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Architectural Magic: Big Stone Building Breaks Free & Floats

23 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

architecture floating building magic trick

A work of art, genius and incredible effort, half of this replica structure appears to hang in mid-air, seeming at once a perfect aesthetic fit for its surroundings and completely disconnected from the laws of physics.

architecture covent garden installation

British artist Alex Chinneck and his crew spent over 500 hours and had to construct a 4-ton counterweight to balance this faux building in the sky – what appears to be solid stone is in fact a steel-framed copy of an historic structure also found at Covent Garden (the original is nearly 200 years old).

architecture floating building illusion

architecture draft plan model

Chinneck is well known for his architecture-centric optical illusions, with this particular piece created as a play on the area’s “performance culture” – its proximity to theaters and performance spaces.

architecture faux construction process

architecture cut slice pieces

The construction process required a painstaking attention to historical details and materials in addition to grafting the appearance of age, wear and tear onto the fake structure. Another significant challenge: the seemingly haphazard breaking and slicing of everything from stones to windows and their frames.

architecture hidden steel frame

architecture floating building magic trick

From the artist: “The hovering building introduces contemporary art to traditional architecture, performing a magic trick of spectacular scale to present the everyday world in an extraordinary way. My objective was to create an accessible artwork that makes a harmonious but breath-taking contribution to its historic surroundings, leaving a lasting and positive impression upon the cultural landscape of Covent Garden and in the minds of its many visitors.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

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Hoverboards are Here! Design Floats Above Metal Surfaces

25 Oct

[ By Steph in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

hendo hoverboard main

Twenty-five years after ‘Back to the Future’ convinced an entire generation that we’d soon be able to zoom around the city on wheel-less floating skateboards, it looks like we might finally get our wish: a working hoverboard actually exists. The Hendo Hoverboard, currently blazing past its funding goals on Kickstarter, features four disc-shaped hover engines that create a magnetic field to levitate the board off the ground.

Hendo Hoverboard 4

Hendo Hoverboard 5

Naturally, there’s a catch: it only works on certain metallic surfaces. The creators are currently using non-ferromagnetic conductor sheet metal, but are working on new compounds that could increase performance while minimizing cost. The magnetic field created by the board levitates it an inch above the ground, offering an ultra-smooth ride that you just can’t get on wheels.

Hendo Hoverboard 3

“While one day we expect to have hoverboards that can effortlessly float over any medium (even water!), our current technology requires special types of surfaces,” says Hendo. “Therefore, we need a hoverpark to go with our boards, and have been busy designing a park befitting the awesomeness of our technology.”

hendo hoverboard 7

In addition to snagging a ‘Whitebox’ developer kit that enables you to play around with the technology yourself, Kickstarter rewards include reserving a brick-sized piece of the eventual Hoverpark with your name engraved onto it. The first 10 production Hendo Hoverboards have already been snagged at $ 10,000 each.

gizmodo hoverboard gif

After all the hoaxes, it’s understandable that people are skeptical – but Gizmodo got to actually give it a try, confirming that it works. Check it out in the video above, and get all the technical details at Kickstarter.

[ By Steph in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

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Urban Islet: Nordic Nature Retreat Floats in London Canal

07 Mar

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

wildlife wood finnish design

Referencing rocky Nordic island sanctuaries, this platform is designed to provide a place to relax and observe local wildlife in the heart of a bustling city. The prefabricated structure was lifted into the canal by crane and pushed into place by a tiny tugboat, all in a single day.

floating urban wildlife platform

Viewpoint was created for the London Wildlife Trust by Finnish architects of AOR. Of their inspiration: “For Finns, [small] islands are places of sanctuary, to relax the mind and get away from hectic city life. Viewpoint offers Londoners a chance to experience this escape on a secluded islet in the heart of the city.” It is to be a permanent fixture of Regent’s Canal, located in Camley Street Natural Park.

floating islet concept context

wildlife platform floating london

As the architects alluded to, this minimalist approach and triangular architecture are modeled on the vernacular of traditional temporary dwellings found further north. Such residential retreats are situated on small islands and used for hunting and fishing excursions. Typically, these humble abodes are made using natural at-hand materials including tree bark, branches, leaves and mosses.

floating islet facade elevation

floating islet kings cross

Unveiled by the The Finnish Institute in London and The Architecture Foundation, the finished design is definitively Finnish, created with acoustics, human scale and tactile experiences in mind, and factoring in how materials will weather over time. The result features modest volumes and a warm wooden frame rising up from concrete and clad in Corten steel. In turn, this made-to-age material palette will increasingly blend the structure in with its surroundings.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

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Weekly Photography Challenge – What Floats Your Boat?

01 Mar

Earlier today I shared some fabulous images of boats – all sizes, types, and colours.

Now it’s your turn. Show us your best boat images for the weekly photography challenge. Even if you don’t live near the ocean or large body of water, try something creative. What about a toy boat in the bathtub?

Winter got you snowed in? How about the antique store where they have boats in bottles!

Think outside the box . . . or bottle, and show us your boats! Here’s couple more images to get you started. The first two are even my own images, just to show you I can do challenges too!

By Darlene Hildebrandt (yup my image)

By Darlene Hildebrandt

By Moyan Brenn

By Adrian Berg

By Steve Wall

By Alan Bruce

By mjtmail (tiggy)

Share your boat images!

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section as pictured below) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer upload them to your favourite photo sharing site and leave the link to them.

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – What Floats Your Boat? by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Sky Park: Design Idea Floats City Block Over Penn Station

13 Jun

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

sky park penn station

Out of four recent proposals for a radical overhaul of Penn Station in New York City, this concept by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP is far and away the most dramatic – and arguably the most inspiring as well.

sky park new york

Drawing on the success of The High Line, an elevated park in the same city, this project solution from SOM proposes lifting city life to new heights and integrating a new version of Madison Square Garden, boldly suspended in midair.

sky park section slice

Below, the main station itself sits as a dome over the underground transit hub. Meanwhile, the mega-block is anchored by towers at its four corners, with offices occupying the lower floors and residential stories above.

sky park from below

On the one hand, this multi-layered result consolidates central activities around a newly-refocused core. On the other, it opens up shared green park space on a series of levels, blending intentionality with optionality.

sky park som diagrams

While conceptually simple, the design is … challenging from an engineering standpoint, to put it mildly, and more idealistic than realistic at this point. Hanging so much structure over such a distance stretches the limits of the imagination, but that practical weakness is also the visionary strength of the proposal, for better and worse.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

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