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Street Art, Decades Apart: 40 Then & Now Graffiti Photos

12 Sep

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

then now

We tend to notice as buildings come and go, skylines change and grow with planning and oversight, but what about the spray-painted wall art the adorns the sides of these structures, sometimes persistent but often fragile and ephemeral?

graffiti past and present

graffiti then and now

OldWalls, a project by Alberto Boido, documents past and present layers of street graffiti, meticulously tracking the artists responsible for the works as well, whenever possible. Most of the pairs are taken from the same vantage point, first in the 1990s, then again in the 2010s.

before after blu graffiti

before after wall murals

Sometimes, the creators in question are famous (or infamous) local creators either adding their mark or being painted over. The above murals in Milan were made more recently by the well-known Italian artist Blu, but the walls,  as you can see, were originally covered in the 1990s. Other artists featured here include Robx, Prof Bad Trip, Maox, Inox, Kino, Bach, Zoc, Kalimero, Kayone, Yazo, Loze, Kid, Zen, Airone, Krema, Pergola, Steezo, Teatro, Mec, Oze, and Area Pozzi. 

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Street Art Decades Apart 40 Then Now Graffiti Photos

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In Orbit: Transparent Suspended Net Playground in the Sky

12 Sep

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

Tomas Saraceno Net Installation 1

A suspension of transparent nets hovering 80 feet over the floor of an indoor courtyard makes for a surreal playground for the brave, and a terrifying sight for those afraid of heights. Artist Tomás Saraceno created this 2500-square-meter installation at the Kunstammlung  Nordrhein-Westfalen museum in Dusseldorf, Germany for visitors to explore.

Tomas Saraceno Net Installation 2

The interactive exhibit invites museum guests to walk out onto the cloud-like nets amidst transparent and mirrored spheres, for the sensation of hovering in some kind of dream space. The steel wire construction spans the museum’s glass cupola on three levels.

Tomas Saraceno Net Installation 3

The transparency of the nets make it look like the people engaging with the installation are floating when viewed from ground level or some of the mid-floors. “When several people enter the audacious construction simultaneously, their presence sets it into motion, altering the tension of the steel wires and the intervals between the three meshwork levels,” states the museum on its website.

Tomas Saraceno Net Installation 4

“By virtue of its magnitude and radically, in orbit has no precedent in Saraceno’s oeuvre to date. Even visitors who do not wish to climb the net or hang suspended above the abyss, but who choose instead to explore the installation in exclusively visual terms are confronted with themes of flight, falling, and floating, are inevitably gripped by the archetypal emotions associated with these states.”

Tomas Saraceno On Space Time 1

Tomas Saraceno On Space Time 2

A previous installation by Saraceno, ‘On Space Time Foam,’ utilizes a similar effect with translucent PVC membranes at a museum in Milan. The work plays on the ‘mutual dependence’ that becomes necessary when multiple people are moving within the installation at once.

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Beyond Google Glass: 13 Real-Life Wearable Tech Inventions

11 Sep

[ By Steph in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

Wearable Tech Main
Once thought to be a dystopian dream of the distant future, the merging of technology and the human body is already well underway, and it could help us avoid injuries, diagnose disease, and even control gadgets with our minds. Google Glass is just the beginning – wearable technology gives us a vast array of incredible, unprecedented capabilities with everything from tiny ultrathin electronic ‘tattoos’ to clothing that translates our movements into computer commands. These 13 inventions are either already available to the public, or well on their way.

MIDI Controller Jacket Turns Your Body into a Synthesizer

Wearable Tech MIDI Jacket

Convert your body movements into music with Machina’s MJ v.1.0, a jacket that integrates a Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) controller with flexible motion sensors so you can operate digital music instruments and computers by modifying the position of your body. It’s so complex, including flexible membrane potentiometers to monitor finger position, it can’t be mass-produced just yet; it has to be hand-made by a master tailor. Other than the placeholders, the sensors are totally invisible, so the jacket looks like any ordinary piece of clothing.

Air Waves Pollution Mask by Frog Design

Wearable Tech Air Waves Pollution Mask 1

Wearable Tech Air Waves Pollution Mask 2

A smart device that monitors air quality in real time and shares the data to smartphones could help combat the negative health effects of extreme pollution in China. The AirWaves mask is a combination of wearable tech and an app that guides users to areas of the city with better air quality, and enables them to track air quality over time. So far it’s just a concept, but an intriguing one that could help raise awareness and give people a little bit of power over a frustrating problem.

