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# WebUrbanist

Urban Art, Architecture, Design & Built Environments

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## Posts

- [Retail Turnover: Suburban Megastores Remade into Libraries, Schools & Shelters](https://weburbanist.com/2019/12/06/reinhabiting-retail-suburban-megastores-turned-into-libraries-schools-shelters/) - Years ago in McAllen, Texas, an old abandoned 124,500-square-foot Walmart superstore was renovated and put to new use as the largest single-floor public library in the United States. Across America, many malls have emptied out and thousands of abandoned big box stores sit empty, including hundreds of former Walmarts. Some, though, are getting creative new
- [Wondering About: Deserted Cities, Derelict Buildings & the Allure of Abandoned Places](https://weburbanist.com/2019/12/27/wondering-about-urban-exploration-and-the-allure-of-abandoned-places/) - Before it was abandoned in the wake of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Pripyat was a thriving Ukrainian city with a population of nearly 50,000. The relatively sudden exodus of its inhabitants left behind a physical snapshot of the times, preserved by the absence of humans intervention for fear of fallout. [vimeo=112681885] Despite the dangers of
- [Urbanist Exploration: Discover Over 5,000 Compelling Architecture, Art & Design Stories](https://weburbanist.com/2019/12/30/urban-exploration-discover-over-5000-stories-of-creative-architecture-art-design/) - For over a decade, WebUrbanist has featured a wide range of innovative and inspiring urban art and design projects from around the world. The website has attracted more than 500,000 subscribers and been visited over 100,000,000 times since it was launched in 2007. And while WU will remain online, we are not currently planning to
- [The 99% Invisible City: Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design](https://weburbanist.com/2020/10/15/the-99-invisible-city-field-guide-to-the-hidden-world-of-everyday-design/) - From the creators of WebUrbanist and 99% Invisible comes a new beautifully designed and illustrated guide to cities. In their New York Times best-selling book, The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design, Kurt Kohlstedt and Roman Mars zoom in to tell fascinating stories behind everything from power grids
- [Living City Streets: The Global Drive to Reclaim Routes for Cyclists & Pedestrians](https://weburbanist.com/2019/12/09/living-city-streets-the-global-drive-to-reclaim-routes-for-cyclists-pedestrians/) - In the mid-1900s, Dutch citizens of Delft were sick of cars driving too fast down their narrow residential streets. The city was slow to respond, so residents took matters into their own hands. Groups of neighbors came together and tore up sections of pavement, then put up planters and other partial obstructions, often overnight to
- [Localvore Revolution: Vertical Urban Farms Promise to Deliver Greener Produce](https://weburbanist.com/2019/12/11/fresh-greens-vertical-urban-farms-are-turning-global-consumers-into-localvores/) - In Newark, New Jersey, a large and deceptively nondescript building is redefining the Garden State, producing millions of pounds of food per year just outside of Manhattan. This 70,000 square foot facility has the equivalent yield of over 5 million square feet of traditional farmland. Inside, a year-round, closed-loop aeroponics system employs no pesticides and
- [Outward Mobility: Clever Campers, Trailers & DIY Mobile Home Conversions](https://weburbanist.com/2019/12/13/outward-mobility-clever-campers-trailers-diy-mobile-home-conversions/) - The 20th-century American dream of suburban houses and picket fences unfolded in parallel with another vision: freedom to roam, embodied in camper vans and other mobile housing designs. The increasing costs of city living and desire to escape nine-to-five life has since led to a new generation of creative solutions, ranging from converted camper vans
- [Shipping Manifesto: An Introductory Guide to Building Cargo Container Architecture](https://weburbanist.com/2019/12/16/shipping-manifesto-an-introductory-guide-to-building-cargo-container-architecture/) - In the 1950s, Malcolm McLean developed a modular design that would simplify the loading and offloading of ships, boxing up goods for easier loading and unloading between trains, trucks and boats The standardization of cargo containers revolutionized the modern shipping industry. Today, though, an increasing number of the world's 20,000,000+ containers are being adapted to
- [Saving Up Space: Transforming, Multifunctional & Flat-Pack Furniture Designs & Ideas](https://weburbanist.com/2019/12/18/saving-up-space-transforming-multifunctional-flat-pack-furniture-designs/) - In 1900, San Francisco entrepreneur William Murphy designed a fold-out bed that would allow him to court a young opera singer inside his studio apartment. The hidden bed was a workaround to circumvent dated taboos against having ladies enter a gentleman's bedroom. With no visible bed, the single-room flat became a parlor. This novel idea
- [Redressed to Impress: Uncovering Camouflaged Facades & Architectural Fake Overs](https://weburbanist.com/2019/12/20/redressed-to-impress-uncovering-camouflaged-facades-architectural-fake-overs/) - The world is full of architectural fake overs, from individual facades to entire buildings designed to look like something other than what they really are. Historically, some of these disguises have been less well-intentioned than others. During World War II, Nazis gave the Red Cross access to a concentration camp but they controlled the experience,
- [Clean Vandals: Invisible Paint & Reverse Graffiti Artists Work in Gray Areas](https://weburbanist.com/2019/12/23/clean-vandals-invisible-paint-reverse-graffiti-artists-work-in-gray-areas/) - The word "graffiti" usually conjures images of people with spray cans illegally making murals or jotting down tags using colorful paints. A lot artistic interventions use other tools and materials, though, subverting expectations and working in (literal and legal) gray areas to create works without leaving a conventional trace. Consider, for instance, the massive deep
- [Around the World in 10 Minutes: Mesmerizing Cargo Container Ship Timelapse](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/12/around-the-world-in-10-minutes-mesmerizing-cargo-container-ship-timelapse/) - Ever wonder what it would be like to work on a container ship, traveling across the Earth's oceans and seeing its cities from a new perspective? Canadian photographer and sailor Jeffrey Tsang provides a window into world with videos like this one: [youtube=AHrCI9eSJGQ] Spanning a month at sea, the sped-up images capture the barge's journey
- [Abandonments in Bloom: Deserted Iranian Homes Reclaimed by Nature](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/14/abandonments-in-bloom-deserted-iranian-homes-reclaimed-by-nature/) - Left in the hands of nature by residents fleeing Tehran, these ordinary houses have become backdrops for an extraordinary series of photographs by Gohar Dashti, born during the Islamic Revolution. Dubbed Home, the series is about the power of nature in the wake of human absence. She was inspired to begin the project after returning to
- [Lost, Found & Remodeled: Architectural Miniatures Unfold from Old Furniture](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/19/lost-found-remodeled-architectural-miniatures-unfold-from-old-furniture/) - It starts with a chair or a table, an old nightstand or vintage traveling trunk, but from there, these artifacts evolve in the hands of sculpture Ted Lott, who transforms them into complex works of miniature architecture. His goal, in part, is to illustrate the craftsmanship behind both furnishings and home construction. In many of
- [Across the Verse: Over 100,000 Characters Create "Universe of Words"](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/21/across-the-verse-over-100000-characters-create-universe-of-words/) - Fields of floating paper hiraganas hang to create colorful screens and passageways in this spectacular work of installation art. Designed by Emmanuelle Moureaux, it is part of a larger 100 Colors series exploring a whole spectrum of intimate and thoughtful spaces. The opening of the exhibit coincided with Tanabata Day, a Japanese star festival during which
- [Acoustic Defense: Photo Series Reflects on Derelict British "Sound Mirrors"](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/26/acoustic-defense-photo-series-reflects-on-derelict-british-sound-mirrors/) - In the wake of World War I, the United Kingdom developed a powerful yet relatively low-tech architectural system for detecting incoming enemy airplanes, the remnants of which can still be found across the countryside. Starting in the 1920s, these concrete sound mirrors were built to passively gather, reflect and concentrate acoustic waves, directing the sound
- [Restyling Blandmarks: Those Much Maligned Boxy Urban Condo Buildings](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/28/restyling-blandmarks-those-much-maligned-boxy-urban-condo-buildings/) - From Seattle to New York City, Minneapolis to Dallas, boxy apartment and condo buildings sporting bland facades, metallic or colored cladding and a generally flat aesthetic seem to dominate new urban developments these days. Surprisingly similar in style from one place to the next, they have been dubbed works of "developer chic" or "fast-casual architecture"
- [Key Developments: 10 Essential Diagrams Tell the Story of Modern Urban Design](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/30/key-developments-10-essential-diagrams-unlock-the-story-of-modern-urban-design/) - For much of history, urban planning as we know it didn't exist. Sure, there were cities with zoning ordinances and building codes, but ones thoroughly planned from scratch with heavily controlled development are largely a recent phenomenon. So a few years ago, the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (known as SPUR) assembled ten
- [Deciphering Cities: The Secret Languages of Utility Markings, Hobo Codes & Graffiti Tags](https://weburbanist.com/2019/12/02/deciphering-cities-the-secret-languages-of-utility-markings-hobo-codes-graffiti-tags/) - Most cities have so much in common that a generic "map of every city" can seem similarly familiar to people living in London, Paris, New York or another metropolis entirely. General types of neighborhoods aren't the only things different cities share, though -- much less obvious but pervasive are sets of codes, symbols and markings
- [World’s Most Colorful Neighborhoods: 11 Bright Spots in Urban Landscapes](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/11/worlds-most-colorful-neighborhoods-11-bright-spots-in-urban-landscapes/) - Cities around the world are feeling increasingly homogenous and gray, so it's nice to know there are still colorful locales where you can stumble along a hidden cobblestoned alley and take in a rainbow of color, gaze at massive murals splashed across entire neighborhoods and interpret fun artistic flourishes that tell a story about the
- [Curious Collections: 15 of the World's Weirdest Museums](https://weburbanist.com/2015/02/09/curious-collections-15-of-the-worlds-weirdest-museums/) - You might wonder why anyone would pay money to gaze at collections of dog collars, toilets, packets of ramen and mammalian penises in jars, but one thing we've learned from this list of weird museums is that absolutely anything can be collected and put on display. These unusual exhibitions range from the bizarre and macabre,
- [Face Plants: 10 Lifeless Abandoned Garden Centers](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/22/face-plants-10-lifeless-abandoned-garden-centers/) - Spring has sprung – officially, at least – as green-thumbed gardeners shop for seeds, shrubs and soil... but not at these abandoned garden centers.
- [Bike Campers: 12 Mini Mobile Homes for Nomadic Cyclists](https://weburbanist.com/2012/10/15/bike-campers-12-mini-mobile-homes-for-nomadic-cyclists/) - Who says you can't camp in luxury when taking a bicycle tour? These 12 bike trailers
- [Hell is Other People: Avoid Your Friends Using Social Media](https://weburbanist.com/2013/06/14/hell-is-other-people-avoid-your-friends-using-social-media/) - 'Hell is Other People' is a smartphone app that will show you where all your friends are in a map based on social media check-ins - so you can avoid them.
