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Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

Looking Beyond Land: 12 Floating Galleries, Schools & Cemeteries

22 Jun

[ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

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Even without the threat of rising sea levels, we’ve got land scarcity issues in nearly every major city, prompting engineers and architects to look towards the rivers and seas as settings for floating structures that could support not just housing and restaurants but also farms, movie theaters, schools and even cemeteries.

Floating Movie Theater: Pavilion of Reflections

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Assembled on Lake Zurich for the contemporary art biennial Manifesta 11, ‘Pavilion of Reflections’ is an open-air floating cinema with an integrated swimming pool that dips right into the lake. In the daytime, it functions as an urban island, while at night , the LED screen lights up and spectators take their seats to watch a series of documentaries.

Floating Hawker Center: Solar Orchid for Singapore

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Singapore’s traditional hawker culture of food and retail street carts extends out onto the water with the Solar Orchid by SPARK Architects. The self-contained, solar-powered pods encourage interaction with the harbor while reinterpreting the nation’s traditional pastime. Each individual pod accommodates cooking stalls with built-in exhaust, water, electrical, gas, waste collection and water recycling services as well as places for diners to sit.

Floating Eternity Cemetery for Hong Kong

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Hong Kong has a bit of a corpse burial problem, as they run out of land space even for their efficient hillside cemeteries and skyscraper vaults. Could a floating cemetery island that’s able to move from one port to the next throughout the region offer a solution? It’s certainly a novel idea. The Floating Eternity Cemetery by BREAD Studio leaves the land for the living with an exterior looping wall housing urns and central space for ceremonies. Families can come aboard at certain times of year to honor their dead, making it a special, shared experience, before the offshore cemetery moves along again.

Floating Swimming Pool: Baltic Sea Park

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When you run out of land for parks, build them on the water. This way of thinking is spreading across the world, from New York City to Estonia, envisioned as the home of this ‘Baltic Sea Park’ by kilometrezero. The circular pavilion honors thousands of years of history and cultural exchange on the Baltic Sea, and connects buildings on land to a floating structures that acts as a dock for a changing series of floating pavilions. In the summer, the protected circle of water within it becomes a giant swimming pool.

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Looking Beyond Land 12 Floating Galleries Schools Cemeteries

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Neglected Riverside Steps Revived with Form-Fitting Sunbed Seats

22 Jun

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

no studio chairs

Designed to help citizens of Wroclaw, Poland, reclaim neglected parts of their city this site-specific “microinstallation” provides comfortable urban furniture for an otherwise hard-to-occupy staircase.

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Developed by No Studio for DoFA (AKA the Lowersilesian Festival of Architecture), padded bed-chair combinations made for sitting and lounging were placed along public steps near an historic bridge.

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The normal stairs are not only made of uncomfortable concrete, but they are spaced for walking, not sitting, making it uncomfortable to spend time in any position other than standing at and leaning against the riverside railing.

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Visitors, who would normally pass by with few excuses to stop, were suddenly encouraged to have a seat in the sun, all thanks to rather simple but fit-for-function works of urban seating.

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Part practical project, the endeavor also reflects an subtle thesis: small and low-cost moves can radically transform our experience of public open spaces.

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No Studio aims to turn temporary changes into memorable experiences and lasting inspiration: “We create spaces, design for a while and a little longer. We have fun working on serious things. We try to solve problems rather than create monuments.”

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Build-A-Bug: Mini VW Beetle Model Made of LEGO Blocks

21 Jun

[ By SA Rogers in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

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Assemble a miniature model of the iconic Volkswagen Beetle with a new kit from LEGO, reproducing the car in minuscule detail from a surfboard-holding roof rack to a four-cylinder air-cooled engine and fuel tank. The VW Beetle Creator Expert Kit comes with 1,167 pieces including the car’s characteristic round headlights, curved fenders and a body painted vivid sky blue.