MYO Band – Control Gadgets Using Gestures

Wearable Tech Myo Wristband

Rather than external sensors that ‘see’ your movements, like those used by the Nintendo Wii and XBox Kinect, this gesture-reading system for gadgets measures your actual muscle movements. MYO is a band that fits around your forearm, sensing movements similar to those you’d use on an Apple trackpad, like scrolling, flipping and zooming. It uses Bluetooth, so it could theoretically connect to virtually any mobile device, like smartphones, tablets and televisions. It’s currently available for preorder.

Robotic Exoskeleton Could Help Paraplegics Walk

Wearable Tech NASA Exoskeleton

NASA produced this robotic exoskeleton to help astronauts maintain muscle health in space, but the 57-pound X1 device could also help regular people here on Earth. Compared to the Iron Man suit by NASA, the X1features ten joints with multiple adjustment points that help astronauts in  zero gravity avoid muscle atrophy. Its more mundane uses could include increasing the range of movements possible in people who are disabled in various ways, including walking across varied terrain or stairs.

Wearable Solar by Pauline van Dongen

Wearable Tech Solar Dongen

Fashion designer Pauline van Dongen and solar panel specialist Gertjan Jongerden teamed up to join solar power and couture with ‘Wearable Solar.‘ The line consists of a leather and wool coat and dress featuring a series of solar-powered flaps that unfurl to soak up rays of sunlight, folding away ‘invisibly’ when not in use. The modules contain up to 48 flexible solar cells, which is enough to charge a smartphone 50 percent after an hour in full sunlight.

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Starry Light: Hand-Crafted Shell Lamps Cast Stellar Patterns

11 Sep

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

lamp ball of light

Innocuous spheres by day, the carefully handmade holes dotting these coconut shells are hard to even see until they light up at night, morphing from muted balls to bright orbs.

lamp 2

lamp 6

lamp 4

lamp 3

lamp 5

lamp 7

Once illuminated, these subtle spheres are themselves beautifully lit up from within, but also project amazing patterns on surrounding walls, furniture and furnishings, whether set on the floor or placed on a bookcase or nightstand.

lamp 14

lamp 15

lamp 18

lamp 19

Creator Vainius Kubilius explains their constituent parts in anatomical terms – bones (of metal wire) to create a strong and flexible stand, wrapped with skin (of various ropes) to create a tactile exterior, with a head and brain (custom drilled coconut) unique in each case and giving personality to the whole.

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Starry Light Hand Crafted Shell Lamps Cast Stellar Patterns

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Suburb-Terranean: 70s Bunker Home Simulates Day & Night

10 Sep

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

underground bunker home

It is a dream home like any other of its era, with brick walls, sliding doors, stock windows and shingle roofs as well as a lawn, garden, trees and pool. The difference? It is set two stories underground in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the faux flora never wilts nor does it grow, and it is for sale.

underground home day night

If this real-life 1970s home seems like something out of a science-fiction movie, you may be remembering the film Blast from the Past, in which the protagonist spends decades underground in vintage fallout shelter styled after a mid-century suburban home and garden.

underground house kitchen pool

Listed at 1.7 million dollars, this foreclosed property looks conventional at street level, but hides a stunning set of secret spaces below, including two bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen and every other space you would expect inside and outside of a single-family house on the surface.

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Suburb Terranean Fake Day Night In 1970s Bunker Home

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Tall Temple: Bizarre Rooftop Palace on Chinese Skyscraper

10 Sep

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

Illegal Rooftop Temple China 1

The man who built his very own luxury mountain palace atop a condo tower in China – illegally – is hardly alone in his endeavors. A Chinese microblogger spotted what looks like another unsanctioned resort on the roof of a 21-story luxury apartment complex in Shenzhen, complete with lush landscaping and a temple.

Illegal Rooftop Temple China 2

While it’s clear that the stone penthouse was built without permission, this particular rooftop paradise is shrouded in mystery. It has been situated on top of the apartment building for at least three years, but nobody knows who it belongs to, or why it appears to be under such tight security, including cameras, guard dogs and a fingerprint scanner.

A video taken from a helicopter gives us a glimpse at the complex, which appears to include gardens and a pond as well as the gold-tiled temple itself. Tenants fear the suspected illegal construction could jeopardize the structural integrity of the entire building. Neighbors report that golden sheets of joss paper, which is burned to honor ancestors, occasionally floats down from the temple’s perch, leading them to believe it’s used for traditional Chinese religious practices.

Illegal Rooftop Temple China 3

According to the South China Morning Post, a local property owner told reporters that the person responsible for the temple might be the director of Nanshan district’s Residential Property Management Office, a man named Xiong. “We once had a meeting [regarding the temple] and required it to be demolished. We put up notifications. But [Xiong] installed a security door and refused to let demolition people near [the structure.] The [problem] has still yet to be resolved.”