- [8 On Demand Social Shopping Sites You Need to Share](https://weburbanist.com/2011/05/17/8-on-demand-social-shopping-sites-you-need-to-share/) - Social shopping, online marketplaces that revolve around innovative communities, is one of the greatest developments spawned by the social media revolution
- [Social Media Addicts Have a New Way to Propose with This Engagement Phone Case](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/29/social-media-addicts-have-a-new-way-to-propose-with-this-engagement-phone-case/) - If you don’t capture every minute detail of your life and post it on social media and proceed to buy likes from Buzzoid, did it even happen? That’s one question that comes to mind when you first get a look at the RokShok - a new, highly Instagrammable way to propose to your partner. This
- [High Design: 15 Luxury Products for More Glamorous Cannabis Consumption](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/08/high-design-15-luxury-products-for-more-glamorous-cannabis-consumption/) - For better or worse, weed-related products have gone from plastic baggies and ugly psychedelic head shop bongs to designer vaporizers and Goop-worthy botanical extracts. Marijuana is emerging from the skunky-smelling shadows, and whether you mourn the days when cannabis wasn’t so trendy and will look upon these luxury pot products with scorn or you’re thrilled
- [Real Life Instagram: Street Views Framed with Colored Filters](https://weburbanist.com/2013/11/10/real-life-instagram-street-views-framed-with-colored-filters/) - Instagram is both broadly adopted and heavily criticized for the faux-vintage filter options provided to users, providing opportunities for aptly-timed and well-executed spoofs like this project. When posting on the platform, users try to get as many likes on their post as possible. When they fail to reach the goals they set for themselves, the
- [Cannabis to Grand Pianos: 14 Radical Modern Retail Designs](https://weburbanist.com/2016/01/25/cannabis-to-grand-pianos-14-radical-modern-retail-designs/) - Whether selling recreational marijuana or grand pianos that cost almost as much as a house, this eclectic mix of retail stores really sets off their products with eye-popping interior design schemes featuring unusual architectural elements. Some of the shops might even be at risk of outshining what they sell with modern sculptural displays, dramatic hanging
- [Church of Cannabis: Sanctuary Painted in Hypercolor by Okuda San Miguel](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/01/church-of-cannabis-sanctuary-painted-in-hypercolor-by-okuda-san-miguel/) - On 4/20/17, the International Church of Cannabis opened in Denver, offering a new community center and sanctuary for marijuana enthusiasts with nearly every surface hand-painted in vivid colors and geometric shapes by street artist Okuda San Miguel. The church “is the first gathering place in the world where those who consume cannabis in order to
- [World's Largest Indoor Farm is 100 Times More Productive](https://weburbanist.com/2015/01/11/worlds-largest-indoor-farm-is-100-times-more-productive/) - The statistics for this incredibly successful indoor farming endeavor in Japan are staggering: 25,000 square feet producing 10,000 heads of lettuce per day (100 times more per square foot than traditional methods) with 40% less power, 80% less food waste and 99% less water usage than outdoor fields. But the freshest news from the farm: a
- [Building for Billionaires: Luxury Tower with Car Elevators](https://weburbanist.com/2013/12/18/building-for-billionaires-luxury-tower-with-car-elevators/) - If you're rich enough to live in the Porsche Design Tower, you're rich enough to have a mega-expensive car or two worth hauling up to your upper-floor penthouse each day in your very own car elevator. The 60-story oceanfront tower in Miami was designed for the mega-rich, with 132 suites offering 2-4 car garages on
- [Forever A Loan: 15 Iffy Car Title Cash Loan Shops](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/29/forever-a-loan-15-iffy-car-title-cash-loan-shops/) - Car title cash loan shops offer help (at a price) to those in dire financial straits but how desperate must one be to get a cash fix at any of these 15 places?
- [Fictional Bridges from Euro Banknotes Now Built in Real Life](https://weburbanist.com/2014/12/30/fictional-bridges-from-euro-banknotes-now-built-in-real-life/) - In a strange case of fact following fiction, a Dutch designer was inspired to create physical versions of faux-historical bridges first drawn on European currency in 2002. The original two-dimensional illustrations of Austrian Robert Kalin were intended to represent periods rather than built objects, spanning Baroque, Classical, Gothic, Romanesque, Rococo and Modern 20th-Century styles. Their three-dimensional counterparts, meticulously designed
- [Banknote Bombing: Hacked Currency Spotlights Instability](https://weburbanist.com/2015/02/18/banknote-bombing-hacked-currency-spotlights-instability/) - The grim reaper lurks, one man steps on another's head, crowds cling precariously to window ledges and the people begin to revolt in a series of hacked Euro bank notes by artist Stefanos. The simple images, inked onto the currency, make a statement on the current social and economic stability in the artist's home country
- [You Gotta Be Leaf: 12 Smokin' Hot Marijuana Mascots](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/30/you-gotta-be-leaf-12-smokin-hot-marijuana-mascots/) - Marijuana is smokin' hot and an herb'n helping of marijuana mascots have helped add leaf, er, life to a host of marches, rallies and events.
- [Leaf A Tip: 10 Bright Green Vegetarian Restaurants](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/17/leaf-a-tip-10-bright-green-vegetarian-restaurants/) - Vegetarian restaurants are becoming more mainstream and, inadvertently or not, distinctive branding and signage helps them stand out from the herd.
- [99% Invisible: 7 Episodes of the Best Radio Show on Design](https://weburbanist.com/2013/10/24/99-invisible-7-episodes-of-the-best-radio-show-on-design/) - There is no witty wordplay nor shocking truth in our title today, but that is quite by design - we simply did not want risk underselling Roman Mars, the maker of a radio show that covers architecture, design and cities at a level more than sufficiently clever to speak for itself. Below, we will share
- [Rugged Landscapes: 3D Art Carpets Transform Indoor Environments](https://weburbanist.com/2016/02/13/rugged-landscapes-3d-art-carpets-transform-indoor-environments/) - Inspired by natural landscapes and crafted with carpet factory remnants, these labor-intensive creations are as much terrains as textiles. Alexandra Kehayoglou is an artist from Argentina who uses leftover scraps from the family business, a carpet factory in Buenos Aires, to build her wool room-wrapping creations. Her use of materials mimics natural textures of natural moss,
- [Bizarre Inventions: 15 Idiotic Ideas from the Past](https://weburbanist.com/2013/07/08/bizarre-inventions-15-idiotic-ideas-from-the-past/) - For every invention that actually makes it to production, there are dozens of failed ideas, most of which failed for very good reasons. Like the fact that they're painfully inefficient, totally unnecessary or just plain bizarre. These 15 weird and wacky creations developed between the 1920s and 1970s might be ridiculous, but they're fun to
- [Powerful Prosthetics: Integrating Design and Technology](https://weburbanist.com/2009/11/30/prosthetics/) - Prosthetics have been used to replace lost limbs since there have been limbs to be lost; peg legs and crutches have transformed into power suits and robot arms.
- [Old Sparky: The Shocking History Of The Electric Chair](https://weburbanist.com/2011/03/20/old-sparky-the-shocking-history-of-the-electric-chair/) - This look at execution by electrocution focuses on Old Sparky – the electric chair used exclusively by the United States and its dependencies since 1890.
- [Iconic Camouflage: Painted People Disappear into Cityscapes](https://weburbanist.com/2014/11/27/iconic-camouflage-painted-people-disappear-into-cityscapes/) - Unlike some other prominent artists working with more seamless urban camouflage in strange or offbeat settings, this work in NYC by Trina Merry allows for curves and distortions, and operates with the interplay between painted nudes in more public and iconic surroundings. In this series, her work features backdrops that are prominent points of interest and world-famous
- [Bon Appetit: 12 (More!) Bizarre Theme Restaurants](https://weburbanist.com/2009/08/09/12-more-bizarre-theme-restaurants/) - Pet a rented cat while sipping tea, beat up your server, pay to be insulted or drink from IV bags at weird theme restaurants around the world.
- [Safety First: 18 Creative, Bizarre & Viral Safe Sex Ads](https://weburbanist.com/2009/05/08/18-creative-safe-sex-ads/) - Sex saturation in the media introduced the need for public service announcements about safe sex and created a market for condom ads. It's sexy to be safe.
- [Don't Go Viral: 20 (More) Creative & Bizarre Safe Sex Ads](https://weburbanist.com/2009/05/14/20-more-creative-bizarre-safe-sex-ads/) - In today's sex-saturated society, advertisements promoting condoms, HIV awareness and safe sex have become mainstream.
- [Crossed Up: 9 Twisted Swastika-Shaped Buildings](https://weburbanist.com/2013/01/13/crossed-up-9-twisted-swastika-shaped-buildings/) - Though most modern architects avoid using swastikas in their blueprints, a few swastika-shaped buildings are out there, twisting in the winds of change.
- [Future Shocks: 5 Incredible Concept Cars & Cool Prototypes](https://weburbanist.com/2012/07/16/future-shocks-5-incredible-concept-cars-cool-prototypes/) - From two-and-three-wheeled concept cars to real-life transformers for land, sea and air, the idea of all-terrain vehicle is starting to take on new meaning both on and off the ground.
- [Top Models of Tomorrow: 5 Retro-Futuristic Car Designs](https://weburbanist.com/2012/07/02/top-models-of-tomorrow-5-retro-futuristic-car-designs/) - Though times and vehicular technologies change, at least one thing remains the same: concept cars drive vehicle design, both on and off the drawing board.
- [Herb & Renewal: Smokin' Medical Marijuana Dispensaries](https://weburbanist.com/2012/10/07/herb-renewal-smokin-medical-marijuana-dispensaries/) - High, there! Medical marijuana dispensaries exhibit a wide range of architectural storefront styles reflecting the confusing legal status of marijuana itself.
- [Wonder Why: Lethal Luxury & Baby Stuff that Slices & Dices](https://weburbanist.com/2010/02/24/wtf-wonder-lethal-luxury-baby-stuff-that-slices-dices/) - Shi Jinsong created baby stuff sculptures - toys like for the Addams Family or for a future Terminator baby. Here are some of the most bizarre blade sculptures ever.
- [The Death Penalty: 10 Brutal Historical Means of Execution](https://weburbanist.com/2010/06/22/the-death-penalty-10-brutal-means-of-execution/) - The death penalty is hotly contested, but it wasn't always so controversial. Here are 10 of the most brutal, terrifying, and violent means of execution:
- [Body Piercing And Modification: 17 Extreme Mods](https://weburbanist.com/2012/07/13/body-piercing-and-modification-17-extreme-mods/) - Body modification is an ancient tradition in many cultures. Body mods are becoming increasingly complex and pushing the boundaries of technology and taboo.
- [Shock Value: Slightly Disturbing Ultra-Realistic Sculptures](https://weburbanist.com/2010/09/23/patricia-piccinini-gross-and-sentimental/) - Patricia Piccinini is an artist who likes to make people feel uncomfortable. Prepare to enter an intriguing world full of some incredibly realistic artistry.
- [Nothin’ But Net: 12 Slam Dunk Artistic Basketball Court Designs](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/03/nothin-but-net-12-slam-dunk-artistic-basketball-court-designs/) - Way cooler than your standard basketball court, these custom-designed settings and hoops turn the sport into something like an interactive art installation in which the players 'perform' in more ways than one. Outdoor courts are painted in vivid hues or plunked on rooftops, hoops are reinvented in stained glass or set within the crashing waves
- [Amazingly Strange Handmade Dolls, Puppets & Sculpture](https://weburbanist.com/2009/11/02/amazingly-strange-handmade-dolls-puppets-sculpture/) - Not all dolls are for children - as evidenced by the incredibly bizarre and amazing art dolls, puppets and sculpture of these 15 artists.
- [Retrofuture Fashion: Dressing Up For Tomorrow, Yesterday](https://weburbanist.com/2009/03/11/retrofuture-fashion-of-tomorrow/) - Imagineering the future means sweating the details no matter how small, and future fashion has always loomed large when writers and artists want to get the image just right. What will our heroes and heroines wear on the day after tomorrow?
- [SOS Brutalism: Book Advocates “Saving Concrete Monsters”](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/27/sos-brutalism-book-advocates-saving-concrete-monsters/) - Perpetually divisive, Brutalist landmarks around the world are disappearing fast. A massive 716-page book called “SOS Brutalism - Save the Concrete Monsters!” aims to archive as many of them as possible - and hopefully, inspire public passion to save them before they’re demolished. Two projects featured in the book were destroyed during the publishing process
- [Re-Habit: Transforming Abandoned Big-Box Retailers to Housing for Homeless](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/02/re-habit-transforming-abandoned-big-box-retailers-to-housing-for-homeless/) - With the age of big box stores waning, all those massive abandoned retail facilities could be transformed almost instantly into housing for the homeless using a variety of plug-and-play prefab elements. The research and development studio at KTGY Architecture + Planning in Los Angeles considers what we seem to need space for the most in
- [A Sidewalk is a Wall: Street Art Project Highlights Lack of Accessibility](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/25/a-sidewalk-is-a-wall-street-art-project-highlights-lack-of-accessibility/) - We come with so many different shapes, sizes and abilities, yet the world is built as if there’s a “standard human” whose access and comfort takes precedent over everyone else. If you’re close enough to that artificial norm, you may not notice all of the ways in which people can be excluded. A project called
- [Good Lock: 15 Kool Key Cutting Shops & Signs](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/17/good-lock-15-kool-key-cutting-shops-signs/) - Key cutting shops may be circling the retail store drain but their doom isn't quite locked in, as these 15 classic key cutting shops and signs illustrate.
