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Codex Silenda: Solve Puzzles to Turn Pages in this Crafty Wooden Book

11 Sep

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

codex silenda

Unlike The Maze and other classic puzzle books, the Codex Silenda brooks no cheating, forcing readers to solve elaborate puzzles on each page before proceeding to the next.

puzzle book top

puzzle design details

Somewhere between a choose-your-own-adventure novel, a Chinese puzzle box and a blacksmith puzzle, this five-page volume features dizzyingly complex mechanical puzzles that can only be completed in sequence. In each pair of facing pages, a short story unfolds on one side while a related new puzzle is revealed on the other.

laser etched wood

spinning wheels

new puzzle

Designed by Brady Whitney, the wooden book is laser-cut and ornately detailed, full of hidden mechanisms worthy of Leonardo Da Vinci – indeed, the story itself is about an apprentice stumbling into the master’s workshop and becoming trapped inside the tome. The laser-burnt edges give the work a hand-crafted but careworn look, like something you might find in a mysterious antique shop, covered in dust.

puzzle book top

puzzles

book flat

From the makers: “Codex Silenda is a five page book that features five intricate puzzles. Each page features a unique puzzle that requires the user/reader to unlock the corresponding bolts in order to progress to the next page.” More about its maker: “Brady Whitney is the designer of the operation, the mastermind of the Codex. He originally came up with the idea for his senior thesis research project during his final semester at Iowa State University. Having grown up with a childhood filled with imagination, his passion for design has always been focused on the realm of toys and games, creating the products and ideas he always wished he had as a kid.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

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Playable Landscapes: Custom Concrete 3D Puzzles of Cityscapes

13 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

3d city maps

Pick any spot in the world and this company can print out a custom mould for a concrete pour, which, when cured, will make a 16- or 32-piece puzzle out of your favorite place.

3d cityscape

Using Open Street Map data, Logiplaces has already created a preliminary set of popular places voted up by fans for mass production, including downtown San Francisco and the Grand Canyon.

Liked a traditional puzzle, the sides of each piece can be matched up to create the whole, but unlike most puzzles, it is the vertical rather than the horizontal shapes that allow for matching. It becomes a matter of figure and ground, connecting building scales and typographies rather than colors and 2D patterns.

3d puzzles

At this point, fully-custom selections are cost-prohibitive for consumers, but the goal of the company is to make these accessible to mass markets as well. “When we came up with the idea of LOGIPLACES, we believed it had the potential to go global with loads of different places to cover. However, right now, we would first like to see, what are your favourite places that we can start manufacturing, and of course, we’re interested in what our first consumers think.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

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Graffiti Puzzles: Urban Art Chipped Off Walls for Reassembly

26 Jun

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

Graffiti Puzzle 1

Pieces of graffiti that have been chipped off a wall are offered up in a box like a conventional puzzle in an exhibition that provokes thought on who street art belongs to, and whether or not it can ever be ‘owned.’ Italian artist Fra.biancoshock removes graffiti from its original context and displays it in fragments, destroying its meaning and the creator’s artistic expression in the process.

Graffiti Puzzle 2

Graffiti Puzzle 3

Is this uncomfortable? Yes. Is it meant to be? Probably, as Fra.biancoshock is well known for clever thought-provoking urban installations, like a giant bandage plastered onto a crack in a stone wall, or flowers and sympathy cards mourning a cut-down tree.

Fra.biancoshock 1

Fra.biancoshock 2

Entitled ‘Ephemeralism,’ the exhibit at Milan’s 77 Art Gallery continues the artist’s theme of producing works of art that only exist “briefly in space but limitlessly in time.” Fra.biancoshock’s installations can seem humorous yet touch on issues like poverty, capitalism and the value of human life.

Fra.biancoshock 3

Fra.biancoshock 4

Fra.biancoshock 6

The gallery works seem to convey the fact that while graffiti can be displayed indoors if it’s painted on canvases or created specifically for a given site, it’s not really meant to be consumed and appreciated within this artificial environment.

