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Magic Circle: Laser-Cut Paper Sculptures Inspired by Nature

01 Dec

[ By Steph in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

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An artist known for spending untold hours painstakingly hand-cutting tiny paper sculptures inspired by diatoms, bacteria, viruses, coral and other natural structures has augmented his process with the precision of lasers. Rogan Brown submerges himself in careful study of the tiniest of living things, such as the microbes and pathogens mimicked in his series ‘Outbreak.’ With ‘Magic Circle,’ Brown places collections of these cut-outs into a large circular display measuring about 40 inches across.

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In his paper cuts, Brown “explores the boundaries between observational study and artistic interpretation, existing somewhere between scientific accuracy and pure, unbridled imagination.” While previous works have focused mostly on one type of microscopic organisms at a time, ‘Magic Circle’ brings a variety of them together in one piece.

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“This piece is part of a new series of works that mixes hand and laser cutting to create an incredibly detailed and varied visual texture making multiple references: coral, bacteria, pathogens, diatoms, etc… each motif is however completely fictive and imagined; it is this interplay between the imagination and the ‘real’ world that fascinates me, reality is transformed and estranged through the creative process which paradoxically makes the finished work more real and unique.”

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‘Magic Circle’ will be on display at Miami’s Aqua Art Fair, December 2nd through 6th. See more impressively intricate paper cuts in a range of styles, from dizzyingly complex patterns to tapestries that span several stories of a gallery.

[ By Steph in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

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Work Perks: These 13 Offices Are Way More Fun Than Yours

01 Dec

[ By Steph in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

fun offices main

Maybe you wouldn’t grumble about going back to work on Mondays if your office had putting greens and slides, meetings were held in tree houses, and you could work from ski lift pods or ball pits. Some of the perks at the world’s most fun workplaces – mostly made up of tech companies, natch – include three free meals a day, nap areas, fish tank relaxation rooms, full bars, arcades, skate ramps and spiraling slides worthy of theme parks.

Chartboost

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Based in San Francisco, the world’s largest games-only technology platform worked with Blitz Architecture to create a fun, interactive environment for employees and visitors alike. Chartboost’s headquarters include a ‘photo op’ wall with an 11-foot-tall dinosaur, a game room with a ball pit and a giant LEGO wall, and five conference rooms with classic game themes like Donkey Kong, Super Mario and the Legend of Zelda.

Red Bull

fun offices red bull skate ramp

Red Bull’s Mexico City office boasts a grassy hangout spot full of swings for meetings, while the Santa Monica location features an incredible skate ramp that runs through the entire interior.

Missing Link

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South Africa’s Missing Link, a presentation strategy company, sourced salvage materials to put together a fun and imaginative office in just six weeks. The results include a treehouse, fire pole, playground slide, shooting range and caravan.

YouTube

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YouTube’s main headquarters in San Bruno, California mixes work and play with a massive red slide, a putting green, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, nap pods and bicycles and scooters to get around the sizable complex.

Google

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fun offices google zurich fish tank

Google is renowned for having not only an enviable range of employee perks, but also some incredibly creative work environments at their offices around the world. The Zurich location is particularly noteworthy with its fish tank relaxation room, ski lift work pods, slides, karaoke room and multiple game rooms.

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Work Perks These 13 Offices Are Way More Fun Than Yours

[ By Steph in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

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Bio-Wearables: Tech Tattoos Put Working Circuits on Your Skin

30 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

wearable circuit board tattoo

Tech Tats use conductive inks to create a circuit board right on your skin, providing a passive and unobtrusive alternative to standard wearables. Smartwatches and fitness trackers tend to stand out (worn on wrists or around necks) and need to be taken off and put back on daily, whereas these tats (while temporary) can be applied indefinitely.