- [New JR Mural Grants Visibility to Incarcerated Citizens in California](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/22/new-jr-mural-grants-visibility-to-incarcerated-citizens-in-california/) - When you think about incarcerated people, do you imagine them as faceless masses, or as individuals with personalities, histories, hopes and dreams? Artist JR, best known for his oversized photographic wheat paste murals, challenges us to see them a different way with a new project called “Tehachapi, California.” Named for the maximum security correctional institution
- [Dish Nyet Work: Painted Russian Satellite Dishes](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/24/dish-nyet-work-painted-russian-satellite-dishes/) - A Russian retiree's beautifully painted satellite dishes do double-duty as works of art and functioning receivers for the orbiting descendants of Sputnik.
- [Creative Engineering at the Protests in Hong Kong](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/18/creative-engineering-at-the-protests-in-hong-kong/) - The whole world is watching Hong Kong, where a battle is playing out in the streets between authorities and citizens protesting China’s encroachment on their independence. It started in June in response to a proposed amendment of an extradition bill that would make it easier for Hong Kong citizens to be sent to mainland China,
- [120,000 Fabric Streamers Flutter Above the Former Berlin Wall in Germany](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/13/120000-fabric-streamers-flutter-above-the-former-berlin-wall-in-germany/) - In Berlin, spanning the 450-foot length of the Brandenburg Gate where the former Wall divided the city, a kinetic installation ripples in the wind, bearing hand-written messages from city residents. Created by artist Patrick Shearn, “Visions in Motion” recognized the 30-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. https://www.instagram.com/p/B4qWaezh17q/ 120,000
- [Organic Visitor Center Rises from the Arctic Circle Like a Whale Tail](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/08/dorte-mandrups-visitor-center-will-rise-from-the-arctic-circle-like-a-whale-tail/) - Looking much like the real whales this area is known for, a new visitor center will rise from the tip of a Norwegian island 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle. "The Whale" by architecture firm Dorte Mandrup aims to be an unobtrusive addition to the setting while also drawing even more visitors to the
- [Non Saints: 10 More Bizarrely Named Churches](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/10/non-saints-10-more-bizarrely-named-churches/) - Any one of these bizarrely named churches could be in your hometown though they appear to hale from an altered state... pray we do not "altar" them further.
- [Disused Shopping Mall Transformed into a Co-Working Hub in China](https://weburbanist.com/2019/10/30/disused-shopping-mall-transformed-into-a-co-working-hub-in-china/) - We’ve seen abandoned malls and shopping centers transformed into some pretty cool things, including affordable micro housing and homeless shelters. In China, as a booming e-commerce market starts to drive many traditional brick-and-mortar markets out of business, architects are finding another new use for the massive structures: as offices for the country’s many new startups
- [Incr-edible! 10 Van-tastic Food Trucks](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/03/incr-edible-10-van-tastic-food-trucks/) - Food trucks need to step up their game lest the edibles prepared behind the grill lose out to competitors with flashier paint jobs and more memorable names.
- [Surreal Estate: 7 Real Life Horror Movie Houses](https://weburbanist.com/2019/10/27/surreal-estate-7-real-life-horror-movie-houses/) - The casting call is coming from inside the house, and these real-life horror movie houses achieved infamy as on-location sets for some memorable film shoots.
- [RIP, World’s Largest Treehouse: 97-Foot Wonder Burns Down](https://weburbanist.com/2019/10/25/rip-worlds-largest-treehouse-97-foot-wonder-burns-down/) - One of the coolest roadside wonders of the United States is no more. Built nail by reclaimed nail over several decades by Minister Horace Burgess in Crossville, Tennesseee, “The Minister’s Treehouse” caught fire this week and burned to the ground within just 15 minutes. Anyone who was ever able to tour this 80-room wonder before
- [Limassol: Swimming Pools Sprout from an Apartment Tower Like Mushrooms](https://weburbanist.com/2019/10/21/limassol-swimming-pools-sprout-from-an-apartment-tower-like-mushrooms/) - Envisioned for the coastal town of Limassol in Cyprus, a wild apartment tower concept has round swimming pools sprouting almost organically from the facade on all sides. Developed by the French firm Hamonic + Masson, the Limassol Tower grants every unit in the building its own private pool. Clusters of platforms and sun shades at
- [Shadow Text Street Art by DAKU Bears a Shakespearian Message](https://weburbanist.com/2019/10/16/shadow-text-street-art-by-daku-bears-a-shakespearian-message/) - Indian street artist DAKU brings one of his signature text-based shadow installations to Las Vegas for the Life is Beautiful Festival 2019, using a Shakespeare quote to ruminate on the passage of time. Placed upon on the facade of a former bookstore on Fremont Street, the piece reads “very slow for those who wait, very
- [Gilt Trip: An Abandoned Australian Gold Mine](https://weburbanist.com/2019/10/20/gilt-trip-an-abandoned-australian-gold-mine/) - From gold and dusted to old and busted: this abandoned gold mine in northeastern Australia is returning its vital elements to the ground from which they came.
- [VIGIL: Jenny Holzer’s Statements on Gun Violence Loom Large at Rockefeller Center](https://weburbanist.com/2019/10/14/vigil-jenny-holzers-statements-on-gun-violence-loom-large-at-rockefeller-center/) - Artist Jenny Holzer is known for making public statements that can’t be ignored, and her latest project brings stark messages about gun violence to the facades of New York City’s Rockefeller Center. For “VIGIL,” a three-night installation that took place October 10-12, Holzer projected poems by teenagers impacted by school shootings, texts from the compilation
- [Lux Noctis: Drones Create Stunning Light Paths Over Bolivian Salt Flats](https://weburbanist.com/2019/10/11/lux-noctis-drones-create-stunning-light-paths-over-bolivian-salt-flats/) - Photographer Reuben Wu continues his stunning “Lux Noctis” series with a new collection of images capturing illuminated drone paths over Bolivia’s eerie salt flat landscape. This time, he got to use some cool new equipment: Phase One’s 150-megapixel XT camera system, which costs $57,000. [youtube=QWh9bmI6ohI] [youtube=fWphuJYAkQI] Phase One sponsored the project, sending Wu to the
- [Abandoned Spaces in London Temporarily Filled with Modular Plywood Interiors](https://weburbanist.com/2019/10/09/abandoned-spaces-in-london-temporarily-filled-with-modular-plywood-interiors/) - A series of disused railway arches in London have become surprisingly cozy interior spaces with the addition of modular wooden systems that fit together like puzzles. Architecture firm Boano Prišmontas has developed a kit of parts that can be quickly and easily deployed in a variety of similar spaces, working with developers and local governments
- [Le Cube: Mirrored Skate Ramp Installed Inside a Paris Department Store](https://weburbanist.com/2019/10/07/le-cube-mirrored-skate-ramp-installed-inside-a-paris-department-store/) - Within the atrium of Paris’ Le Bon Marché department store, shoppers pause to gaze at a mirrored cube punctured by a glowing full-pipe skate ramp. The installation is a partnership between Chicago architecture firm MANA and skateboarder Scott Oster, created as the centerpiece of the Los Angeles Rive Gauche exhibition. Part sculpture, part stage, the
- [Grange Grunge: Abandoned Art Deco Mansion In Singapore](https://weburbanist.com/2019/10/13/grange-grunge-abandoned-art-deco-mansion-in-singapore/) - The Chee Guan Chiang House at 25 Grange Rd in Singapore occupies land worth millions yet stubborn owners and protective authorities ensure it remains abandoned.
- [Disconnected: An Abandoned Factory In Connecticut](https://weburbanist.com/2019/10/06/disconnected-an-abandoned-factory-in-connecticut/) - An abandoned factory somewhere in Connecticut epitomizes the sad fate of traditional manufacturing industries once they reach the end of the production line.
- [World’s Largest Terminal is Open at Zaha Hadid Architects’ Daxing Airport](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/30/the-worlds-largest-terminal-is-open-at-zaha-hadid-architects-daxing-airport/) - Featuring the architecture firm’s signature undulations and parametric curves, the new Daxing Airport in Beijing by Zaha Hadid Architects will accommodate 72 million travelers per year by 2025. Launching on October 1st to coincide with China’s 70th anniversary, the airport is nicknamed “the starfish” for reasons that become obvious when you see it photographed from
- [Durable Self-Balancing Scooter Boasts Better Battery Life & Higher Speeds](https://weburbanist.com/2019/10/01/durable-self-balancing-scooter-boasts-better-battery-life-higher-speeds/) - A combination of rugged and road-worthy, this self-balancing electric scooter boasts quick-start functionality and speeds of up to 25 mile per hour, perfect for scooting through (and around) traffic in congested cities for hours on a single charge. For those already into Bird, Lime or other private scooter share programs (but frustrated with hunting for
- [How a Safety Net Spawned the Golden Gate Bridge's "Half Way to Hell" Club](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/05/how-a-safety-net-spawned-the-golden-gate-bridges-halfway-to-hell-club/) - The board of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District recently voted unanimously to approve a $76 million funding plan for installation of steel-cable nets 20 feet beneath the east and west edges of the bridge that are intended to deter people from leaping to their deaths or catch them if they do. The
- [Backyard Aeronautics: Chinese Farmers Who Also Make Flying Machines](https://weburbanist.com/2019/11/07/backyard-aeronautics-chinese-farmers-who-also-make-flying-machines/) - According to photographer Xiaoxiao Xu, the Chinese farmers and other rural hobbyists building flying machines from scratch are not in it for fame or fortune. Mostly working out of their own backyards, these creators are simply trying to find ways to lift themselves up into the air. Some build choppers, others build planes, and others
- [Cycling Through the Trees: Circular Path Connected to Belgium’s Bike Network](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/25/cycling-through-the-trees-circular-path-connected-to-belgiums-bike-network/) - European countries continue to blow the United States out of the water when it comes to encouraging the use of bicycles, with a fun new feature added to a Belgian bike path network. In the northwestern province of Limburg, an hour or so outside of Brussels, biking enthusiasts can now “cycle through the trees” on
- [The Twist: A Sculptural Bridge-Like Gallery Space by Bjarke Ingels Group](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/23/the-twist-a-sculptural-bridge-like-gallery-space-by-bjarke-ingels-group/) - A remarkable new building hovers over the surface of the Randselva River in Jevnaker, Norway, connecting two forested riverbanks as part of the Kistefos Museum, Northern Europe's largest sculpture park. Appropriately called “The Twist,” the new gallery space by architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) achieves a beautiful curving form using nothing but straight lines.
- [Radar Offline: Abandoned Secret Soviet Base In Latvia](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/29/radar-offline-abandoned-secret-soviet-base-in-latvia/) - An abandoned Soviet secret city near Skrunda, Latvia, once housed an advanced radar installation along with apartment blocs er, blocks for base workers.