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Religious Conversions: 15 Houses of Worship Turned Secular

09 Sep

[ By Steph in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

Converted Churches Secular Main

Transforming these fifteen churches, monasteries and synagogues into homes, libraries and nightclubs hasn’t put a damper on their sense of reverence and grandeur. Former houses of worship all over the world retain all of their awe-inspiring original architectural elements like vaulted ceilings, arches, altars and stained glass windows while adjusting to needs that are more mundane.

13th Century Church to Modern Library, Maastricht, Holland

Church Converted Library 1

Converted Church Library 2

A thirteenth-century Dominican church in Maastricht, Holland has been transformed into Selexyz Dominicanen, a massive bookstore. The 1,200-square-meter church will all of its elegant arches and vaults has been filled with a modern three-story volume containing row after row of books, to take advantage of the full height of the structure.

St. Jakobus Church to Home by Zecc Architects, The Netherlands

Converted Church Home Living Zecc 1

Converted Church Home Living Zecc 2

A modest, narrow chapel in The Netherlands that had fallen into disuse is now a private home. Like many other churches in the area, St. Jakobus was no longer needed for its intended purpose, so it was used as an antique store and even a meeting place for small concerts over the years. Then Zecc Architects came in, removed part of the mezzanine floor, painted nearly every surface stark white and inserted modular volume that provides enclosed rooms and a loft without compromising the grand feel of the space.

Gothic Monastery to Hotel, Maastricht, Holland

Converted Church Hotel

Travelers can take a different sort of comfort in a 15th century monastery in Maastricht than that for which it was originally built. The Crutched Friars is now the 60-room Kruisheren Hotel. The monastery houses the guest rooms, while the Gothic church contains the reception area, conference rooms, a library, a boutique and a coffee bar.

Ordinary Church Concealing Modern Home, Sydney, Australia

Converted Church Concealing Modern Home 1

Converted Church Concealing Modern Home 2

What appears to be an ordinary church in Sydney, Australia is actually a modern home. You wouldn’t guess from the outside that just within those walls is a light-filled living space with an indoor swimming pool, glazed walls and a marble commercial kitchen.

Anglican Church to Spirito Martini Bar, Brussels, Belgium

Converted CHurch Spirito Martini Bar

The Spirito-Martini is a luxurious hotspot in Brussels with three bars, five different lounges and a private room, all set within a former Anglican church. All of the major architectural elements of the church have been retained, including extravagant chandeliers. The designers outfitted the club in Victorian-style furniture, damask and dark wood.

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4-Dimensional Photography: Artistic Time-Lapse Collages

09 Sep

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]

time lapse day night

Motion pictures aside, the nature of photographic representation implies freezing space in time – a moment captured and preserved, independent of what comes before or after.

time lapse photo rays

time lapse vertical sky

Yet, as photographer Fong Qi Wei points out, “we do know that time is also a dimension, like length, breadth and width. In fact, physicists have a model called space-time: suggesting that time is part of a continuum with the 3 dimensions that we are familiar with. But the print is still an instance. Most paintings and photographs are an instance of time. That’s not the way the world works. We experience a sequence of time.”

time elapsed photo seeries

time lapse rays light

His solution is this photo series, Time is a Dimension, in composed mostly of “landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes,” which “are a single composite made from sequences that span 2-4 hours, mostly of sunrises and sunsets. The basic structure of a landscape is present in every piece[, but] each panel or concentric layer shows a different slice of time, which is related to the adjacent panel/layer. The transition from daytime to night is gradual and noticeable in every piece, but would not be something you expect to see in a still image.”

time lapse waterfront attraction

time lapse urban landscape

There is a playful and experimental quality to the variety of approaches found within this set of images. Sometimes a series of casually-drawn circles spread out from a focal point. In other cases, rays like a child’s drawing of sunshine span from some implied but out-of-frame source. Each has at least one surprise upon inspection, like the changing reflections in glass over the course of a day, or the differences in artificial illumination going into the night. Overall, the results are rich in colors and shades but also do tell a story of time elapsing, quite by design.

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Transits Of Venus: 8 Women-Only Subway & Train Cars

08 Sep

[ By Steve in Global & Travel & Places. ]

women-only subway train cars
Subway sandwich: good if you’re hungry, bad if you’re a female commuter. These 8 women-only transit cars offer groups of gals a grope-free rail road trip.

Japanese Rail & Subways

Tokyo Metro women-only subway train car(image via: Wikipedia)

Japan first introduced women-only subway cars in 1912, though their usage was sporadic and isolated. Modern usage of train and subways carriages specifically restricted to women dates from the year 2000 with the Tokyo Metro succumbing to popular demand for such cars in 2005.

