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Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

Color-Coded Cars: Time-Collapse Film Reorders Rush Hour

30 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]

color sorted car art

There is no computer-generated imagery behind this surreal-seeming scenography, but rather a skillful remixing of reality to sort actual automobiles by color.

Artist and filmmaker Cy Kuckenbaker explains that his “aim is to reveal the color palette and color preferences of contemporary San Diego drivers in addition to traffic patterns and volumes. There are no CG elements, these are all real cars that have been removed from one sample and reorganized.”

color white black gray

Sure enough, the dominant colors are actually revealed to be anything but colorful – vehicles are mainly white, gray or black, with some reds and blues then very few oranges or yellows. Both lanes below and the overpass ahead are integrated into the artificial choreography.

color blue red cars

Shot in San Diego and reorganized in post-production, the seamless transitions in this film serve to make the piece simultaneously more realistic and implausible. Just imagine your reaction if you saw something like this actually unfolding on the highway before you.

In a similar previous project, Kuckenbaker captured a series of landings at the San Deigo airport and then overlaid the results of hours of filming. The sky was effectively green-screened so that the planes could be overlapped in front of a seemingly-consistent background.

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]

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HoJo’s Lost Mojo: 10 Abandoned Howard Johnson’s

30 Dec

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

abandoned Howard Johnson's
Hundreds of orange-roofed Howard Johnson’s hotels, motels and restaurants once served fried clam strips and ice cream to tired, hungry American travelers.

Mistake By The Lake – Cleveland, OH

Howard Johnson's Lakefront Motor Lodge Cleveland abandoned (images via: William Bird, Collisionbend and Cleveland.com)

Howard Johnson’s Lakefront Motor Lodge opened in 1965, the historical heart of the company’s postwar golden age. Offering spectacular views of Lake Erie and easy access to downtown Cleveland, the 12-story highrise featured a Red Coach Grill restaurant and Cocktail Lounge (how Mad Men!). Clevelanders of a certain age will fondly recall enjoying Howard Johnson’s famous ice cream at the in-house restaurant… and will not-so-fondly recall the longstanding eyesore the building would become.

Howard Johnson's Lakefront Motor Lodge Cleveland abandoned (images via: The Plain Dealer/Marvin Fong and Peace On Earth)

When Howard Brennan Johnson (son of founder Howard Deering Johnson) sold his company in 1979, it set off a decade-long domino effect of ownership changes, none of which helped the chain recover its declining fortunes. Howard Johnson’s Lakefront Motor Lodge epitomized the corporate trainwreck: by 1986 the hotel had lost its Howard Johnson’s branding and stood as an abandoned eyesore until late 2009, when the wrecker’s ball was finally allowed to complete the building’s collapse.

Poolside View – South Carolina

abandoned Howard Johnson's South Carolina I-95 (image via: Tim Hill (timojhill))

The I-95 corridor was made for travelers and where there are travelers, you’ll find a Howard Johnson’s… or what used to be one. This moldering abandonment waits silently for either the wrecking ball or a casual arsonist while defiantly wearing its mildewed orange roof as a callout to long past better days. Kudos to Flickr user Tim Hill (timojhill) for infusing just the right amount of subtle menace into the disturbingly distinct photo above. By the way, potential trespassers, the “pool” is closed and diving is NOT recommended.

Architectural Afterlife – Springfield, OH

former Howard Johnson's Springfield Ohio (images via: Debra Jane Seltzer (Roadsidenut) and Host of the Highways)

All dogs may go to heaven but only a few expired Howard Johnson’s make the leap, and the former HoJo’s restaurant off US-40 in Springfield, Ohio is one of them. Would it be flippant to suggest this venerable eatery has been reborn to serve a higher power? Does the collection plate exude the faint aroma of fried clams? Does the whole scenario smack of a yet-untold Simpsons story line? Hey, we’re in Springfield after all.

former Howard Johnson's Springfield Ohio (image via: Scottamus)

Much like old Holiday Inn signs, Howard Johnson’s signs were the faces of the franchise and when a HoJo loses its mojo, the sign is either the last to go or the first remnant to be reused. A tip of the hat to Flickr user Scottamus for the er, heavenly photo from July of 2010 of the former HoJo’s main signage above.