- [Micro-Cycle: Kit Bike Packs Up into Portable Backpack Case](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/24/micro-cycle-kit-bike-packs-up-into-portable-backpack-case/) - A classic kit-of-parts solution with modular twist, this conceptual bicycle is designed to be disassembled on the spot for maximum mobility, able to be shipped with ease, carried onto public transit or taken indoors rather than locked up outside. Lucid Design envisions this full-sized bike as something you learn to break down into its 21 constituent
- [On Climate Strike Day, Architects Around the World Ask ‘What Can We Do?’](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/20/on-climate-strike-day-architects-around-the-world-ask-what-can-we-do/) - Today, as millions of people around the world gather to participate in the youth-led Global Climate Strike, architecture firms are talking about how they can help. According to the grassroots outreach initiative Architects Advocate for Action on Climate Change, more than 330 firms and individuals in architecture and design plan to participate in their local
- [Take In Views of Japan from Above in This Stunning 8K Video](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/18/take-in-views-of-japan-from-above-in-this-stunning-8k-video/) - No matter how familiar you may be with Japan, you’ve never seen it like this before. Video production company Armadas has produced an incredible 5.5-minute film that swoops over major cities, giving us a bird’s eye view. [youtube=zCLOJ9j1k2Y] Shot between 2017 and 2019 in places like Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya, Yokohama and Hakodate, the film was
- [Ugly Gerry Alphabet: Gerrymandered District Shapes Made into Free Font](https://weburbanist.com/2019/10/29/ugly-gerry-alphabet-gerrymandered-district-shapes-made-into-free-font/) - Gerrymandered districts are perhaps the most visible forms of political corruption, dramatically redrawn into implausible shapes to benefit one political part or another. The idea for this font dubbed "Gerry" by Ben Doessel and James Lee explores just how many forms these places are bent into -- as it turns out, one can make an
- [Fractal Furniture: 3D-Printed Metal Chairs Feature Rich Geometric Details](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/22/fractal-furniture-3d-printed-metal-chairs-feature-rich-geometric-details/) - Squint and you can see familiar shapes behind the dazzling detail and metallic gold of these 3D-printed chairs, but up close: finer geometries dominate each design. Developed by John Briscella, this series of seats illustrates how metal printing can optimize for materiality (by leaving calculated voids), against a backdrop of classic furniture forms (and in
- [Mindful Sculptures: Morphing Chinese Busts Blend Portraiture & Architecture](https://weburbanist.com/2019/10/15/mindful-sculptures-morphing-chinese-busts-blend-portraiture-architecture/) - Seamlessly connecting realistic facial features with organic architecture, these sculptural works bridge reality and fantasy, natural forms and built scenes blurring scales and dimensions. Artist Yuanxing Liang, a graduate of the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts,deftly connects heads and landscapes -- the latter populated with ponds, trees and bridges -- in wraparound works. One of these, Peach
- [Ukiyoe Small Museum: "Open When I Wake Up and Close When I Must Go to Sleep"](https://weburbanist.com/2019/10/08/ukiyoe-small-museum-open-when-i-wake-up-and-close-when-i-must-go-to-sleep/) - Located in Kyoto, Japan, the Ukiyoe Small Museum has extremely flexible hours, at least for its owner/operator, artist Ichimura Mamoru, whose sign explains: "When I’ve had enough the store is closed.” https://www.instagram.com/p/BjY3bw2H5y7/ In big black block letters on a white placard, the message contrasts with the historic facade and is hard to mess. For years, the
- [Squid Jacket: 2 Billion Glass Spheres Reflect Entire Spectrum of Visible Light](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/17/squid-jacket-2-billion-glass-spheres-reflect-entire-spectrum-of-visible-light/) - Waterproof and windproof seem like small bonus features next to the dazzling look of this jacket design, the shell of which is covered in microscopic spheres that mimic the adaptive camouflage of squids. Developed by Vollebak, this high-tech creation used lasers to embed these tiny balls into resin along the triple-layered surface of the garment,
- [Creepy Tiki: Abandoned Arne's Royal Hawaiian Motel](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/22/creepy-tiki-abandoned-arnes-royal-hawaiian-motel/) - The closed and abandoned Arne's Royal Hawaiian Motel was a welcome oasis for overheated travelers passing through the Gateway to Death Valley in Baker, CA.
- [Frank Frazetta: Retro Fantasy Art Bridges Past & Future](https://weburbanist.com/2010/05/16/frank-frazetta-the-art-of-bridging-past-and-future/) - Frank Frazetta's sensuous, swashbuckling scenes of powerful heroes and voluptuous heroines set the stage for today's revival of the visual imaginary arts.
- [Missing Manuscripts: 7 Lost Wonders of the Written Word](https://weburbanist.com/2012/04/16/7-lost-wonders-of-the-written-word/) - How could these 7 lost wonders of the written word, from Shakespeare to biblical gospels, have changed the world? Unfortunately, we'll never know.
- [Hidden London: New Book Explores the City’s Forgotten Underground](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/11/hidden-london-new-book-explores-the-citys-forgotten-underground/) - Beneath the streets of London, a whole hidden city lies half-forgotten, full of Edwardian-era tunnels and disused railway equipment. A new book called “Hidden London: Discovering the Forgotten Underground” takes us down into the abandoned tributaries of the city’s subterranean transportation network to tell us tales about its past. Written by a group of directors
- [Special Editions: Three-Story Bookshelf Mural Speaks Volumes in Utrecht](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/10/collective-editions-three-story-bookshelf-mural-adorns-facade-in-utrecht/) - Few avid readers can display their collections quite so publicly and loudly as Dutch street artists Jan Is De Man and Deef Feed, who painted this bookcase across one entire of a three-story brick apartment in Utrecht. Included on their faux shelves are some favorite actual volumes but also some fantasy editions naming themselves or
- [VisionVenture: Luxury 3D-Printed Camper Van of the Future](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/13/visionventure-luxury-3d-printed-camper-van-of-the-future/) - Campers are cool and all, but they’re almost always too bulky for off-road travel, and they guzzle a lot of gas. But what if you could fit all the bells and whistles of a well-appointed RV into a compact camper van, including a bathroom with a shower? German manufacturer Hymer claims they’ve designed the camper
- [The Ocean is Legit Terrifying: Infographic Illustrates Staggering Depths](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/21/the-ocean-is-legit-terrifying-infographic-illustrates-staggering-depths/) - Do you ever think about just how far into the Earth the ocean actually reaches at its greatest depths? Truly the last frontier aside from outer space and the core of the Earth itself, much of the area below the ocean’s surface remains unexplored despite the fact that it represents 95% of the living space
- [WeWALK: Smart Cane Incorporates Google Maps for Easier Navigation](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/09/wewalk-smart-cane-incorporates-google-maps-for-easier-navigation/) - If smartphones can fit a whole world of functionality within our pockets, why can’t the same features be incorporated into useful tools for people with disabilities? In a particularly cool example of accessible technology, the WeWALK Smart Cane does just that. Created by engineer Kursat Ceylan of the Young Guru Academy (YGA) in Turkey, who’s
- [Skyscape House: Modern Rooftop Retreat Looks Out Over Bangkok](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/06/skyscape-house-modern-rooftop-retreat-looks-out-over-bangkok/) - From luxury penthouses to sky-high secret slums, urban rooftop architecture is like a hidden world of its own, often invisible from street level. Most of us go about our daily lives in the city never knowing what exists right above our heads. In Bangkok, architecture firm WARchitect has completed a new example: an exclusive modern
- [Art Made Flesh: 35 Sculptures Rendered in Human Skin & Hair](https://weburbanist.com/2015/07/15/art-made-flesh-35-sculptures-rendered-in-human-skin-hair/) - Do these fleshy works of art manipulating human body parts into unnatural shapes make you uncomfortable? That’s probably just what the artist was going for. It’s difficult for us, as humans, to look upon images of our own flesh with emotional detachment, seeing it as we would the meat of other animals, or even as
- [Almost Human: 15 Frighteningly Realistic Robots & Androids](https://weburbanist.com/2014/06/30/almost-human-15-frighteningly-realistic-robots-androids/) - How would you react if you were chased down the street by a sprinting android wearing head-to-toe camouflage and a gas mask? Probably about the same way you'd react to finding a dead-eyed mannequin convulsing alone in a closet with blood streaming from its mouth. Android technology is getting more disturbingly realistic every year, and
- [Halloween Horror: America's 13 Scariest Haunted Houses](https://weburbanist.com/2011/10/31/halloween-horror-americas-13-scariest-haunted-houses/) - Demented clowns with chainsaws, monster spiders, human meat-processing, crazed killers - face all of these horrors and more at America's scariest haunted houses.
- [Beauty & The Beach: Sports Illustrated's Top 10 Scenic Locations](https://weburbanist.com/2011/07/10/beauty-the-beach-sis-top-10-scenic-locations/) - This look at Sports Illustrated magazine's top 10 scenic shoot sites shows that behind every lovely lady there's a beautiful backdrop well worth a visit.
- [Mad Marketing: 15 Crazy & Controversial Advertisements](https://weburbanist.com/2010/11/08/15-cool-crazy-controversial-advertisements/) - Some ads grab our attention because they're clever and unusual. Others do it with bizarre, stomach-turning imagery. Which ones are actually effective?
- [Leafy Landscapes: Artist Reshapes Autumn Leaves into Mazes, Circles & Suns](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/03/leafy-landscapes-artist-reshapes-autumn-leaves-into-mazes-circles-suns/) - Famously beautiful ginkgo trees provide the raw materials for this falling leaf artist, which are carefully raked to create site-specific, all-natural art on the campus of Sacramento State University. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb5iGpNlHKD/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BciRadOlRtE/ Joanna Hedrick works at the school and has made these creations a kind of annual tradition,providing a backdrop for photos and a unique series of installation
- [Failure To Lunch: 7 More Closed & Abandoned Food Trucks](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/15/failure-to-lunch-7-more-closed-abandoned-food-trucks/) - The truck stops here... stops serving, that is, and these closed and abandoned food trucks won't be serving anything soon unless it's as scrap metal.
- [Cough Inns: 10 Smoking Shelters That Really Kick Butts](https://weburbanist.com/2019/09/08/cough-inns-10-smoking-shelters-that-really-kick-butts/) - Smokers gonna smoke, even if the decades-old War Against Cigarettes has exiled the persecuted puffers to outdoor shelters where no one wants to linger.
- [Beach Please: Abandoned Surf Cincinnati Waterpark](https://weburbanist.com/2019/08/25/beach-please-abandoned-surf-cincinnati-waterpark/) - Wave goodbye to Surf Cincinnati, an abandoned water park and banquet hall complex that once entertained overheated Ohioans but now only breeds mosquitoes.
- [Zaha Hadid Architects Make Flood Protection Look Elegant in Hamburg](https://weburbanist.com/2019/08/21/zaha-hadid-architects-make-flood-protection-look-elegant-in-hamburg/) - As urban planners grapple with the need for creative flood management systems in cities around the world, Zaha Hadid Architects provides an interesting example in Hamburg. Located along the Elbe River, the new Niederhafen River Promenade offers two functions in one: a flood wall and a riverfront promenade. Set in a popular tourist area alongside
- [Transforming Quadrant House: Rotating Terrace Follows the Sun](https://weburbanist.com/2019/08/23/transforming-quadrant-house-rotating-terrace-follows-the-sun/) - More than anything, the owners of a new transforming house in Poland wanted constant, direct access to sunlight. They commissioned the local firm KWK Promes to realize their unusual vision, and the result is definitely one of a kind. “Quadrant House” sits on a grassy suburban plot surrounded by trees. The name comes from both
- [Shipping Container Transformed into a Giant Camera & Darkroom](https://weburbanist.com/2019/08/19/shipping-container-transformed-into-a-giant-camera-darkroom/) - Pretty much anything that can be hollowed out and made light-proof can be used as a camera. Just ask Brendan Barry, who’s made a career from transforming ordinary objects like watermelon, bread, logs, mannequins and boxes made of Legos into unconventional photography equipment. Barry’s creations got bigger and and cooler than ever in 2017 when
- [Emoji Revenge: A California Spite House for the Digital Age](https://weburbanist.com/2019/08/07/emoji-revenge-a-californian-spite-house-for-the-digital-age/) - When a California woman's neighbors reported her for illegally turning her home into an AirBnb, she got back at them in a thoroughly modern way: with emojis. In an incident that’s referred to in local paper Easy Reader News as “The Emoji House War,” homeowner Kathryn Kidd shocked her neighbors in Manhattan Beach with a
- [Adversarial Fashion Designed to Trick Automated License Plate Readers](https://weburbanist.com/2019/08/16/adversarial-fashion-designed-to-trick-automated-license-plate-readers/) - As it turns out, surveillance cameras that have been "trained" to spot and read license plates aren't all that good at discerning real ones from fakes. That makes it pretty easy to trick Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) systems with images of fake plates, making it possible to flood their databases with unusable information. When
- [Disorienting Perspective-Shifting Animations by Dirk Koy Might Make You Dizzy](https://weburbanist.com/2019/08/14/disorienting-perspective-shifting-animations-by-dirk-koy-might-make-you-dizzy/) - Some of Dirk Koy’s videos should come with warnings before viewing, but not for the usual reasons. If you’re at all prone to motion sickness, just watching a few seconds of these disorienting animations could turn your stomach a little. https://www.instagram.com/p/B0isLqIFhZf/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BznPGVGFKWK/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BzgBUXfFwPr/ [vimeo=316628505] [vimeo=202925050] The Basel, Switzerland-based artist specializes in short experimental films that
- [Dairy Err: 10 Closed & Abandoned Australian Milk Bars](https://weburbanist.com/2019/08/18/dairy-err-10-closed-abandoned-australian-milk-bars/) - Chain store competition is creaming Milk Bars across Australia, leaving independent store owners, desperate smokers and the odd lost droog thirsting for more.
