The chilly Nordic country of Finland is known for its deeply-rooted sauna culture. Dating back to as early as the 16th century, saunas became a popular way to beat the dangerously frigid winter temperatures. In a country with around 5.5 million inhabitants, there are more than 2 million saunas scattered about the land — that’s an average of one sauna per household. In Finland, these heated refuges are not thought of as a luxury, but rather, a necessity to protect people against the cold. Before modern healthcare, most Finnish mothers even gave birth in saunas, as the warm rooms were thought to have hygienic, purifying qualities.”

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Suntory Time: Crazy CNC-Milled Ice Cubes for Whisky Brand

01 May

[ By Steph in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

CNC Milled Ice Suntory 1

It’s Suntory time – on the incredibly intricate, CNC-milled, pagoda-shaped rocks.  The Japanese whisky brand famously touted by Bill Murray in the film ‘Lost in Translation’ has enlisted the services of a 5-axis CNC mill to craft miniature works of art in ice, including replicas of the Statue of Liberty and Michelangelo’s David.

CNC Milled Ice Suntory 4

The centerpiece of Suntory’s “3D Rocks” campaign is a teeny-tiny, amazingly detailed version of Kyoto’s Kinkaku-ji temple. Watch it in progress in the video above.

CNC Milled Ice Suntory 2

Suntory customers were asked to submit their own designs, and the winners were whisked to a secret location in Tokyo where they received a drink featuring their own creation in ice once it was complete.

CNC Milled Ice Suntory 3

The CNC router was kept chilled to a temperature of -7 degrees Celsius to keep the ice from melting while the machine was running.

CNC Milled Ice Suntory 5

It’s almost a shame to see the whisky splashing over these ephemeral works of art, knowing that they’re inevitably about to melt away.

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Architecture as Landscape: 15 Terrain-Inspired Buildings

01 May

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

Mountain Architecture Main

These skyscrapers, homes and city concepts eschew typical architectural silhouettes, taking inspiration from cliffs, mountains and hills to create artificial landscape features of their own. Whether attempting to blend into the surrounding landscape or rising defiantly from the flattest of environments, they seek a sense of harmony with the natural world.

Walkable Green Roofs on a Mountainous Mixed-Use Complex

Mountain Architecture Walkable Roofs 1

Mountain Architecture Walkable Roof 2

The Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) is behind the vast majority of recent terrain-inspired architectural concepts, including this stunner commissioned by a Taipei developer. The mixed-use complex of housing, restaurants, cafes, pedestrian walkways, gardens and more features unparalleled vertical accessibility with walkable green roofs.

Glacier-Inspired Hungerburg Train Station by Zaha Hadid

Mountain Architecture Glacier Hadid

Architect Zaha Hadid wanted her glacier-inspired design for the Hungerburg Train Station in Innsbruck to merge with its snow-covered surroundings in winter. The structure contrasts heavy concrete with light, airy, amorphous glass overhangs that seem to float.

Chaoyang Park Plaza by MAD Architecture

Mountain Architecture Chaoyang

Gleaming like polished black basalt, the towering structures that make up MAD Architects’ Chaoyang Park Plaza explore the relationship between architecture and the natural landscape. The silhouettes are an interpretation of mountains and other shapes in classical Chinese paintings.

Wroclaw Mountain by Vicente Guallart/Guallart Architects

Mountain Architecture Wroclaw

Guallart Architects designed this mountain-inspired structure to represent Wroclaw, Poland in the race to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

The Berg by Jakob Tigges

Mountain Architecture The Berg

The skyline of Berlin would be dramatically altered if this wild vision by Jakob Tigges ever came to be. The Berg is a 1,000-meter mountain partially bounded by the Tempelhof Airport. While Tigges says the proposal is more symbolic than a serious idea, it’s meant to provoke thought about how architecture can be integrated with the land to provide natural habitats for wildlife and recreation space as well as places to live, shop and work.

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Architecture As Landscape 15 Terrain Inspired Buildings

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DIY Hyperlapse: Make Your Own Timelapse Motion Pictures

30 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]

hyperlapsefinal

You may have seen this amazing animation and thought it took an impossible amount of work to create, but there are multiple sites tools, and do-it-yourself tutorials that greatly simplify the process. This particular piece, which has been circulating the web, is a GIF from the music video below (scroll a few minutes in to see various examples).

timelapsetaketwo

Popular enough now to warrant its own definition and description, here is a summary of the trending phenomena: “Hyper-lapse photography [is] a technique combining time-lapse and sweeping camera movements typically focused on a point-of-interest.” Other names for this include: Walklapse, Spacelapse, Stop-Motion Time-lapse, Motion Timelapse and Moving Timelapse.

time lapse hyper speed

As for those wishing to follow suit and create something similar: the Google Street View Hyperlapse creator is by far the easiest online generator for these kinds of panoramic captures – you simply set start and end points as well as a point of focus then click a button. Be warned: experimentation with this tool may be habit-forming.

hyperlapse tool generator page

Per this tool’s creators, who have made their API-based work openly available on GitHub, “creating them [can] require precision and many hours stitching together photos taken from carefully mapped locations. We aimed at making the process simpler by using Google Street View as an aid, but quickly discovered that it could be used as the source material. It worked so well, we decided to design a very usable UI around our engine.”

For those who want to customize their work and take it to the next level, the video above walks creators through a more direct use of Google Maps, screen captures and more nuanced edits. While their approach presumes you have and know how to use a video editor (higher barrier to entry), they also go into more detail about how to pick the perfect shots. For instance, their video explains how to line them up and utilize motion blur effects in the foreground to enhance the visual experience – all techniques that can be applied in Photoshop or a similar program to GIFs as well as videos.

Finally, lest you think this is a brand-new fad, consider Devil’s Circuit from Takashi Ito, which took the same wraparound approach to buildings in 1988 – the big difference now is simply the accessibility and ease of tools with which anyone can make something of this kind.

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