Dayton Blues

Howard Johnson's Parkway Inn Dayton Ohio (images via: Host of the Highways and Scottamus)

The Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge and restaurant off I-75 in Dayton was built in 1959 and enjoyed the better part of a quarter-century as one of the Ohio city’s prime travel service destinations. All that came to an end in the mid-1980s when the Motor Lodge became first an Econo Lodge, then the unbranded Parkway Inn. The latter closed in 2005 following the shooting death of a patron in a drug deal gone bad. After sitting abandoned for several years, during which the former HoJo’s trademark orange roof threatened to shed its alien coat of dull blue paint, the complex was demolished in April of 2010.

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Hojos Lost Mojo 10 Abandoned Howard Johnsons

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Secret Slums: Ramshackle Rooftop Villages of Hong Kong

29 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Global & Travel & Places. ]

roof tops hong kong

These hidden shanty towns, often invisible from the streets below, sprawl like surrealist suburbs across the roofs of one of the most densely-populated and expensive cities in the world.

rooftop dwelling book cover

The book Portraits From Above meticulously documents a series of such informal micro-villages in Hong Kong with photographs, detailed diagrams and stories of life inside these illicit rooftop communities.

rooftop villages china distance

While the dwellings are unconventional in shape, the book’s drawings are almost deceptively refined, capturing the chaos in clean black-on-white architectural lines.

rooftop interior diagram drawing

Ad hoc architecture at its strangest, these structures are not governed by building codes or compliance issues. Found materials from sheet metal and scrap wood to discarded plastic and broken brick shape home walls and the narrow halls between homes.

rooftop shanty entry way

rooftop black white interior

Naturally, one downside of such unplanned habitats are the series of power and waste management issues that go with the territory.

rooftop community village diagram

rooftop shack aerial view

Despite living on the fringes – or perhaps because their shared connection – there are strong social ties between rooftop dwellers, and they were welcoming to the authors of this book, Stefan Canham and Rufina Wu, who sought to learn more about how people live in such offbeat accommodations. In many ways, too, these mini-cities are like smaller expressions of larger-scale phenomenon like the nearby but now-demolished Kowloon Walled City.

[ By WebUrbanist in Global & Travel & Places. ]

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Beer Bath: Underground Brewery Converted to Thermal Spa

28 Dec

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

Converted Brewery Bath Spa 1

Lounge in large wooden vats that once contained gallons upon gallons of beer, gazing up at the original stone arches in subterranean vaulted chambers. The Hürlimann Brewery in Zurich, built in 1836, has been transformed into a hotel and thermal spa with naturally heated water from a nearby spring.

Converted Brewery Bath Spa 2

Converted Brewery Bath Spa 3

Guests don’t actually bathe in beer here (there are other places to do that) but they get to enjoy the next best thing in spacious hot tubs made from the reclaimed barrels. The clean lines of wood and steel in the new construction contrast with, yet complement the aged stone architecture of the original facility.

Converted Brewery Bath Spa 4

Converted Brewery Bath Spa 5

Converted Brewery Bath Spa 6

Enclosed tiled rooms offer large pools in which to lay on your back and float, and the places to soak extend all the way up to the hotel’s rooftop, with heated pools looking out onto the city of Zurich.

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

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Architectural Kaleidoscopes: Buildings Spun into Fractal Art

27 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]

$fractal building exterior dome$

Reimagined, repositioned and recomposed, this photo manipulation series turns familiar elements of buildings into abstracted compositions that morph beyond architecture, bridging disparate worlds of design and art.