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On the outside, you’ll find front and rear bumpers, license plates, flat windshields, exhaust pipes, side mirrors and virtually every other feature you’d see on a full-sized version of the car, down to a couple logos and the kind of bumper stickers you see on surfers’ cars in Malibu. Open the front lid to reveal the spare tire, or the rear to access the engine bay.

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The beige interior forward-tilting seats, a dashboard and steering wheels, and if you tilt the rear seat forward, you’ll find a storage space hiding a fabric beach towel. The top of the car can also be removed to access the inside, and included accessories like a cooler and surfboard can be mounted to the roof rack.

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lego porsche

The kit is available for $ 99.99 USD on July 14th for Lego VIPs, with everybody else getting access on August 1st. This release comes on the heels of a similarly detailed Porsche ‘911 GT3 RS’, a Technic kit of 1:8 scale with 2,704 pieces costing three times as much. That kit is still sold out, so LEGO fans who want the Beetle kit for their own collections will have to act fast.

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Slated for Greatness: 15 Innovative Modern Tile Designs

21 Jun

[ By SA Rogers in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

modern tiles jungle

With a history of use in human structures dating back to the 13th century BCE, decorative tilework has adapted along with our tastes and manufacturing abilities to become even more beautiful and versatile than ever before. Moving beyond colorful mosaics into the minimalism and multipurpose-loving 21st century, these beautiful and often surprisingly innovative modern-day spins on the age-old wall and floor covering expand into 3D textures, color-changing abilities and unusual materials.

Modular Planter Tiles

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These modular concrete tiles are designed specifically for vertical use on a wall, full of irregular organic cutouts that are ready to be planted. The triangle-shaped tiles by French designer Benjamin Pawlica can fit together in different ways to create mini planters of various sizes, and look cool even when there’s no greenery installed.

Jungle Tile

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Sometimes, the biggest impact is still made in a more conventional way, like this gorgeous series of murals painted onto the tile surfaces of Casa Cook Hotel in Greece. Artist Karina Eibatova created a custom jungle scene full of exotic animals and lush greenery, contrasting with the neutrals of the hotel decor.

Tiles Made From Plastic Crates

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Would you ever think to notice that an ordinary polypropylene crate has a pretty cool geometric grid as the base of its design? Dutch designer Maaike Roozenburg did, and paid tribute to the structure by reproducing it on tile. “I wanted to show the clear and distinct aesthetics of mass-production by enhancing it with ‘classical’ ceramic techniques and materials. The behavior and ‘running’ of the glazes function as a dissonant on the crates’ structures and grids. Instead of putting industrial mass-production and ‘traditional’ crafts opposite each other I want to combine them and let them amplify and enrich each other, thus creating a parallel between used techniques and the design theme.”

Tiles That Change Color with Exposure to Heat

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Hot water or even the touch of your hands and feet make these tiles from Moving Color shift hues, making any environment where they’re installed a dynamic, constantly changing space. Made of 20-80% recycled materials, the tiles change color in gradual steps through the color spectrum as they warm up for an iridescent rainbow effect.

Cuidad Tile

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Inspired by Mexico City’s landscape, Nel Colectivo’s ‘Cuidad Tiles’ contain skyscraper-like elements that jut out from the urban grid. The tiles are made from fine-ground marble dust set in a cement mold using a hydraulic press, and some are different from others to create a varied, city-like pattern when put together.

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Slated For Greatness 15 Innovative Modern Tile Designs

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Walk on Water: Christo Unfurls 1 Million Square Feet of Golden Cloth

20 Jun

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

christo island view

Known for his work on large-scale art projects, including the world’s biggest interior art installation, artist’s latest piece features over 1,000,000 square feet (100,000 square meters) of shimmering yellow fabric, wrapped around floating docks that span for miles up to and across Lake Iseo in Italy.

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Undulating with the waves, the Floating Piers project lets visitors walk between Sulzano, Monte Isola and to the island of San Paolo; the floating platforms are visible from surrounding mountains as well.