- [IKEA’s Latest Project: Designing Low-Cost Flat-Pack Dementia Villages](https://weburbanist.com/2019/08/12/ikeas-latest-project-designing-low-cost-flat-pack-dementia-villages/) - Across the globe, populations of older people are growing dramatically, and few plans are in place to properly care for them. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) says 8.5 percent of people worldwide are over 65, and that number will jump to nearly 17 percent by 2050. The need for supportive long-term housing and healthcare
- [The World’s Largest Bike Garage is a Subterranean Wonder in Utrecht](https://weburbanist.com/2019/08/09/the-worlds-largest-bike-garage-is-a-subterranean-wonder-in-utrecht/) - Considering that more than a third of Dutch people use a bike as their main mode of transportation every day, it’s no surprise that the world’s largest bicycle garage is located in Utrecht. Recently completed by the firm Ector Hoogstad Architecten, the cavernous three-story bike parking facility is tucked beneath Utrecht Central Station, which is
- [Megaliths in the Bath House Ruins: New Digital Illusions by TeamLab](https://weburbanist.com/2019/08/05/megaliths-in-the-bath-house-ruins-new-digital-illusions-by-teamlab/) - In Japan, digital megaliths emerge from the floor of an abandoned bath house, coming alive with animated flowers and water in a beautiful mash-up of light art, projections and abandoned places. Multidisciplinary collective TeamLab designed the work to continuously render in real time, so it’s neither pre-recorded nor on a loop. The concept of the
- [Mishicot Markdown: A Small Town Supermarket Checks Out](https://weburbanist.com/2019/08/11/mishicot-markdown-a-small-town-supermarket-checks-out/) - The Mishicot Family Market served residents of a small Wisconsin town for over 120 years until the now-demolished Main Street mainstay was itself shelved.
- [Robotic Contact Lens Lets You Zoom In on Objects by Blinking Twice](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/31/robotic-contact-lens-lets-you-zoom-in-on-objects-by-blinking-twice/) - Anyone who’s hoping some version of our species will manage to survive the coming climate crisis through transhumanism might be interested to learn about this recent breakthrough: a robotic contact lens that can zoom in on command. A team of research scientists at the University of California San Diego set out to explore ways that
- [A Fyn Mess: Denmark's Eerie Abandoned Fun Park Fyn](https://weburbanist.com/2019/08/04/a-fyn-mess-denmarks-eerie-abandoned-fun-park-fyn/) - Something's rotten in Denmark again, and the stench of decay wafting across the otherwise upbeat isle of Funen originates at the abandoned Fun Park Fyn.
- [Bauhaus Film Calls Attention to the True Stories of Women Architects](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/29/bauhaus-film-calls-attention-to-the-true-stories-of-women-architects/) - When the famous Bauhaus school of architecture and design first opened in Weimar, Germany in 1919, the majority of students were women. That wasn’t by design, though founder Water Gropius took the unusual stance of declaring equality among genders; it was simply that more women than men applied the first year. The school’s focus on
- [Hounded: 7 Abandoned Greyhound Racing Tracks](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/28/hounded-7-abandoned-greyhound-racing-tracks/) - Dogged by persistent allegations of animal cruelty – some proven to be true – greyhound racing tracks near and far have lost the public's puppy love.
- [Customizable 3D-Printed Houses Form A Disaster-Resistant Affordable Community](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/26/customizable-3d-printed-houses-form-a-disaster-resistant-affordable-community/) - In an unnamed city somewhere in South America, construction is set to begin on a 3D-printed village designed specifically for families living on less than $200 per month. San Francisco-based design studio Fuseproject is collaborating with New Story, a non-profit organization fighting homelessness, and ICON, a construction technologies company to plan and build what they
- [Thrilling Cliff Concept Hotel Clings to a Famous Tourist Spot in Norway](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/24/thrilling-cliff-concept-hotel-clings-to-a-famous-tourist-spot-in-norway/) - Architecture that clings to cliff faces may not be the most practical or environmentally sensitive, but it sure is visually striking. A new proposal from Turkish designer and architect Hayri Atak takes the drama up a few notches with a vertigo-inducing cantilevered platform that juts out from the rock, complete with a glass-bottomed infinity pool.
- [Abstract Aerial Art: A World of Patterns Seen Only From Above](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/22/abstract-aerial-art-a-world-of-patterns-seen-only-from-above/) - How much of the Earth’s beauty - natural and human-created - do we miss every day, because it’s only visible from above? Photographer duo (and brothers) JP and Mike Andrews reveal some of the incredible sights and patterns that become apparent when viewed from the sky, calling their work “abstract aerial art.” Using a pair
- [Antistructures: Photo Series Exaggerates Architecture to Impossible Proportions](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/19/antistructures-photo-series-exaggerates-architecture-to-impossible-proportions/) - Stretched and exaggerated almost to the point of absurdity, otherwise ordinary architecture takes on a bit of an uncanny feeling. Digital artist Alex Lysakowski describes it as “imaginary magnitude,” a change in proportion that’s a bit too extreme to be real, but straddling the line, sometimes making the viewer unsure whether they’re looking at a
- [If You Plant It, They Will Come: The Push to Create More Pollinator Cities](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/17/if-you-plant-it-they-will-come-the-push-to-create-more-pollinator-cities/) - In the Dutch city of Utrecht, 316 bus stops are now planted with flowering greenery, inviting pollinators like bees to stop by and take a blossom break. The Netherlands initiated the project after learning that more than half of its 358 bee species are endangered, but it comes with other benefits, too, like storing rainwater
- [Home Sweet: Abandoned Kaua'i Sugar Plantation House](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/21/home-sweet-abandoned-kauai-sugar-plantation-house/) - This abandoned house in Kauai molders away just steps from a rusty old factory where the Hawaiian island's bounteous sugar cane harvest once was processed.
- [Anamorphic Street Art: New Abstract Murals by Peeta Pop Off the Wall](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/12/anamorphic-street-art-new-abstract-murals-by-peeta-pop-off-the-wall/) - Blurring the lines between reality and illusion in street art is Peeta's specialty. You could stand right in front of one of his creations, gazing up at its proportions with your own eyes, and still barely be able to tell which elements are three-dimensional and which aren’t. His latest works are just as incredible as
- [Simulated Mars Habitat by SAGA Pops Up in Israel’s Negev Desert](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/10/simulated-mars-habitat-by-saga-pops-up-in-israels-negev-desert/) - The dusty, rocky plains, mountains and dry riverbeds of Israel’s Negev Desert stand in for the landscape of Mars in a new experimental project that aims to help astronauts thrive on the surface of the Red Planet. SAGA Space Architects collaborated with D-MARS, a space analog research center in Israel, to create The Mars Lab
- [Tea'd Off: Abandoned Museum Street Tea Rooms](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/14/tead-off-abandoned-museum-street-tea-rooms/) - Tea time waits for no one and the former Tea Rooms on London's Museum Street is no exception, its Art Deco facade gracefully decaying as the years go by.
- [Vintage Suitcases & Furniture Transform into Mini Timber Frame Architecture](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/08/vintage-suitcases-furniture-transform-into-mini-timber-frame-architecture/) - Old furniture, lamp parts and other cast-away ephemera from domestic life transform into finely crafted architectural models in the hands of artist and designer Ted Lott, who uses a bandsaw as a tiny sawmill to produce the pieces. In a new collection of work, Lott explores the hidden lives of domestic objects like suitcases, train
- [Ribbons of Life: Biodiverse Bridge Doubles as a Wildlife Crossing](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/05/ribbons-of-life-biodiverse-bridge-doubles-as-a-wildlife-crossing/) - In Australia, a new ribbon-inspired bridge mimicking natural bushland will offer recreational opportunities for people as well as habitat and a safe crossing for wildlife. Designed by CX Landscape for the city of Canberra as part of the Remaking Lost Connections design competition, “Ribbons of Life” stretches across Lake Griffin, creating a “forest shell” over
- [Poop Culture: 11 Examples of Excellent Excrement Art](https://weburbanist.com/2010/12/19/poop-culture-11-examples-of-excellent-excrement-art/) - So you think all art is crap, do you? These 10 poop art masterpieces are guaranteed to get everyone – not just art snobs – turning up their noses.
- [Beyond the Streets: Brooklyn Graffiti Exhibition Honors Early Law Breakers](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/03/beyond-the-streets-graffiti-goes-into-the-gallery-in-brooklyn/) - In Brooklyn, the latest iteration of BEYOND THE STREETS lets visitors check out the work of more than 150 street artists from around the world. Curated by graffiti historian and “urban anthropologist” Roger Gastman, who’s also known for co-authoring books on street art and co-producing films like Banksy’s Exit Through the Gift Shop, the show
- [Mach 1: Arts & Event Venue Made from a Tangle of Shipping Containers](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/01/mach-1-arts-event-venue-made-from-a-tangle-of-shipping-containers/) - Scottish artist David Mach is best known for his sculptural installations and surreal collages, but his largest work yet turns a heap of 36 red shipping containers into a new arts and event space in Edinburgh. Named Mach1, the unusual building is a collaboration with architecture studio Dixon Jones, and will add a new point
- [Faint Prays: Tiny Abandoned African-American Church](https://weburbanist.com/2019/07/07/faint-prays-tiny-abandoned-african-american-church/) - A tiny abandoned church dating back to the end of the Civil War reflects the reserved reverence exhibited by its long-scattered African-American congregation.
- [Ship-Like Theater with Glass Sails Planned for China’s Dongyang River](https://weburbanist.com/2019/06/28/ship-like-theater-with-glass-sails-planned-for-chinas-dongyang-river/) - MAD Architects will ensure that the experience of visiting the new Yiwu Grand Theater in China's Zhejiang province is unlike anything else in the world, with a highly unusual boat-inspired design. Set on the south bank of the Dongyang River, the structure seems to float on the surface of the water, its sloping glass curtain
- [Plastic Pollution: Why Manufacturers Need to Take Responsibility](https://weburbanist.com/2019/06/26/plastic-pollution-why-manufacturers-need-to-take-responsibility/) - Recycling isn't going to solve our waste problems. Between the contamination that happens when we don’t recycle correctly and the degradation of plastic over time, it’s a band-aid at best, and millions of pounds of “recyclable” materials end up in landfills no matter which bin we put them in. Of course, that doesn’t mean we
- [Naval Glazing: Haunted Abandoned Alameda Hospital](https://weburbanist.com/2019/06/30/naval-glazing-haunted-abandoned-alameda-hospital/) - Spirits were er, heated when this long-abandoned and reputedly haunted former Navy hospital in Oakland gave up the ghost to a mysterious fiery blaze.
- [Devil’s Lake: Abandoned North Dakota Town Reclaimed by Rising Waters](https://weburbanist.com/2019/06/24/devils-lake-abandoned-north-dakota-town-reclaimed-by-rising-waters/) - Over a period of decades, the waters of Devils Lake slowly rose higher and higher until they enveloped an entire farming town in rural North Dakota, forcing its inhabitants to leave. Changes to the climate resulted in heavier rain, which spread across thousands of flat acres “like pouring water on a tabletop,” says photographer Paul
- [Mediterranean Mirage: House Disguised as a Floating Island of Carved Earth](https://weburbanist.com/2019/06/21/mediterranean-mirage-house-disguised-as-a-floating-island-of-carved-earth/) - What appears, from a distance, to be a slice of land levitating above the hills of Santorini, Greece is actually an incredible modern home set on a lower level that acts like a mirrored plinth. Living greenery emerges from the roof, and the upper level bears the striations found in cross-sections of excavated earth. What
- [So Over It: Japan's Abandoned Hotel La Rainbow](https://weburbanist.com/2019/06/23/so-over-it-japans-abandoned-hotel-la-rainbow/) - Somewhere over the sea lies the abandoned Hotel La Rainbow, a cracked jewel of Japan's Bubble Era that failed to attract its target market of bridge geeks.