The wearable can be used to monitor body temperature, blood pressure, stress levels and heart rate, then transmit data wirelessly to a mobile app or computer.

wearable electric ink paint

Lying effectively flat against the surface of your skin, these complete circuits are easy to conceal or reveal depending on whether or not you want to show off your ink.

wearable tech example development

The DIY-friendly design uses LED lights, a microcontroller and conductive ink – for now, the result is intentionally temporary, but permanently-inked versions could work as well.

wearable tech app wireless

The applications are numerous, starting with medical but expanding to financial as well as other identification-oriented use cases. A wearable wallet could be tied to your banking information, for example, or you could apply a Tech Tat to your child during an outing to a busy place, providing an easy way to track them in case you get separated. Chaotic Moon is currently developing both the wearable circuitry tech as well as related applications.

[ By WebUrbanist in Gadgets & Geekery & Technology. ]

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Blue Lights Out: 10 Closed & Abandoned Kmart Stores

29 Nov

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Attention Kmart shoppers… would the last one out the door please turn off the blue lights? These 10 abandoned Kmart stores have rung up their last receipt.

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The first Kmart opened on March 1st, 1962, in Garden City, Michigan – one of 18 Kmart stores to open that year. It wasn’t long before “Attention Kmart shoppers!” and the Blue Light Special entered the realm of pop culture. All good things must come to an end, however, though the end for Kmart has been especially long and messy.

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Down to 979 stores (as of January 2015) in 49 states and territories, Kmart’s decline has left hundreds of abandoned buildings in its wake including the one above, abandoned since 2008 in Defiance, Ohio. Kudos to Flickr user Nicholas Eckhart for snapping and posting the images above.

Z-Mart

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Sign of the End Times? The Walking Dead of retail? This disturbing “Kmart from Hell” sign stands (as of January 31st, 2013) in front of the abandoned former Kmart Super Center at Winchester and Riverdale in Memphis, TN. Built in 1995, the store only lasted ten years before management threw in the towel. Flickr user l_dawg2000‘s photo highlights “some sort of lo-jac device (bottom left on the sign) to discourage stealing it!”

Close the Palm Bay Doors

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Call it a combo of dedication and obsession: Flickr user Albertsons Florida Blog photo-documented the decline and fall of Kmart #3710 in Palm Bay, Florida (opened 1979), in 217 photos (and two videos) dating from January 28th of 2014 through September 9th, 2015.

Because of Winn-Dixie?

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Too big to fail? Nope! Flickr user Ryan (RetailByRyan95) brings us this abandoned Big Kmart (complete with enticing K Cafe) department store at 5432 Glenside Drive in Richmond, VA. The store opened as a regular Kmart in 1977; in 1998 it expanded into the space formerly occupied by a neighboring Winn-Dixie supermarket that had closed the previous year.

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Black signs don’t matter. Newly incarnated as a “Big Kmart”, the store soldiered on until August 2012 when the doors slammed shut for the final time and the sign was blacked out.

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Blue Lights Out 10 Closed Abandoned Kmart Stores

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Lookout Below: 1-Mile Toronto Park to Run Under Elevated Highway

29 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

under park at night

A new urban park in Ontario will take sheltered but unused space below a raised roadway and turn it into a place for walking, cycling and outdoor performances.

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A project of urban designer Ken Greenberg as well as Marc Ryan and Adam Nicklin of Public Work, the Under Gardiner design approach treats the area as a covered streetscape, taking advantage of rain and sun shade provided by the vehicular thoroughfare above.

under park skating

Its surface programming also bridges institutional uses on either side, including aquariums, museums and other cultural buildings.

under highway elevated park

From architectural thesis research into reusing spaces under viaducts, this article’s author can attest to the advantages of using these sub-street spaces – noise and air pollution levels are actually lower directly below than they are adjacent to raised roads.

elevated highway underneath park

The biggest concerns are seismic, which in turn are tied to regional risk factors, and still problematic for any kind of enclosed or sheltered space, architectural or otherwise.

under park construction

Existing columns and beams of the surrounding infrastructure will naturally divide the spaces into sections that act as exterior rooms while also providing ways to hang signage, wayfinding mechanisms and announcement billboards.