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Christo conceived of the idea with his Jeanne-Claude as far back as the 1970s, exploring different potential venues for its installation. While Jeanne-Claude passed away in 2009, Christo has carried on the idea, and finally found a place for the temporary work in Northern Italy.

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Many works by this long-standing pair of ambitious artists were self-funded, in part through the sales of concept drawings and models in advance.

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“like all of our projects,” says Christo, “The Floating Piers absolutely free and accessible 24 hours a day, weather permitting. There are no tickets, no openings, no reservations and no owners. The Floating Piers are an extension of the street and belong to everyone.” The project opened this weekend and will run for just 16 days. Images by Wolfgang Volz.

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Scrubbed: 12 Washed Up & Washed Out Abandoned Bathhouses

20 Jun

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Public baths may have a checkered history and a not-so-squeaky-clean image but these dozen abandoned bathhouses prove things aren’t always cut & dried.

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What have the Romans ever done for us? Anyone? Bueller? Well, apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and, of course, the aqueduct, those toga-wearing empire builders introduced the public bathhouse to western civilization.

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That noble heritage is referenced in the name of the abandoned Imperial Baths in Sharon Springs, NY., and while the historic spa village itself is enjoying somewhat of a revival, it comes too late for this and other grandiose bathhouses. Kudos to Flickr users Paul (fotofish64) and Mark Barnette, who scouted out the former upstate New York getaway in March of 2009 and June of 2013 respectively.

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The ancient Romans may have raised the bar when it came to public baths but by no means did they have a monopoly on group bathing. Take the exotic and stylish abandoned bathhouse above, gently deteriorating for who knows how many years in the wilds of Zanzibar, an island in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Tanzania. Flickr user Arlo Midgett (acmidgett) snapped the “Abandoned Persian bathhouse” in early January, 2013.

Michigan Ragged

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So swimming in Lake Michigan was a thing, and not just for unlucky stiffs whacked by the mob. This abandoned bathhouse in Illinois Beach State Park shows off some impressive mid-century modern style that still looks great after years of abandonment.

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Flickr user Eli Naeher (enn-here) visited the empty edifice in late October of 2013 to take these slightly eerie (oops, wrong lake!) images. Nice to know the state parks & rec folks are into graffiti remediation and care enough to advise park-goers of the chance of random asbestos.

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Scrubbed 12 Washed Up Washed Out Abandoned Bathhouses

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Space Age 3D Furniture: Skyscrapers & Rockets Support Stellar Tables

19 Jun

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

curved wave table

Furniture designer and sculptor Stelios Mousarris has added a new twist to his latest 3D-printed creation, taking a leap from sweeping cityscapes to impromptu launch platforms with a spaceship-supported glass coffee table.

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The Cyprus-based creator has “been collecting toys and action figures and anything nostalgic from my childhood until this day,” and wanted to recreate that sense of carefree creativity and imagination in this latest piece, turning toy-style rockets into the centerpiece of a clever table design.

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rocket side table

The table’s creation “combines various techniques from lathe to 3D printing, resin casting and traditional hand carved elements” while “each of the individual rockets remain unattached to the glass, allowing the user to generate their own desired structure and configuration. The table is designed to tap into the playful minds of nostalgic adults and children alike.”

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wave city table

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In his previous works, Mousarris has taken an inception-style approach to wrapping cities, turning their inverted grounds into the supports for coffee and dining tables (using raw wood or added glass to top them off, respectively). The meticulously-detailed buildings become a layer of urban decor, allowing the rest of the materials to remain minimalist in their expression.

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Urban Fairytales: Hyperrealistic Paintings of Kids Exploring the City

18 Jun

[ By SA Rogers in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

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Modern-day children move through a decidedly un-fairytale-like world with unlikely gangs of friendly wild animals to protect them in this series of paintings so realistic, it takes a moment to realize they’re not photographs. Artist Kevin Peterson creates these incredible scenes in oil paint on panel, highlighting the inner strength it can take to survive in places beset with violence and poverty.