- [Anthropomorphic Drones Tell the Stories of Immigrants & Refugees in Milan](https://weburbanist.com/2019/06/12/anthropomorphic-drones-tell-the-stories-of-immigrants-refugees-in-milan/) - In Milan, the eyes and voices of immigrants, refugees and marginalized citizens take on a surprising form to interact with the public, telling people their stories. While drones are typically associated with surveillance, war and intrusion, here they become messengers in an attempt to cross cultural divides and encourage empathy. Loro (Them), a live performance
- [Wooden Wonders: Innovative Updates to an Ancient Building Material](https://weburbanist.com/2019/06/19/wooden-wonders-innovative-updates-to-an-ancient-building-material/) - Despite the fact that wood has been in use as a primary building material for millennia, it’s being hailed as the material of the future. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Wooden architecture is most often associated with cabins and other rustic styles, but that perception is increasingly out of date.
- [Spomeniks: The Antifascist History Behind Abstract Yugoslav Monuments](https://weburbanist.com/2019/06/17/spomeniks-the-antifascist-history-behind-abstract-yugoslav-monuments/) - Removed from their context, the strange concrete monuments dotting the landscape of the former Yugoslavia can seem abstract, inscrutable, even "alien." Called “Spomeniks” after the Serbo-Croatian word for “monument,” the massive sculptures were virtually unknown to the rest of the world before photographer Jan Kempenaers documented them with these striking photographs between 2006 - 2009.
- [Not Photoshopped: Pixelated Food Sculptures Look Like Digital Creations](https://weburbanist.com/2019/06/14/not-photoshopped-pixelated-food-sculptures-look-like-digital-creations/) - Japanese art director Yuni Yoshida is well known for her surreal digital creations, particularly those manipulating the human body into unnatural forms, but a new series takes the opposite approach. “Layered” is a collection of food photography in which fruit, burgers and other food items are cut apart and rearranged in pixelated or spliced forms,
- [Tired & Retired: Detroit's Abandoned Arnold Home](https://weburbanist.com/2019/06/16/tired-retired-detroits-abandoned-arnold-home/) - The state-of-the-art Arnold Home helped ease generations of retired Detroiters off this mortal coil before changing demographics dulled its once-cutting edge.
- [360-Degree Infinity Pool for a London Skyscraper is “A Little Bit James Bond”](https://weburbanist.com/2019/06/10/360-degree-infinity-pool-for-a-london-skyscraper-is-a-little-bit-james-bond/) - The world’s first 360-degree rooftop infinity pool is set to shimmer atop a 55-story skyscraper in London, featuring transparent acrylic walls on all sides. Since acrylic transmits light at a similar wavelength as water, it will make the water appear crystal clear, so swimmers feel like they’re merging with the sky, high above the city
- [IKEA Unveils Robotic Furniture, The Urban Village of the Future & More](https://weburbanist.com/2019/06/05/ikea-unveils-robotic-furniture-the-urban-village-of-the-future-more/) - How can we make housing more affordable, livable and sustainable in the face of climate change, rapid urbanization and other pressing issues? IKEA has some ideas. The Swedish retailer just unveiled its upcoming collaborations and projects at its annual event, Democratic Design Days, and they range from a new modular way of building entire cities
- [Lot In America: 10 More Abandoned Auto Dealerships](https://weburbanist.com/2019/06/09/lot-in-america-10-more-abandoned-auto-dealerships/) - When the auto sector's hurting, dealers feel the pain and these closed and abandoned auto dealerships are the poster-kids of decline in a once-proud industry.
- [Car Parklet: Bold Intervention Takes Over Occupied Parking Spaces](https://weburbanist.com/2019/06/03/car-parklet-bold-intervention-takes-over-occupied-parking-spaces/) - Artist Benedetto Bufalino has never shied away from the wild, surreal and unexpected; previously, he has transformed abandoned cars into pizza ovens, phone booths into aquariums, concrete trucks into massive mobile disco balls and defunct travel trailers into swimming pools, among many other interventions. These projects never fail to put a smile on our faces
- [Optochromie: Vivid Digital Mural on a New York Concert Hall by Felipe Pantone](https://weburbanist.com/2019/05/31/optochromie-vivid-digital-mural-on-a-new-york-concert-hall-by-felipe-pantone/) - The latest in street artist Felipe Pantone’s stunning Optochromie series splashes across the facade of the Town Ballroom concert hall in Buffalo, New York, giving it a dramatic makeover. Black and white geometric prints overlaid with prismatic pixelated colors interplay with stretched out metallic elements, all created in computer modeling programs before they were painted
- [Experimental Architecture: Testing New Ideas in Living Laboratories](https://weburbanist.com/2019/05/29/experimental-architecture-testing-new-ideas-in-living-laboratories/) - Why should architecture continue to look, feel and function almost exactly as it always has, in spite of a dramatically changing world? Sticking to established conventions is often the easy and inexpensive way to do things, and it’s backed up by decades or centuries of practice. But as we move into a future of climate
- [Banksy Crashes the Venice Biennale with a Critical Street Stall](https://weburbanist.com/2019/05/27/banksy-crashes-the-venice-biennale-with-a-critical-street-stall/) - Why, Banksy wonders, has he never been invited to the Venice Biennale? Perhaps because they knew he’d do something just like this, invited or not. The elusive British street artist set up an unauthorized stall in what appears to be the city’s famous Piazza San Marco, displaying a nine-panel oil painting of a cruise ship.
- [Dis Dressed: DressBarn Buys The Farm](https://weburbanist.com/2019/06/02/dis-dressed-dressbarn-buys-the-farm/) - Unfortunately named women's wear retailer DressBarn is slamming the door on 650 retail stores in 45 states as sales decline and branding loses focus.
- [Former Factories Transformed: Creative Reuse of Industrial Structures](https://weburbanist.com/2019/05/22/former-factories-transformed-creative-reuse-of-industrial-structures/) - How much potential lies within the bones of an old, run-down factory building, perhaps even one that’s been abandoned for decades on end? On the surface, sometimes it can seem like there’s no market to resell an industrial complex with such a specific purpose, especially if the rest of the neighborhood has long since moved
- [Holographic Reality: Making Large-Scale Illusions a Collective Experience](https://weburbanist.com/2019/05/20/holographic-reality-making-large-scale-illusions-a-collective-experience/) - Instead of just imagining near-future applications of holographic virtual and augmented reality that we interact with individually on a small scale, what if we expanded them to colossal proportions? “Holographic Reality” by Behruz Hairullaev, Brandon Muir and Nicholas Licausi envisions holograms as collective experiences that can provide entertainment, education, information, news and more in public
- [Mirrored Chinese Bookstore Offers Readers a Maze of Discovery](https://weburbanist.com/2019/05/17/mirrored-chinese-bookstore-offers-readers-a-maze-of-discovery/) - The newest of China’s surreal mirrored bookstores is now open in Chongqing, offering a disorienting, Escher-like experience to all who enter. Designed by X+Living, the Chongqing Zhongshuge Bookstore leads visitors through an unassuming glass facade on the third floor of Zodi Plaza and into a reflective maze full of reading materials waiting to be discovered.
- [Groovy & Grimy: Abandoned '70s Home In Bon Air](https://weburbanist.com/2019/05/26/groovy-grimy-abandoned-70s-home-in-bon-air/) - An abandoned Me Decade-themed home in the Richmond, VA suburb of Bon Air looks as if a low-budget zombie flick was filmed at The Brady Bunch house.
- [Future Visions of Vertical Architecture: eVolo Competition Winners](https://weburbanist.com/2019/05/15/future-visions-of-vertical-architecture-evolo-competition-winners/) - Each year, eVolo Magazine solicits visionary proposals for futuristic skyscrapers from architects around the world. Focusing on sustainability, innovation and technological advancements, the annual competition produces ideas that may not be ready to build in the immediate future, but can inspire us all to think bigger when we imagine possible solutions to common problems like
- [House Inside a Rock Takes Inspiration from Ancient Sandstone Tombs](https://weburbanist.com/2019/05/13/house-inside-a-rock-takes-inspiration-from-ancient-sandstone-tombs/) - Humans have been carving architecture into rock for nearly our entire history on this planet, so it's a little surprising we don’t see more modern marvels mimicking spectacular ancient wonders like the city of Petra in Jordan. Relatively easy to carve, sandstone offers an ideal medium for sculptural architecture that adapts existing rock formations into
- [Poison Ivy League: Abandoned Letchworth Village Asylum](https://weburbanist.com/2019/05/19/poison-ivy-league-abandoned-letchworth-village-asylum/) - Letchworth Village was hailed as an advanced institution at its 1911 opening but chronic overcrowding and underfunding took an alarming toll on the asylum and its inmates.
- [The Tide: An Elevated Linear Park for London’s Thames Riverfront](https://weburbanist.com/2019/05/10/the-tide-an-elevated-linear-park-for-londons-thames-riverfront/) - Construction is currently in progress on a new elevated linear park running along the river Thames. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, “The Tide” offers a multi-level landscape for running, walking, meditation and contemplation of large-scale public art on London’s Greenwich Peninsula. The initial phase of the project, opening in July, will offer the first
- [Street Tree Pods: A Creative Proposal to Add More Housing to London](https://weburbanist.com/2019/05/07/street-tree-pods-a-proposal-to-add-more-housing-to-london/) - Like urban treehouses, each of these “street tree pods” rises from a parking space to nestle within the branches of a tree, providing compact, low-cost living space for people in need of housing. University of Westminster graduate Matthew Chamberlain envisions these organically shaped portable dwellings as a potential way to address the housing crisis in
- [Haunted Hotel: Unfinished Abandoned Okinawa Resort Inn](https://weburbanist.com/2019/05/12/haunted-hotel-unfinished-abandoned-okinawa-resort-inn/) - The supposedly haunted Nakagusuku Hotel in Okinawa, Japan freaked-out construction workers so much, they walked off the job before the hotel was even finished.
- [Caviar Wishes: An Abandoned Alaska Salmon Hatchery](https://weburbanist.com/2019/05/05/caviar-wishes-an-abandoned-alaska-salmon-hatchery/) - The abandoned Jerry Myers Fish Hatchery in Skagway, Alaska was a vocational project offering local high school students a chance to work with even smaller fry.
- [Dome Dining Disaster: When Reclaiming Public Space Goes Wrong](https://weburbanist.com/2019/05/01/dome-dining-disaster-when-reclaiming-public-space-goes-wrong/) - When the city of Toronto forcibly cleared a homeless encampment beneath a downtown section of Gardiner Expressway only to turn it over to a luxury outdoor restaurant pop-up, people paying $545 per party got prime views of unappetizing protests. “Dinner with a View” set up heated glass domes near the site of the former camp,
- [Garden Room: Transforming an Urban Mumbai Apartment into a Lush Oasis](https://weburbanist.com/2019/04/29/garden-room-transforming-an-urban-mumbai-apartment-into-a-lush-oasis/) - Just looking at the photos of these interiors, where would you guess this unusual verdant living space is located? The English countryside, maybe, or a rural land project full of experimental buildings made of natural materials? An apartment building in one of the world’s most heavily populated cities probably wouldn’t be the first thing that
- [Redesigning Notre Dame for a New Era with a Greenhouse Roof](https://weburbanist.com/2019/04/26/redesigning-notre-dame-for-a-new-era-with-an-educational-greenhouse-roof/) - It seems like proposals to restore the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris came pouring in before the blaze that destroyed its spire and roof was even extinguished. Grappling with devastating damage to a historic and architectural icon, observers around the world immediately began to debate whether the cathedral should be recreated as faithfully as possible
- [Urban Hacking 101: Guides & Tutorials to Transform your City](https://weburbanist.com/2019/04/24/urban-hacking-101-guides-tutorials-to-transform-your-city/) - If your city isn't meeting your needs, just hack it. Urban hacktivism is a form of creative, citizen-led problem solving that often goes behind the backs of officials and institutions to get things done. Instead of leaving the task of shaping a given city to governments and developers, who tend to ignore the input of
- [Stonehenge Secrets? MIT's 25-Ton Boulders Can Be Moved By Hand](https://weburbanist.com/2019/04/22/stonehenge-secrets-mits-25-ton-boulders-can-be-moved-by-hand/) - Enormous monolithic structures weighing as much as 25 tons are tilted, rotated and wiggled across a room by a single person in a new experiment by researchers at MIT, giving us a look into how the process might have been carried out by ancient peoples. “Walking Assembly” uses concrete masonry units (CMUs) to demonstrate how
- [Rock'n Rolls: Retro Toilet Paper Roll Holder Radios](https://weburbanist.com/2019/04/28/rockn-rolls-retro-toilet-paper-roll-holder-radios/) - Don't touch that dial... these weird 70s bathroom music machines combined the utility of a toilet paper roll holder with the sweet sound of an AM radio.