under park visual language

The project is being launched with the help of a sizable $ 25,000,000 donation from Toronto philanthropists Judy and Wil Matthews.

street park project

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“The passion and financial assistance of a major donor is joining with the City and Waterfront Toronto to plan and build new infrastructure, and to showcase a new model of city building for Toronto,” said Waterfront Toronto.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Impossible Landscapes: Distorted Scenes Disrupt Reality

28 Nov

[ By Steph in Art & Photography & Video. ]

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The laws of physics no longer apply as landscapes bend and flip, air and water blend together so that porpoises swim through the sky, surfers catch waves of clouds and the moon grows to many times its normal size. Jakarta-based graphic designer Jati Putra digitally blends photographs of nature, architecture and human subjects to create otherworldly scenes.

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These creative compositions masterfully combine images that don’t really go together in the real world, but match up beautifully in mood, tone and color so the results are surreal, yet somehow almost believable. It makes it easy to imagine a world in which you can walk up to the edge of a cliff and see the moon floating in the clouds just off in the distance.

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Other manipulations create Inception-like landscapes that fold upon themselves in strange ways, the shape of the Earth and gravity temporarily suspended. But some are so subtle it takes a moment to realize that the trees in a forest are mirrored, with roots and another soil surface where the leaves and sky should be.

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Check out more of Putra’s work at his Instagram, @jatiputra.

[ By Steph in Art & Photography & Video. ]

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Water Bed: Tow an Amphibious Mobile Shelter Behind Your Bike

27 Nov

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

mobile water bed

Combining the cheap convenience of a hostel with the outdoor access of a tent, this wheeled micro-dwelling can be carted behind a bicycle then lowered into the water for a night of floating fun.

wheeled bike nomadic

bike bed trail

Created by Royal College of Art (RCA) graduate Daniel Durnin, the shelter features a watertight bottom, canvass walls and operable wood-framed fenestration for viewing and circulation.

water bed on wheels

water bed nomadic

The tent-on-the-water approach renders urban lakes, rivers and streams suddenly more accessible, creating alternative campgrounds that take up no space on land. It is designed with city’s like Durnin’s own (London) in mind, places where waterways are more prevalent than unused grounds.

water tent floating

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“I hope that the work will reawaken our connection with nature using the waterways as a catalyst and restore balance to the more networked living space that we now inhabit, not just in London but across the globe,” says Durnin.

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

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Building Up Iraq: World’s Tallest Skyscraper Planned for Basra

27 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

worlds tallest

An ambitious proposal for a country in turmoil, this 3,780-foot building would be not only the tallest in the world but also taller than all structures currently in planning or under construction.

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Composed of four connected towers, The Bride by AMBS Architects aims to exceed the Kingdom Tower slated for construction in Saudi Arabia as well as the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

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The mixed-use commercial, housing and office project includes a sweep veil providing shade for outdoor public spaces, parks, gardens and smaller buildings below. A net-zero structure, it is designed to produce more renewable energy than it consumes.

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Its designers boast that the 1.5 million square foot structure will break new ground in engineering and vertical transportation. They also emphasize that its horizontality makes an intentional statement about inclusivity – the building is meant to serve more than just those who occupy its heights.

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“Super-tall towers are perceived as an object in the distance,” said AMBS. “An alien planted in the city, disconnected from the urban scale at ground level. The Bride, on the other hand, will be conceived as a city itself both vertically but also horizontally from the ground.”

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“It will be enjoyed by thousands of people in endless ways, within it, on it or under it, from walking in the vast shaded parks and promenades at ground level, to having lunch or shopping in a sky-square hundreds of metres above sea level.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

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Star Wars x Starchitects: Lightsabers Meet Modern Design

26 Nov

[ By Steph in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

How would Zaha Hadid’s signature brand of futuristic bio-inspired architecture translate to the design of a lightsaber if she were a Jedi? The project ‘Design x Saber’ mashes up the iconic Star Wars weapon with some of the design world’s biggest names of the 20th and 21st centuries, from the midcentury modern furniture sensibilities of Ray and Charles Eames to the graphic minimalist fashions of Issey Miyake.