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Princesses regally make their way through rubble in abandoned industrial districts with crowned polar bears at their heels, point the way for the fierce lions acting as their champions and saunter down sidewalks with raccoons and foxes. The contrast of wild creatures and worn, neglected urban environments is a startlingly effective one most often utilized for post-apocalyptic scenes, but the addition of the little girls suggests a hope of human resilience.

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“My work is about the varied journeys we take through life,” says Peterson in his artist statement. “It’s about growing up and living in a world that is broken. These paintings are about trauma, fear and loneliness and the strength that it takes to survive and thrive. They each contain the contrast of the untainted, young and innocent against a backdrop of a worn, ragged, and defiled world. Support versus restraint, bondage versus freedom, and tension versus slack are all themes that I often visit.”

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A look through Peterson’s history of work reveals an interesting progression from fairly straightforward (albeit stunningly realistic) portraits of women and little girls in urban environments to these fairytale scenes. Some of these paintings are also going large-scale as public murals. Check out details and stay on top of Peterson’s current work on Instagram.

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Origami Footwear: Lightweight Lace-Free Shoes Wrap & Fit Any Feet

17 Jun

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

flexible origami shoe sole

A Japanese designer and Italian shoemaker have taken a fresh approach to athletic footwear, adapting the minimalist art of cloth wrapping to form the basis of a flexible shoe that fits any foot shape.

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Masaya Hashimoto worked with Vibram, the makers of foot-shaped FiveFingers shoes (with articulated toes), to create the Furoshiki series of shoes with wrapping soles that fold around feet without needing laces (a simple hook and and loop system).

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A specially-engineered gripping system keeps the shoes in place and make it possible for the shoe to perform like ordinary footwear but with less weight and material.

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The system has a number of advantages, including more flexible sizing than traditional shoes, easier packing for travel and the ability to skip socks comfortably.

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From Vibram: “The concept for this type of footwear was derived from the Japanese custom of packaging items by wrapping them in cloth fabric. Furoshiki is the only sole on the market that wraps around the entire foot. Because the upper is constructed with stretch fabric, it will anatomically fit nicely on any foot type and the hook and loop closure system allows for a quick, easy fit.”

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Figurative Furniture: 15 Designs With Life of Their Own

15 Jun

[ By SA Rogers in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

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Does the human tendency to place a higher value on living things that resemble our own image even extend to furniture? You might think so from the range of anthropomorphic designs we’ve created for our own comfort and entertainment, especially when the objects are designed to mimic human contact. These creations seem like they could spring to life at any moment, bringing a sense of anticipation to an otherwise ordinary indoor setting.

Companion Stools by Phillip Grass

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anthropomorphic companion stools

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Standing curiously or sitting in contemplation, Phillip Grass’ ‘Companion Stools’ stare back at us with a single oversized eyeball affixed to the wooden seat.

Fleshy Seats That Smell Like Human Skin

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Not only do these rounded skin-toned stools look like lumps of human flesh – they smell like it, too. Artist Gigi Barker’s A Body of Skin collection is made of silicone that matches the body’s temperature when you sit on it. Leather covers are infused with pheromones and aftershave to add to the effect.

Nel & Maria Bedside Tables

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With hat-shaped lampshades and drawer holes resembling faces, ’Nel & Maria’ bring a little bit of abstracted anthropomorphism to your bedside. The straw hats are reminiscent of those found in the Portuguese region of Baixo Minho, the home of the designers at DAM.

Man-Shaped Collection from Samal Design

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Designer Dzmitry Samal fuses realistically sculpted human bodies with lockers and tables for this strange series. The human legs definitely take up more space than average furniture designs, but most of the pieces are still surprisingly functional for all their dramatics.

Free Hug Chair

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Somewhere between a living human and an oversized stuffed animal, the ‘Free Hugs’ chair is a soft fur-covered creation with extra-long arms made to wrap around you when you take a seat or provide cushioning on the floor.

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Figurative Furniture 15 Designs With Life Of Their Own

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