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Tag: turns

  • Inverted Umbrella: Drip-Free Design Turns Canopy Inside Out

    [ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

    umbrella double canopy layer

    Like tableware or sliced bread, the umbrella is the subject of many reinvention attempts but few approach the sheer cleverness and ingenious simplicity of this design solution, which tackles drips, winds, crowds and compactness in one product.

    inverted umbrella design

    Created by engineer and inventor Jenan Kazim, the KAZbrella solves the core everyday issue of umbrellas bringing water into your home or vehicle, while also making them easy and safe to open in crowds as well as resistant to high winds (able to pop out then back into shape without breaking). When the umbrella is closed, a strap around the top seals the water inside, keeping it from dripping.

    umbrella dry wrap

    umbrella inversion process

    “The patented design includes a string and pulley mechanism that allows the frame to open the opposite way to a traditional umbrella, though the action of pushing the slider up until the upper latch is engaged remains the same. It still looks and functions like a traditional umbrella when open, but when closed the spokes fold in so they point away from the handle and the outer surface is hidden inside.”

    umbrella everyday use

    inside out umbrella

    umbrella in crowd

    The KAZbrella also employs materials for lightweight durability, from its fiberglass spokes and aluminum frame to its double layer of woven polyester. It can be opened and closed through smaller gaps than its ungainly cousins, making it easier to keep dry while entering or exiting spaces. It can then be set down against a wall, in a stand or on your car seat without getting things wet.

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    Inverted Zoo: Enclosure-Free Design Puts Animals in the Open

    Aiming to change the nature of zoo experiences for species on both sides of the glass, Zootopia radically reverses traditional layouts and changes …
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    Graffiti Umbrella: Tip Lets You Draw on Walls & Sidewalks

    You could take a rainy day and make it warm and fun with this playful umbrella design. It uses rainwater to create temporary sidewalk graffiti.
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    Gray-Sky Thinking: 15 Uniquely Modern Umbrella Designs

    From the best in pugilistic umbrella-mayhem to the sweetest way to woo a loved one, these 15 examples are guaranteed to chase the clouds away.
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  • Helium Core turns iPhone into fully-fledged imaging rig

    A sleek iPhone case with plenty of room for mobile photography and videography attachments is seeking crowd-funding on Kickstarter. Read more

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Astropad Mini turns your iPhone into a graphics tablet

    The makers of the Astropad iPad app have launched a version for the iPhone, aptly called Astropad Mini. Like the iPad version, the new app allows you to use your Apple device as a graphics tablet when working with imaging applications such as Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom using Astropad’s LIQUID technology for communication with the Mac. Read more

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • When a shoot turns magic

    There is a small turn off of Highway 89 in Fruit Heights, it doesn’t lead to anything but a non-descript meadow with patches of trees. I parked my car on […]

  • Rotating Condo Tower: Units Take Turns as the Penthouse Suite

    [ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

    rotating tower design

    Spinning structures is not new territory, but shifting units around vertically as well as in horizontal circles is a fresh dimension of novelty with a likewise refreshed sense of purpose – to make housing truly fair for everyone, giving each person some time at (and views from) the top.

    rotating tower

    future variable unit views

    Every since the elevator shifted the top floors from being least to most desirable in cities, real estate prices have reflected the relative values of these spaces. With this alternative arrangement proposed by designer Shin Kuo, each unit would take turns being on top as well as facing each different direction.

    future spinning skyscraper condo

    A lot of engineering is required to make such a thing work, from detachable infrastructural connections to prescribed times and safety locks for rotation (please keep limbs inside your home!).

    Part of what makes the solution so intriguing is that it conceives of architecture like a product of industrial design – something that can be fundamentally improved upon through rethinking even our most basic assumptions.

    future residential design diagram

    Still, at least one big question remains: given the upfront and ongoing costs of making this whole thing work, who will ultimately be able to live in such a structure, which presents itself with such an egalitarian purpose? It may simply be ahead of its time – if more modular modes of plug-and-play dwelling become the norm, such infrastructure may also come to be more commonplaces (and come down in cost).

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    Penthouse Mountain: Stone Villa Tops Chinese Condo Tower

    Over six years, one dedicated man has constructed his dream house, complete with (presumably fake) boulders, trees, gardens, pools and ponds. It is the kind of …
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    Self-Assembly Line: Modular Units form Viral Architecture

    Installed for the 2012 TED Conference in California, ‘The Self-Assembly Line’ is an architectural structure that was inspired by viruses.
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    Tree-Inspired Tower: Condo Balconies Unfurl Like Leaves

    An iconic new mixed-use development in the heart of Montpellier in southern France, L’Arbre Blanc (The White Tree) grew out of a design concept tied to the …
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  • Astropad turns iPad into drawing tablet for Mac

    Two former Apple engineers have just launched Astropad, an app for Apple’s iPad and Mac computer that turns the former into a drawing tablet for the latter. It works with most styluses, and allows use of applications like Photoshop for image retouching and editing with more precision. Read more

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • Fungi Farm Prototype Turns Waste Plastic into Edible Treats

    [ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

    fungi muratium toxic waste

    Breaking down one of the most difficult types of trash, this incredible working incubator turns sterilized plastic remnants into nutritional biomass humans can consume and digest, in short: food. Texture, taste and flavor depend upon the strain of fungus, but reportedly can be quite strong as well as quite sweet.