Y Studios, a San Francisco-based research company, identified five distinguished designers whose styles could be creatively applied to the Star Wars universe and then created a signature lightsaber for each one. Hadid’s saber, for instance, features a curvaceous white web wrapping around an iridescent metallic core for the hilt.

“With the Hadid saber, we wanted to explore movement through the form as an idea for designing the hilt,” says the studio. “By taking an exoskeletal structure and wrapping it around a chrome metal insert, it gave us a natural grip zone that related directly to the Hadid aesthetic. The simple, flowing and always changing curvature draws the eyes around the hilt from all angles, making it a true 360 degree design example.”

Miyake’s saber features a black faceted texture inspired by his famous Bao Bao bag paired with the silhouette of a Japanese katana sword, with the Aurebesh characters for ‘Jedi knight” etched into the blade. The Eames design, made primarily of wood, takes after the designer brothers’ most sought-after creation, the iconic Eames lounge chair made of plywood and leather.

German industrial designer Dieter Rams is best known for his pleasingly simple, pure white aesthetic and a “less but better” principle for good design; his saber is appropriately clean and balanced, free of unnecessary ornamentation. See the others and get more details at the Y Studios Vimeo channel.

[ By Steph in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

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Luminous Illusions: 14 Interactive Spaces Made of Light

26 Nov

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

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Step into three-dimensional blueprints made of light, gaze at flickering ghost ships and walk beneath artificial aurora borealis with this stunning set of interactive illuminated installations. Often reacting to physical stimuli like the movement of the wind or the people viewing them, these light art projects blur the lines between what’s real and what’s illusion.

Five-Story Glowing Star in an Unfinished Building

The concrete shell of a partially completed building in in the Malaysian town of Butterworth is currently occupied by a five-story glowing star by artist and architect Jun Ong. Inspired by glitches, the installation consists of five hundred meters of steel cables and LED strips and is meant to highlight the once-bustling city’s fragmented identity.

Waterlicht: An Artificial Aurora Borealis

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The sky over Westervoort in the Netherlands is illuminated in swaths of eerie blue, mimicking the natural phenomenon of the ‘northern lights,’ or aurora borealis. Artist Daan Roosegaarde made use of the area’s foggy conditions to reflect beams of blue Led lights to raise awareness about the Dutch waterworks that keep the country from being inundated with water.

Rainbow Tunnels Mimic Movement of Nearby Water

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Another light-based installation in the Netherlands reminds visitors that without the modern interventions that are in place, the Netherlands would be underwater. These two tunnels linking a newly developed area of Zutphen to the historic city center were transformed by Herman Kuijer, their rainbow hues slowly shifting in time with the movement of nearby water.

Enormous Light & String Installation in Boston

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Barely visible during the day and illuminated at night, one hundred miles of twine suspended above the city of Boston aims to “visually knit together the fabric of the city with art.” Artist Janet Echelman tied over 500,000 knots to create the 600-foot-wide installation, which undulates irregularly in the wind.

Stellar Caves: 3D Thread Drawings

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Artist Julien Salaud coats thread with UV paint so it glows under ultraviolet light, and then weaves it into incredibly intricate three-dimensional drawings that occupy entire architectural spaces. The ‘Stellar Cave’ series creates an enchanting environment filled with silhouettes of animals and constellations for a mystical effect.

360Photography

Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

Magic Circle: Laser-Cut Paper Sculptures Inspired by Nature

Work Perks: These 13 Offices Are Way More Fun Than Yours

Chartboost

Red Bull

Missing Link

YouTube

Google

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Work Perks These 13 Offices Are Way More Fun Than Yours

Bio-Wearables: Tech Tattoos Put Working Circuits on Your Skin

Blue Lights Out: 10 Closed & Abandoned Kmart Stores

Z-Mart

Close the Palm Bay Doors

Because of Winn-Dixie?