$fractal tower windows$

Canadian photographer Cory Stevens starts with exteriors, ceilings, walls and windows, then adds his artistic twist – a variation on the polar panoramic approach.

$fractal architecture glass$

While pattern recognition may persist in some cases, the rotation and multiplication in many of these pieces makes them increasingly abstract.

$fractal building rotation progression$

The symmetry of these fractal forms begin to make us see other patterns of nature, like snowflakes or star systems, in the shapes and materials of otherwise everyday towers, monuments, habitations, town squares and civic circles.

$fractal circle town square$

$fractal glass facade$

From the photographer: “Though my primary focus is on architecture and urban environments, I also like to indulge my love of the natural landscape. Digital abstracts have also become a growing segment of my work – inspired by my passion for design and the modern aesthetic.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]

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Colorful Pop-Up: City Farm Storefront for Produce & Plants

27 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

pop up green shop

This competition-winning design uses upcycled materials to frame a street-facing experience, in part through a fresh take on ‘window shopping’. Its aim: to create a unique and sustainable experience for Londoners looking to purchase fruit- or vegetable-producing plants.

pop up interior space

urban farm interior space

Sponsored by Hackney City Farm, the competition encouraged applicants to reuse materials and strive for sustainability, but this group set themselves apart by proposing something both contextual and eye-catching with a strong pedestrian-side presence.

pop up window facade

urban farm window detail

The team behind this colorfully-painted Sill-to-Sill solution drew inspiration, as well as many of their actual materials, “from the architecture of the local neighbourhood, defined by streets of Victorian terrace houses with their imposing brick facades and generous sash windows. In recent years these homes have been bought up in a wave of gentrification and as new owners move, builders get to work, improvements are made and old materials are discarded.”

pop up window shopping

pop up urban farming

Alongside recycled slats used for the walls, these found window elements were turned into benches, counters, shelves, notice boards and sources of natural light, most prominently used as a colorful display that draws people in from the sidewalk to see their wares. “‘Sill to Sill’ aims to encourage local people to take up urban agriculture by presenting plants in an immediately familiar setting: ‘buy from our window sill and grow on your window sill’.”

pop up construction steps

pop up panoramic

pop up plants london

Part of the approach also involved using strategies that would allow for easier construction despite apparent architectural complexity: “Though visually sophisticated, the design utilized basic timber construction techniques and simple materials in a manner that could easily be assembled by a team of unskilled volunteers. Community involvement at every stage of the project, from inception through construction and on to use, was at the core of the team’s proposal.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

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Choir of Retro Computers Sing a Special Christmas Carol

26 Dec

[ By Steph in Gaming & Computing & Technology. ]

Retro Computers Christmas Carol 1

“Hail the machines, sweet old machines, blow off the dust, wipe off the rust. Christmas has come, joy is foretold, for those of us you never sold. Still we are here, still full of cheer, just plug us in, it will begin.” So starts the Christmas carol this quirky choir of vintage computer equipment would like to sing to you today courtesy of The Glasgow School of Art.

Retro Computers Christmas Carol 2

Alumnus James Houston, who graduated in 2008, created the project using a collection of vintage Mac computers, a Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum +1 and a SEGA Mega Drive. The lyrics to the song ‘Carol of the Bells’ were rewritten accordingly.

Retro Computers Christmas Carol 3

Houston got the idea when pondering new uses for past Christmas gifts, realizing that a few of them had the capability for speech synthesis.

Retro Computers Christmas Carol 4

“Bleep bloop beep bong, hear our sweet song, if none of our coding is wrong.”

[ By Steph in Gaming & Computing & Technology. ]

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Intricate Ice Architecture: 17 Fantastic Frozen Buildings

26 Dec

[ By Steph in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

Ice Architecture Main

While you put the finishing touches on a lopsided snowman in your front yard, ice and snow artists around the world build life-sized ice castles, hotel rooms made of packed snow, and delicate ice sculptures stretching dozens of feet into the air. Illuminated at night, these amazing temporary structures built in some of the world’s coldest places each year look like something out of a winter fairy tale.