- [Footloose: Canada's Abandoned Bata Shoe Factory](https://weburbanist.com/2019/04/21/footloose-canadas-abandoned-bata-shoe-factory/) - The former Bata shoe factory in Batawa – a company town located in southern Ontario – forged fine footwear for footloose Canucks from 1939 to the year 2000.
- [Funorama: Bouncy Rainbow Net Suspended Above a Paris Shopping Center](https://weburbanist.com/2019/04/19/funorama-bouncy-rainbow-net-suspended-above-a-paris-shopping-center/) - Shoppers at Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann can climb to new heights within the building’s domed atrium, bouncing around on a suspended rainbow net and gazing up at the stained glass cupola. Set nearly 40 feet above the ground, the the playful neon net is part of an installation called “Funorama” celebrating the return of summer.
- [Mondrian Lives On: The Artist’s Influence on Architecture & Design](https://weburbanist.com/2019/04/17/mondrian-lives-on-the-artists-influence-on-architecture-design/) - How is it that a simple, abstract composition of black and white grids and primary colors has touched our collective psyche so deeply? Dutch-born artist Piet Mondrian created some of the most reproduced designs in modern history with works like Composition II (1920), Tableau II (1922) and Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow (1929).
- [Green Spaceship: Vegetated Library to Land in Madrid’s Villaverde](https://weburbanist.com/2019/04/15/green-spaceship-vegetated-library-to-land-in-madrids-villaverde/) - Using a constantly changing screen of ivy as a passive solar device, a new library planned for Madrid takes on a shape that’s out of this world. Architecture firm 3GATTI calls the unusual structure “Green Spaceship,” envisioning it as a living organism that goes beyond merely holding a collection of books to interact with the
- [Class Inaction: Eerie Abandoned Virginia High School](https://weburbanist.com/2019/04/14/class-inaction-eerie-abandoned-virginia-high-school/) - Central High School in Painter, Virginia was abandoned in 2005 but the 88-year-old red brick building still exudes plenty of Art Deco style and class.
- [Bikers First: Mobile Pop-Up Bicycle Parking Shed Wanders Amsterdam](https://weburbanist.com/2019/04/12/bikers-first-mobile-pop-up-bicycle-parking-shed-wanders-amsterdam/) - Spending what feels like forever cruising around a crowded downtown area looking for parking can be highly frustrating, but there’s an obvious solution: take alternative transportation. Decades of car-centric culture around the world have made it difficult to pry people out of their vehicles and into the seats of buses, trains and bicycles, but what
- [Rail Impressive: Former Industrial Train Shed Becomes a Modern Library](https://weburbanist.com/2019/04/10/rail-impressive-former-industrial-train-shed-becomes-a-modern-library/) - Without sacrificing any of its industrial charm, Dutch architects transformed an old train shed into a gorgeous library and community event space. “LocHal” is Tilburg’s “new public city forum,” says Civic Public Architecture, which completed the project alongside Braaksma & Roos Architects and interior design firm Inside Outside. Not only have they proven the extraordinary
- [High Design: 10 Blazing Hot Marijuana Dispensary Interiors](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/26/high-design-10-super-stylish-marijuana-dispensary-interiors/) - Moving way beyond the psychedelic hippie aesthetics of head shops, modern marijuana dispensaries often look more like luxury hotel lobbies, high-end speakeasies and Apple Stores. As more states within the U.S. legalize medical and recreational marijuana, a whole new world of cannabis-adjacent architecture and design lights up. Here are 10 standout dispensaries, including a couple
- [Stairway to Nowhere: Behind the Hate for NYC's New Hudson Yards "Vessel"](https://weburbanist.com/2019/04/03/stairway-to-nowhere-behind-the-hate-for-nycs-new-hudson-yards-vessel/) - People really hate Thomas Heatherwick's new Escher-esque "Vessel," a climbable sculpture in New York City's billionaire playground of Hudson Yards, and they're not afraid to wax poetic about it. It’s a stairway to nowhere; a giant shawarma; a pine cone; a beehive; a trash basket; the rib cage of a monstrous robot. Its name is
- [Secret of the Great Pyramid: A New Optical Illusion at the Louvre by JR](https://weburbanist.com/2019/04/01/secret-of-the-great-pyramid-a-new-optical-illusion-at-the-louvre-by-jr/) - For a few precious hours outside the Louvre, the ground around the iconic Pyramid appeared to be in the process of excavation, revealing a hidden portion of the structure. Rendered on paper in black and white, “The Secret of the Great Pyramid” is the second optical illusion involving the Louvre Pyramid by French artist Jeane
- [Impreached: 10 Bizarrely Named Churches & Chapels](https://weburbanist.com/2019/04/07/impreached-10-bizarrely-named-churches-chapels/) - Bizarrely-named churches tend to stand out but someone must've got into the sacramental wine before tagging titles on these 10 hilarious houses of worship.
- [R2D2 Makeover: Star Wars-Themed Space Observatory in Germany](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/29/r2d2-makeover-star-wars-themed-space-observatory-in-germany/) - In its original blank state, an observatory in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany was practically begging for a Star Wars-themed paint job. It was already the perfect shape for its transformation into one of the space epic’s most beloved characters; all it took was a fresh coat of white and a few new blue markings. Hubert Zitt, an
- [Arata Isozaki: The Architect Who Linked East and West After World War II](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/27/arata-isozaki-the-architect-who-linked-east-and-west-after-wwii/) - Plenty of architects can say they began from nothing, but few mean it quite so literally as Arata Isozaki. He was fourteen years old in 1945, when his hometown of Oita, located halfway between Nagasaki and Hiroshima, was destroyed by the United States’ atomic bombs. Looking around him in the aftermath, he says, he began
- [Iconic: Animated Pop-Art Graphics of Bowie, Darth Vader and Daft Punk](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/25/iconic-animated-pop-art-graphics-of-bowie-darth-vader-and-daft-punk/) - Architecturally inspired animated 3D scenes pay tribute to David Bowie, Darth Vader and Daft Punk in a striking new series by Vincent Viriot. The direction and motion designer created the ‘ICONIC’ trio of animated graphics for a Parisian design studio of the same name in what has got to be some of the coolest branding
- [Members Lonely: 10 Closed & Abandoned Social Clubs](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/31/members-lonely-10-closed-abandoned-social-clubs/) - These closed & abandoned social clubs recall the pre-internet age when people seeking the company of others did so in person, not via keyboards and webcams.
- [Sunken Periscope: Europe's First Underwater Restaurant Opens in Norway](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/22/sunken-periscope-europes-first-underwater-restaurant-opens-in-norway/) - What looks like a post-apocalyptic scene of a building collapsing into the sea is actually Europe's first underwater restaurant, and it's officially open for business. Architecture firm Snøhetta has completed “Under,” an eatery set on the southernmost point of the Norwegian coastline, which doubles as a marine research center. Opening to diners on March 20th,
- [Blades Of Allegory: 10 Artistic Painted Wind Turbines](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/03/blades-of-allegory-10-artistic-painted-wind-turbines/) - Big fans of artistic expression should check out these creatively painted wind turbines whose cylindrical towers stay green even when they're multicolored.
- [Attention Choppers: 9 More Abandoned Helipads](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/10/attention-choppers-9-more-abandoned-helipads/) - You may think you've made it when your military base, hospital or corporate HQ boasts a helipad but sooner or later, the whirled WILL come to an end.
- [Mausoleum of the Giants: Monumental Sculptures by Street Artist Phlegm](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/20/mausoleum-of-the-giants-monumental-sculptures-by-street-artist-phlegm/) - Enormous creatures crouch in a historic building in Sheffield, England, as street artist Phlegm brings the signature style he developed through years of illustrating black and white comics into three dimensions. “Mausoleum of the Giants” is a large-scale sculptural installation featuring many of the same characters Phlegm has brought to life in other mediums, including
- [Once A Pawn A Time: 12 More Abandoned Pawn Shops](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/24/once-a-pawn-a-time-12-more-abandoned-pawn-shops/) - These dozen closed and abandoned pawn shops refute the myth of a robust economy where tax cuts and less regulation trickle down to those in the greatest need.
- [Purse Spective: Thrashbird's Valley Of Secret Values](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/01/purse-spective-thrashbirds-valley-of-secret-values/) - Street artist Thrashbird has gone off the beaten track to transform huge stone blocks at an abandoned concrete factory into enormous designer handbags.
- [Small Steps: One Man's Down-To-Earth Lunar Lander Home](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/08/small-steps-one-mans-down-to-earth-lunar-lander-home/) - The Lunar Lander Home, inspired by the LM that took NASA's Apollo astronauts to the Moon, is a visionary boat designer's Space Age living space.
- [Wipe Left: Getting A Handle On The Roll Front Toilet Seat](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/22/wipe-left-getting-a-handle-on-the-roll-front-toilet-seat/) - The Bog Standard Toilet Seat Roll Holder may be the sanitation solution nobody asked for but British designer Henry Franks really doesn't give a crap.
- [Parked Outback: Robert Fielding's Oz-Some Art Cars](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/29/parked-outback-robert-fieldings-oz-some-art-cars/) - Robert Fielding's Oz-some art cars once lit up desert highways; now they're being painted, illuminated and photographed in their final resting places.
- [Out Of Time: Abandoned Virginia Renaissance Faire](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/05/out-of-time-abandoned-virginia-renaissance-faire/) - The abandoned Virginia Renaissance Faire in Fredericksburg, Virginia was a short-lived medieval-themed festival whose days (and knights) were numbered.
- [Road Grip: Vietnam's Golden Bridge Is One Handy Span](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/12/road-grip-vietnams-golden-bridge-is-one-handy-span/) - You're in good hands when you walk the recently opened Golden Bridge in the Ba Na Hills – two humongous hands carved from stone, to be exact.
- [Cone Founded: The Abandoned Yuengling Ice Creamery](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/26/cone-founded-the-abandoned-yuengling-ice-creamery/) - The Yuengling Ice Creamery not only helped the brewery survive Prohibition, it closed over a half-century after the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed.
- [Honeymoon Cruiser: A Bizarre Russian Wedding Coach](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/02/honeymoon-cruiser-a-bizarre-russian-wedding-coach/) - This 'Exclusive Limo' based on Chrysler's late and unlamented PT Cruiser was designed to transport Russian about-to-be-weds in, er, style.
- [Step On It: Life-Size LEGO Teardrop Trailer Travels Well](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/09/step-on-it-life-size-lego-teardrop-trailer-travels-well/) - A plastic fantastic, life-size LEGO teardrop trailer made from over 200,000 assorted LEGO bricks boasts electric power, running water and a fold-up bed.
- [Inn Trouble: Abandoned Brandermill Inn & Conference Center](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/16/inn-trouble-abandoned-brandermill-inn-conference-center/) - The abandoned Brandermill Inn and Conference Center in Chesterfield, VA jumped the shark after a failed Ponzi scheme drained all of its operating funds.
- [Fairly Sore: The World's 10 Most Dangerous Festivals](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/23/fairly-sore-the-worlds-10-most-dangerous-festivals/) - Festivals rank high among humankind's most cherished traditions but if you think these annual gatherings are all fun and games, you'd be VERY wrong.