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Blue Lights Out 10 Closed Abandoned Kmart Stores

Lookout Below: 1-Mile Toronto Park to Run Under Elevated Highway

Impossible Landscapes: Distorted Scenes Disrupt Reality

Water Bed: Tow an Amphibious Mobile Shelter Behind Your Bike

Building Up Iraq: World’s Tallest Skyscraper Planned for Basra

Star Wars x Starchitects: Lightsabers Meet Modern Design

Luminous Illusions: 14 Interactive Spaces Made of Light

Five-Story Glowing Star in an Unfinished Building

Waterlicht: An Artificial Aurora Borealis

Rainbow Tunnels Mimic Movement of Nearby Water

Enormous Light & String Installation in Boston

Stellar Caves: 3D Thread Drawings

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Luminous Illusions 14 Interactive Spaces Made Of Light

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Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

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Macro to Micro: Intricate Paper Cut Art Inspired by Nature

Beautiful Bacteria: Infectiously Intricate Paper Cut Art

Paper Architecture: Intricate 3D Sculptures by Ingrid Siliakus

Chartboost

Red Bull

Missing Link

YouTube

Google

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Outside Offices: 14 Detached Work Pods, Eggs, Modules & More

Odd Offices: 13 Wacky Outside-the-Box Workspace Designs

19 Crazy Offices That Think Outside The Cubicle

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Beyond Google Glass: 13 Real-Life Wearable Tech Inventions

Skin That Apple: 15 Awesome iPhone Cases & Cool Covers

Robot Tattoos: Awesome Works of Mechanical Body Art

Z-Mart

Close the Palm Bay Doors

Because of Winn-Dixie?

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The Bucks Stop Here: 9 Closed & Abandoned Dollar Stores

Empty Chambers: 10 Closed & Abandoned Gun Stores & Shops

Scratched Out: Nine Nifty Closed & Abandoned Nail Salons

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Seoul Sky Garden: Elevated Urban Park on an Abandoned Highway

Turning Tides: 10-Mile Park to Protect NYC from Flooding

High Line West: Chicago & LA on Track for Elevated Greenways

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Inception Park: Impossible Roller Coaster in Buenos Aires

Literary Landscapes: Carved Books by Guy Laramee

Microsonic Landscapes: What Music Looks Like in 3D

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Bike Tire Tent: Compact Travel Shelter Wraps Inside Wheels

Modified Water Bike: Inventor Commutes San Francisco Bay

H2O to Go: Bike Bottle Makes Water from Thin Air as You Cycle

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Tallest Skyscraper in the World & Highest Virtual Building

Surprise: The World’s Tallest Structure Is Not a Skyscraper

Skyscraper Slums: Insider Tour of World’s Tallest Tent City

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R2-D2 Express: Take a Ride on a Real Star Wars-Themed Plane

Downward Facing Wookie: Amazing Star Wars Yoga

Sci-Fi Staple: Star Wars Mosaic Made of Surprising Material

Five-Story Glowing Star in an Unfinished Building

Waterlicht: An Artificial Aurora Borealis

Rainbow Tunnels Mimic Movement of Nearby Water

Enormous Light & String Installation in Boston

Stellar Caves: 3D Thread Drawings

Next Page – Click Below to Read More: Luminous Illusions 14 Interactive Spaces Made Of Light

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Interactive Light Art Installation Operated by Smart Phones

Lucky Rainbow: Time Lapse Pics of Traffic Light Piercing Fog

Interactive Wonderland: Light Projection Art Animates Sydney

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Work Perks These 13 Offices Are Way More Fun Than Yours

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Blue Lights Out 10 Closed Abandoned Kmart Stores

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Luminous Illusions 14 Interactive Spaces Made Of Light