Hotel de Glace, Quebec

Ice Architecture Hotel de Glace 1

Ice Architecture Hotel de Glace 2

(images via: hôtel de glace)

The only true ice hotel in North America, Hotel de Glace opens each January with a new theme. In early 2013, that theme was “A Journey to the Center of Winter,” inspired by the Jules Verne novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” It had 44 guest rooms as well as a spa, restaurant, chapel and a bar made of ice.

China Snow World Festival

Ice Architecture China Snow World

(images via: inhabitat)

Incredible replicas of Renaissance architecture, classic Russian architecture and other impressive structures are recreated at China’s Jingyue Snow World Festival each year. While not quite life-sized, this ice and snow architecture often reaches heights of thirty to forty feet. They’re hand-carved using low-tech tools.

Castles at Sapporo Snow Festival, Japan

Ice Architecture Sapporo Japan 1

Ice Architecture Sapporo Japan 2

(images via: david mckelvey)

For just seven days each February, millions of visitors gaze upon intricately carved ice architecture and other large-scale sculptures for the Sapporo Snow Festival on the streets of Sapporo City. More than 10 teams compete in the International Snow Statue Contest to build structures reaching 50 feet tall and 150 feet wide, including life-sized dinosaurs. The largest structures can cost up to $ 100,000 to create, so they’re typically sponsored by countries or corporations.

Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, China

Ice Architecture Harbin China

Ice Architecture Harbin China 2

(images via: wikimedia commons)

Harbin, China transforms into an ethereal showcase of ice architecture and sculptures illuminated in bright colors each January. The annual festival began as a traditional ice lantern garden party in 1963 and is now the largest snow and ice festival in the world, taking over virtually the entire city, with a unique theme each year.

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Intricate Ice Architecture 17 Fantastic Frozen Buildings

[ By Steph in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

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Rough Sleeper: Mobile Backpack Shelter for Urban Homeless

25 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

homeless-animated

Amid the various conceptual designs for addressing large-scale homelessness, this working prototype stands out as refreshingly realistic, practical and applicable to the everyday needs of those sleeping on the streets: mobility, storage and shelter.

homeless shelter backpack design

homeless portable micro shelter

Ragnhild Lübbert Terpling, who studied both design and journalism, created the pack both for homeless populations and ordinary campers, the latter purchasers subsidizing the former group that is in greater need.

homeless shelter backpack

On its functionality: “the hybrid backpack expands into a fully retractable tent-like structure, providing extensive shelter for both those in need or for encampment purposes. Once compressed, the bag supplies enough space for storing essential living supplies; blankets, shoes, and other toiletries.”

homeless backpack contents open

Additional items, like spare shoes or a sleeping roll, can be lashed to the exterior of the pack, while more essential and personal possessions are tucked into compartments that are less easily accessed or removed for additional security.

homeless backpack extras lashed

homeless shelter tent deployed

While it by no means ‘solves’ the problem of homelessness, this product adds a layer of comfort and durability absent from typical de facto shelters like cardboard covers or sleeping bags. In short: it is more short-term patch than long-term problem solver, but at least it is a place to start.

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

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Encyclopedic Landscape: Artist Carves 24-Volume Book Set

25 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

book landscape encyclopedia set

In his most voluminous undertaking to date, this book artist bids farewell to the long legacy of printed Encyclopedia Britannica sets with a mountainous tribute to their 244 years of history.

book landscape 24 volumes

book landscape design detail

Guy Laramée, book artist and author of this piece titled Adieu (French for goodbye), has done similar works at smaller scale, sometimes carved into single books and other times made from whole sets or entire series. A range of fascinating examples can be seen below and certain pieces are available for purchase from the Foster/White Gallery.

book art carved cavern

book art cave inside

book art mountain landscape

book art landscape detail

The act of gouging into a book seems almost violent, making the idyllic and often nature-centric compositions this artist creates via that destruction seem strikingly peaceful by contrast.