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

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5 Preservation Puzzles: Famous Architecture Facing Threats

05 Mar

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

historic preservation architecture activism

This year alone we have learned that a Frank Lloyd Wright house must be moved 1,000 miles to protect it from floodwater, a Le Corbusier chapel has been vandalized and a seminal structure by Micheal Graves may be razed. In a remarkable turnaround, the MoMA has also recently decided to save the entire facade of the American Folk Art Museum, but by dismantling and storing it indefinitely. There is nothing like the threat of utter annihilation to make one wonder: how do we choose what building we preserve, restore and ultimately save? Here are five hot-button buildings generating serious buzz, raising questions both within and beyond the architectural design community.

Frank Lloyd Wright House to be Moved & Reconstructed

frank lloyd wright preservation

First to Frank Lloyd Wright, whose work invariably makes headlines whenever it is at risk of destruction. Thanks to the intervention of the Crystal Bridges Museum (images by Tarantino Studio) in Arkansas, the Bachman Wilson House will be transported from its original location in New Jersey to a site on their campus.

frank lloyd exterior context

Its owners, Lawrence and Sharon Tarantino, put it on the market hoping for just such a buyer and after spending years restoring the home themselves. This remarkable move will save the structure itself by carefully deconstructing it, transporting its parts then rebuilding piece by piece in a new place.

frank lloyd wright interior

However, the process is inevitably partial and one has to wonder: how will relocating it change the nature of a home designed around a specific site many states away? Is regional architecture truly as portable as this solution implies, and what does it lose forever when taken out of its context?

Le Corbusier Chapel Broken Into, Robbed & Vandalized

romchomp building facade exterior

An unusual work by one of the world’s most famous architects, the Chapel of Ronchamp by Le Corbusier was reported vandalized earlier. Amid other damage and theft, the destruction of stained glass window drawn (and reportedly signed) by Corbu himself was deemed a “priceless” loss, the colored glazing irreparable.

ronchomp broken vandalized window

The building is a destination for tens of thousands of annual tourists. Its sculptural form reflects the architect’s philosophy that while Modernism may be appropriate for most architecture, spiritual structures are an exception.

ronchomp corbu interior space

The shocking break-in leaves open questions: how does one replace an irreplaceable window – with a copy of the original, something commemorating its loss or a new work entirely? And how does one protect against future defacement, particularly in a structure so often open to the public?

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5 Preservation Puzzles Famous Architecture Facing Threats

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Flat-Pack Emergency Shelters Slot Together Like Puzzles

05 Jun

[ By Delana in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

emergency shelters flatpack plywood

Times of emergency call for quick action to get victims into safe shelters. Plenty of easily-assembled emergency structures have been designed over the years, but Australian architecture firm BVN Donovan Hill has presented an interesting take on the topic. Their idea goes together like a 3D puzzle, each piece of plywood slotting together as easily as a flat-pack furniture kit.

flatpack emergency shelter

The shelter consists of pre-cut plywood boards that would be delivered to a disaster site flat-packed. Each piece has notches that fit into the next piece; assembling one of the shelters requires no tools other than the hands of one or two people. Once the wooden skeleton has been assembled, a waterproof skin is put on the outside to keep out the elements. The goal is for the structure to be able to be assembled in just one day.

easily assembled flat pack emergency shelter

The inside of the structure features contours that jut out to create shapes that could be used for sitting or sleeping. That’s according to the designers – to us, the thin plywood shapes don’t look comfortable enough to support a person without an extreme amount of padding between them and the human body.

modular pre-cut easy assemble emergency shelters

According to the designers, one of their main goals in this design was to create a space that is not simply utilitarian, but one that creates happiness in times of tragedy. The shelters are small – around 100 square feet – but very heavy at about half a ton each. This makes each one quite substantial and perhaps usable for long periods if necessary.

temporary emergency shelter flat pack

The structures can be grouped together to create a temporary community, with some buildings serving as meeting places instead of grouping all of the victims together in one very large space. The concept will require a significant amount of fleshing out before it becomes a viable option for disaster relief, but the idea of an easily (and quickly) assembled, private temporary home is one that will appeal to just about anyone who has ever been displaced by a natural disaster.