Japan subway women-only cars(images via: Apple Daily, The Japan Times and The Grid)

They may have been late to the dance but the Tokyo Metro now serves as a model for other city’s and nation’s transit systems on how to do women-only transit right. Designated cars are consistently color-coded (pink, naturally) to avoid confusion by the visually-impaired, signage on the trains in in the stations is profuse, and transit police are on hand to enforce the rules.

Rio de Janeiro Metro, Brazil

women-only car Rio de Janeiro Metro Brazil subway(image via: RAYRAY IN RIO!)

Brazil’s first gender-specific subway cars first appeared on São Paulo Metro in October 1995, but the scheme was discontinued in September 1997 after the Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos (CPTM) received complaints from married couples. There was also the possibility that Article 5 of the Brazilian Constitution, which guarantees equality among citizens, might be inadvertently flouted giving rise to an expensive legal challenge. Curiously, the Rio de Janeiro Metro was untroubled by these sticking points and introduced women-only subway passenger carriages in April of 2006.

women-only cars Rio de janeiro Metro Brazil subway(images via: NBC News and Andén 2)

The official policy regarding women-only carriages dictates that for trains with six passenger cars, one car must exhibit predominantly pink colors and signage denoted the car to be for the exclusive use of women. It should be noted that pinkness notwithstanding, the women-only restriction only applies on weekdays during the morning and afternoon rush hours (3 hours each). Metro police enforcement is provided to ensure non-women (also known as men) stay out of the cars and station platforms have signs in pink, white and yellow on their floors indicating where women should assemble for boarding.

women-only car Rio de Janeiro Metro Brazil subway(image via: Wikipedia/Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz)

The recent introduction of Rio de Janeiro’s “Women’s Exclusive Cars” has allowed the system to borrow from other successful subway networks around the world: note the “Mind The Gap” warning on the platform, lifted from the London Underground circa 1969.

“Kereta Khusus Wanita”, Indonesia

Kereta Khusus Wanita Indonesia women-only commuter trains(images via: CharlesKKB, The Jakarta Post and Tempo.co)

If the Indonesian commuter train you’re about to board is trimmed in pink & purple and bears the legend “Kereta Khusus Wanita”, back off Jack… unless you’re a Jill.

Kereta Khusus Wanita Indonesia women-only train(image via: Korean Lecture Heeya)

Indonesian women have taken to the women-only services provided by the nation’s commuter train lines, and if such service is withdrawn they don’t take the loss lying down. Such was the case in May of 2013 when PT KAI Jabodetabek Commuter decided to discontinue the exclusive cars on its women-only Electric Railway Train (KRL) line running the Bogor to Jakarta route. “”

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Deserted Paris of the East: Chinese Replica Now Ghost City

07 Sep

[ By Delana in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

Tianducheng, China

On any given day in Paris, you might see hundreds of thousands of  residents and tourists in the streets. They go in and out of shops, snap pictures next to landmarks, stare in wonder at the opulent architecture. But over 5500 miles away, there is another Paris – a comparative ghost town where the streets stand nearly empty.

chinese paris ghost town

Construction on Tianducheng, in China’s Zhejiang district, began in 2007. It was meant to be a luxurious gated community resembling Paris in every way possible. The highlight of the town is its 354-foot replica of the Eiffel tower, but plenty of Paris’ other landmarks have been faithfully recreated here.

paris of the east ghost town

There is a major incongruity between one’s expectations for a “little Paris” and what you will actually see in Tianducheng. The streets are, for the most part, entirely empty. There are no throngs of tourists or business people rushing off to their offices. There is a lot of quiet, and there is a fair amount of traditional Chinese culture, seemingly completely out of place in the French surroundings.

agricultural chinese life outside paris replica

The development was built to house 100,000 people and to draw rural families into a bustling metropolitan area. As of 2007, (the last time the population was counted), only 2,000 souls inhabited the gated compound. The population seems to be dwindling, leading local media to refer to Tianducheng as a “ghost town.”

traditional chinese culture in paris replica

It may seem odd to build a replica of a famous city in a different country, but the developers were working on the idea that Paris was seen as a romantic destination. They felt that Chinese people would want to live in this faux-European environment with its stately townhouses and wide-open courtyards. Several other Western-style towns and communities have been built in China around this idea.

At least in Tianducheng, you are more likely to see empty streets and traditional Chinese agricultural life than the distinctly Parisian pastimes of shopping, strolling, and sipping wine on a restaurant patio. Daily life in the town is documented in the video above.

worker in tianducheng

Work is still in progress in the compound; its expected completion date is in 2015. So the Paris of the East, it turns out, isn’t quite a ghost town – it hasn’t had the time to develop ghosts just yet. In a few years, this now-quiet development could very well be chock full of Chinese residents ready to begin their European-style lives. (Images via: Business Insider and video by Caspar Stracke)

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