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Encyclopedic Landscape Artist Carves 24 Volume Book Set

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

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360Photography

Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

Color-Coded Cars: Time-Collapse Film Reorders Rush Hour

HoJo’s Lost Mojo: 10 Abandoned Howard Johnson’s

Mistake By The Lake – Cleveland, OH

Poolside View – South Carolina

Architectural Afterlife – Springfield, OH

Dayton Blues

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Hojos Lost Mojo 10 Abandoned Howard Johnsons

Secret Slums: Ramshackle Rooftop Villages of Hong Kong

Beer Bath: Underground Brewery Converted to Thermal Spa

Architectural Kaleidoscopes: Buildings Spun into Fractal Art

Choir of Retro Computers Sing a Special Christmas Carol

Intricate Ice Architecture: 17 Fantastic Frozen Buildings

Hotel de Glace, Quebec

(images via: hôtel de glace)

China Snow World Festival

(images via: inhabitat)

Castles at Sapporo Snow Festival, Japan

(images via: david mckelvey)

Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, China

(images via: wikimedia commons)

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Intricate Ice Architecture 17 Fantastic Frozen Buildings

Rough Sleeper: Mobile Backpack Shelter for Urban Homeless

Encyclopedic Landscape: Artist Carves 24-Volume Book Set

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Encyclopedic Landscape Artist Carves 24 Volume Book Set

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Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

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One-Handed, Color-Coded First Aid Kit for Fast & Easy Use

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Tonal Tricks and Treats: Sweets Neatly Arranged By Color

Mistake By The Lake – Cleveland, OH

Poolside View – South Carolina

Architectural Afterlife – Springfield, OH

Dayton Blues

Next Page – Click Below to Read More: Hojos Lost Mojo 10 Abandoned Howard Johnsons

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Amphitheater of the Dead: Hong Kong Hillside Cemeteries

Dense City: Photos Show Tightly-Packed Hong Kong Towers

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Subterranean Quarry Hotel to Extend 328 Feet Underground

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Home Mathematics: 12 Fractal Furniture & Architecture Designs

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Cleverly Flipped: 21 Mirrored Images & Reflected Photos

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Modular Bright Idea: Colorful São Paulo Sidewalk Tea Shop

Natural Lighting: Grow Your Own Glow-in-the-Dark Plants

Temporary Urban Coffee Farm Grows & Sells Bean Brew

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13 Funny & Ridiculous Vintage Christmas Advertisements

Season’s Graffitis! 16 Santalicious Christmas Murals

Strange Decor: 35 Bizarre & Creepy Christmas Tree Ornaments

Hotel de Glace, Quebec

(images via: hôtel de glace)

China Snow World Festival

(images via: inhabitat)

Castles at Sapporo Snow Festival, Japan

(images via: david mckelvey)

Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, China

(images via: wikimedia commons)

Next Page – Click Below to Read More: Intricate Ice Architecture 17 Fantastic Frozen Buildings

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20 Fantastic Physics-Defying Frozen-in-Time Photos

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Second Skin: Kevlar Backpack for Life & Travel in War Zones

Urban Fabric: Stretched, Stitched & Suspended Mobile Home

Details & Diagrams: $ 1,000 IKEA Flat-Pack Refugee Shelter

Next Page – Click Below to Read More: Encyclopedic Landscape Artist Carves 24 Volume Book Set

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Topographic Tomes: More Carved Books by Guy Laramee

Stories Jump Out of the Pages with 3D Book Sculptures

Wrapped & Twisted Book Sculpture by Jacqueline Rush Lee

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Hojos Lost Mojo 10 Abandoned Howard Johnsons

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Intricate Ice Architecture 17 Fantastic Frozen Buildings

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Encyclopedic Landscape Artist Carves 24 Volume Book Set