    fungus growth system

    fungi plastic utensil set

    fungi eating good

    Livin Studio, an Austrian design group known for innovative work on insect farms, has built a working model of this growth sphere (dubbed the Fungi Mutarium) that takes parts of mushrooms usually left uneaten and grows them into fresh snacks.

    fungi eating growth sphere

    From the creators: “We were working with fungi named Schizophyllum Commune and Pleurotus Ostreatus. They are found throughout the world and can be seen on a wide range of timbers and many other plant-based substrates virtually anywhere in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas and Australia. Next to the property of digesting toxic waste materials, they are also commonly eaten. As the fungi break down the plastic ingredients and don’t store them, like they do with metals, they are edible.”

    fungi incubation chamber diagram

    In terms of the process, “Fungi Mutarium is a prototype that grows edible fungal biomass, mainly the mycelium, as a novel food product. Fungi is cultivated on specifically designed agar shapes that the designers called FU.  Agar is a seaweed based gelatin substitute and acts, mixed with starch and sugar, as a nutrient base for the fungi. The FUs are filled with plastics. The fungi is then inserted, it digests the plastic and overgrows the whole substrate. The shape of the FU is designed so that it holds the plastic and to offer the fungi a lot of surface to grow on. “

    fungus diagram design

    For now, the digestion is a relatively slow process, taking up to a few months for a set of cultures to fully mature, but by the standards of plastic biodegrading in nature this is still an extraordinary feat. The team continues to work with university researchers to make the process faster and more efficient. “Scientific research has shown that fungi can degrade toxic and persistent waste materials such as plastics, converting them into edible fungal biomass.”

    fungi edible grown creaiton

    fungi plastic eating design

    This novel application comes just a few years after a group of Yale students discovered a species of fungi on a trip to Ecuador as part of a Rainforest Expedition and Labratory led by a molecular biochemist. Even in the absence of light and air, the species they examined thrived in landfill environments, suggesting potential near-future and larger-scale solution for existing waste sites as well.

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    Futuristic Food: 14 Edible Wonders of 3D-Printing Technology

    Chocolate brains, bacon mobius strips, sugar sculptures and instant burritos are among the future food wonders made with 3D printing technology.
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    Material World: 8 Substances That Will Shape the Future

    Thanks to material science, our world is quickly changing shape. These new materials will usher in the future of medicine, construction and other industries.
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    Self-Sufficient City: Zero-Waste, Carbon-Neutral & Car-Free

    It sounds like a conceptual design or science-fiction fantasy, but it is already under construction. Rising in the desert outside of Abu Dhabi, Masdar City …
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  • Documentary photographer turns to video for ‘The Long Night’

    A multimedia journalist by trade, Tim Matsui’s still photography projects have taken him from native Alaskan villages to Brazilian Air Force training facilities. Matsui shares with us his journey in creating his latest documentary work, from its beginnings in still photography to the adaptations he made to turn it into a video production. Learn more about his work on ‘The Long Night,’ a documentary debuting this week that looks into human trafficking in Seattle. Read our Q&A

    Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

  • When a shoot turns magic

    There is a small turn off of Highway 89 in Fruit Heights, it doesn’t lead to anything but a non-descript meadow with patches of trees. I parked my car on […]
    Jake Garn Photography

  • Permanent Parklets: São Paulo Turns Street Parking to Parks

    [ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

    parklet drawing design detail

    In a bold bid to change its urban landscape for good, Brazil’s biggest city has given a green light to citizen proposals to transform car parking spots into perpetual park spaces.

    sao paulo permanent parklet

    sao paulo mini park

    Cities around the world have sanctioned micro-parks on a limited basis (often for temporary use during environmental days and green festivals), but this legislation makes the provision a permanent mandate for São Paulo.

    parklet simple axon drawing

    parklet construction guide diagrams

    sao paulo tiny parks

    The law comes with style and usage guides but a broad mandate, allowing for a potentially huge variety of programmatic functions starting with but not limited to open seating and leisure space.

     

    parklet multi use spaces

    sao paulo parklet example

    Other possibilities include: small commercial vendors under tents or in shipping containers, public pools and restrooms, recycling receptacle centers and bike sharing racks. The argument, in part, is that the public gains a great deal of additional benefit from open space, which can be shared, over parking spaces that are used only by a few individuals at a time (and even then indirectly).

    parklet space infographic images

    Suzi Bolognese of SB Design Studio summarizes the shift: “The parklets programme fits in perfectly with São Paulo’s attempts to promote a friendlier pedestrian environment, and involves replacing a parking space or two with a new public area. Parklets can incorporate benches, chairs, tables, trees, and bike racks for the public to use and enjoy. São Paulo has loved parklets so much it has integrated them into city planning policy. Now as a result of Decree No. 55,405, São Paulo has rules for the creation and maintenance of parklets, the first Latin American public policy on the issue.”

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    Car Parks or Works of Art: 14 Exemplary Parking Facilities

    Most parking facilities are eyesores, designed with function in mind without paying heed to context or aesthetics. But in some cases, parking garages can be so …
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    Civic Secrets: Urban Patterns Revealed in Street-Side Snow

    Ingenious and contagious, the idea is spreading: after it snows, document where cars do not go, then use that to understand where sidewalks and other public …
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    Porta-Park: Mobile Urban Square the Size of a Parking Spot

    Compact and portable, this crafty collaborative design-build project is part art installation and part impromptu gathering space. This student-built platform …
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