- [Sipping Cargo: Starbucks Opens Container Cafe In Taiwan](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/30/sipping-cargo-starbucks-opens-container-cafe-in-taiwan/) - Starbucks' new double-decker drive thru restaurant and cafe in Taiwan's Hualien Bay Mall was constructed using 29 recycled shipping containers.
- [Donald Dupe : 7 More Businesses Trading On The Trump Name](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/07/donald-dupe-7-more-businesses-trading-on-the-trump-name/) - The Trump name may be famous but it isn't always connected to the business dynasty founded by Fred Trump, as these 7 Trump-named businesses illustrate.
- [Domino Effect: Sweet Playground At Old NYC Sugar Refinery](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/14/domino-effect-sweet-playground-at-old-nyc-sugar-refinery/) - Sweetwater playground at the former Domino Sugar Refinery in Brooklyn, New York is a colorful children's fun park that's dandy as old-fashioned candy.
- [Not Safety For Work: 10 Comical Conical Traffic Cones](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/21/not-safety-for-work-10-comical-conical-traffic-cones/) - These traffic safety cones manage to rise above their innate urban utility by virtue of some – dare we say 'iconic' – conic characteristics.
- [Exhibits On The Beach: Sculpture By The Sea Makes Waves](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/04/exhibits-on-the-beach-sculpture-by-the-sea-makes-waves/) - 'Sculpture By The Sea' returns to Sydney's beautiful Bondi Beach, featuring awesome open-air art exhibits by over 130 artists from 21 countries.
- [Cough-y House: Abandoned Cresson Tuberculosis Sanatorium](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/11/cough-y-house-abandoned-cresson-tuberculosis-sanatorium/) - The abandoned Cresson Tuberculosis Sanatorium once housed TB patients seeking relief and recuperation amidst Pennsylvania's rugged Allegheny Mountains.
- [Troll Train: Brazil's Steamy Mundo a Vapor Museum](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/18/troll-train-brazils-steamy-mundo-a-vapor-museum/) - The front facade of the Mundo a Vapor train museum in Canela, Brazil recreates a spectacular Parisian train wreck from 1895 in steamingly accurate detail.
- [Chambers of Secrets: Miniature 3D Models of Harry Potter Architecture](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/18/chambers-of-secrets-miniature-3d-models-of-harry-potter-architecture/) - Sets and scenes from the Harry Potter series are reimagined as miniature cardboard models by architecture students from the Melbourne School of Design. Created as part of a summer intensive called Smoke and Mirrors, the project brings Gringotts, The Burrow, the Shrieking Shack, the Chamber of Secrets and other key buildings and interiors to life,
- [Contain Us: Apartment Made Of 140 Shipping Containers](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/25/contain-us-apartment-made-of-140-shipping-containers/) - Drivelines Studios is a low-rise residential apartment building in Johannesburg, SA, constructed from 140 re-purposed metal shipping containers.
- [Deco Rated: The Sears Crosstown Building In Memphis](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/02/deco-rated-the-sears-crosstown-building-in-memphis/) - The former Sears Crosstown Building in Memphis, TN was a high rise, Art Deco retail showcase designed to meet the needs of a car-driving America on the move.
- [In Plane Sight: The Fort Worth Alliance Airport ATC Tower](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/09/in-plane-sight-the-fort-worth-alliance-airport-atc-tower/) - The Fort Worth Alliance Airport air traffic control tower is an FAA-certified Level 5 facility whose design showcases the best features of Modernism.
- [Kick Stopper: 12 Sadly Lost & Forgotten Soccer Balls](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/16/kick-stopper-12-sadly-lost-forgotten-soccer-balls/) - There are few things more poignant than a lost soccer ball, as illustrated by both a charitable Lost Footballs calendar and these 12 emotion-laden examples.
- [Tinsel Towns: 10 International HOLLYWOOD Sign Homages](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/23/tinsel-towns-10-international-hollywood-sign-homages/) - The iconic 'HOLLYWOOD' sign has loomed over La La Land for almost a century, inspiring overseas wannabes to “sign” up with homegrown copies.
- [Sheet Happened: Page Turns On Abandoned Paper Mill](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/30/sheet-happened-page-turns-on-abandoned-paper-mill/) - A proud chapter in the story of American industry came to a close when an abandoned paper mill in Richmond, VA was re-purposed into loft-style apartments.
- [Beware-y Afraid: 10 Weird & Unexpected Warning Signs](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/06/beware-y-afraid-10-weird-unexpected-warning-signs/) - Telltale signs of snowflake-ization are all around if one knows where to look but these 10 “Beware Of” signs prove we really are living in a world of hurt.
- [Catskill Keep: An Abandoned Cursed Castle In Upstate NY](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/13/catskill-keep-abandoned-cursed-castle-in-upstate-ny/) - Abandoned Dundas Castle in upstate New York is said to be cursed: its builder died and his family were committed to asylums before they could even move in.
- [Signs Friction: 10 Unfortunately Named Businesses](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/20/signs-friction-10-unfortunately-named-businesses/) - Brand power can go a long way in business but as these 10 unfortunately-named shops and stores so sorrowfully illustrate, it can also go the wrong way.
- [Box Springs Eternal: 10 Sheet-Kickin' Mattress Stores](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/27/box-springs-eternal-10-sheet-kickin-mattress-stores/) - Mattress stores are so omnipresent these days it's become a real struggle for sleep shops to stand out from their stuffed, sprung & padded competition.
- [Somnambulist Manifestos: 10 Graffitied Old Mattresses](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/03/somnambulist-manifestos-10-graffitied-old-mattresses/) - Abandoned mattresses are a graffiti artist's dream: street-level billboards ideally placed to expose art and opinions to a society sleepwalking thru life.
- [Fully Cocked: 10 British 'Cock' Pubs & Taverns](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/10/fully-cocked-10-british-cock-pubs-taverns/) - Call it a Cock & Bull story but a disproportionate number of British pubs, bars and taverns have 'cock' in their name. What's up with that?
- [Constructivist Cool: Moscow's Zuev Workers' Club](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/17/constructivist-cool-moscows-zuev-workers-club/) - Workers of the world, relax! The Zuev Workers' Club building in downtown Moscow was the epitome of Constructivist cool when it opened way back in 1929.
- [Forever Homeless: 7 Closed & Abandoned Pet Shops](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/24/forever-homeless-7-closed-abandoned-pet-shops/) - These closed and abandoned pet shops eerily echo with the long lost sights, sounds and smells (oh, those smells!) of what were effectively urban retail zoos.
- [Worker Be: 10 “We're Hiring” Signs of the Times](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/03/worker-be-10-were-hiring-signs-of-the-times/) - This eclectic selection of “We're Hiring” signs illustrate some of the unusual ways companies offer jobs in a booming economy with low unemployment.
- [Jobs None: 7 Sad Signs From The Financial Crisis](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/10/jobs-none-7-sad-signs-from-the-financial-crisis/) - Back in the depths of The Great Recession, companies large and small laid off workers while discouraging new hires with a wealth of 'no hiring' signs.
- [Contained: 7 Closed & Abandoned Package Stores](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/24/contained-7-closed-abandoned-package-stores/) - Liquor by any other name may sell the same but these closed and abandoned package stores couldn't succeed in what most say is a can't-miss business.
- [3D-Printed Sushi Nutritionally Customized Based on Diner’s Biodata](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/15/3d-printed-sushi-nutritionally-customized-based-on-diners-biodata/) - Not many sushis restaurants ask their patrons to provide urine and saliva samples upon entrance, but in our era of hyper-personalization, maybe we shouldn't be surprised. From the Japanese company Open Meals, which debuted its complex 3D-printed sushi at the South by Southwest festival in Austin last year, comes a new range of high tech
- [Clubbered: The Closed Fort Henry Men's Club](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/17/clubbered-the-closed-fort-henry-mens-club/) - For well over a century the Fort Henry Club in Wheeling, West Virginia served as a home away from home for local wheeler-dealers of the male persuasion.
- [Desire Paths: When Design and the Needs of Users Diverge](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/13/desire-paths-when-design-and-the-needs-of-users-diverge/) - These days, "user experience" tends to refer more to the digital realm than our physical environment, but it's no less relevant to roads and sidewalks than to websites and software. When creating something that people will interact with, no matter what it is, the goals are often the same: it should be useful, usable, accessible,
- [Abandoned Apartments Transform Into a Vertical Urban Food Court in Vietnam](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/11/abandoned-apartments-transform-into-a-vertical-urban-food-court-in-vietnam/) - It’s not often that you can choose from dozens of cafes situated high above a crowded urban plaza, gazing out at the landscape from a table on the balcony, all for the price of a coffee. In Ho Chi Minh City, such views come cheap thanks to a highly unusual reuse project transforming a 1960s
- [Root Bench: Public Furniture Stretches Out in an Organic Growth Pattern](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/08/root-bench-public-furniture-stretches-out-in-an-organic-growth-pattern/) - Sprawling out in a radial growth pattern, a bench in Korea seems to grow organically, stretching and stretching to fill a lawn in a public park. Designed by Yong Ju Lee for the Hangang Art Competition, “Root Bench” is technically not just one bench, but a network of dozens of them seemingly emerging from the
- [From Lobster & Live Music to the Cattle Car: The Evolution of Air Travel](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/06/from-lobster-live-music-to-the-cattle-car-the-evolution-of-air-travel/) - From the wicker chairs of the 1920s, the evolution of airplane seats has rapidly diverged in two different directions — toward luxurious full-sized beds on first class international flights and the increasingly tiny torture devices in economy. Clearly, what’s happening in the air parallels growing class schisms on the ground, but what makes air travel unique
- [American Decay: Eerie Shots of Abandoned 20th Century Households](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/27/american-decay-eerie-shots-of-abandoned-20th-century-households/) - The eeriest abandoned places tend to feel as if their former inhabitants disappeared into thin air. In each room is evidence of lives interrupted: clothes spilling out of dresser drawers, dishes in the kitchen sink, toys scattered across the floor, photos of loved ones still hanging on the walls. Seemingly precious belongings remain in place
- [Lego My VW: Retro Camper Made of 400,000 Plastic Toy Bricks](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/04/lego-my-vw-retro-camper-made-of-400000-plastic-toy-bricks/) - Is there anything that can’t be convincingly reproduced to scale with LEGOs? Enthusiasts of these plastic toy bricks are constantly taking their creations to the next level, and full-scale (and often functional) vehicles continue to rank among the most impressive competitive LEGO projects in the land. Just a few months after a unique LEGO trailer
- [Spiky Sustainable Black Tree Houses Rise from the Italian Dolomites](https://weburbanist.com/2019/03/01/spiky-sustainable-black-tree-houses-rise-from-the-italian-dolomites/) - Extending down the hillside from an existing hotel, a series of matte black structures rise from the deep green landscape like spikes. Without revealing many details, Peter Pichler Architecture has unveiled its vision for unique sustainable “Tree Houses” in the Italian Dolomites - though they’re quite unlike most of the tree houses we’re used to
- [Character Type: 3D Typographic Skate Obstacles in Rotterdam](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/25/character-type-3d-typographical-skate-obstacles-in-rotterdam/) - Get a little too artsy with skate obstacles and you might end up with objects that just aren't all that fun or functional for their intended purpose. But when Rotterdam design studio Opperclaes collaborated with furniture maker Jeroen van Sluis to bring its signature typographic art into three dimensions, the result spelled success for skaters
- [Bubbletecture: New Book Shows Off the Innovation of Inflatables](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/22/bubbletecture-new-book-shows-off-the-innovation-of-inflatables/) - Maybe it's the kids in us, but there's something about inflatable architecture that's just plain fascinating. It’s hard to deny the fun factor in blowing something up bigger and bigger and bigger until it’s the size of a building. Temporary and amorphous, it flouts many of the qualities we expect from architecture yet it can
- [Abandoned Grandeur: Documenting the Downfall of Luxurious Places](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/20/abandoned-grandeur-documenting-the-downfall-of-luxurious-places/) - There's something about the contrast of opulent ornamentation and expensive materials with rot and deterioration that makes luxury resorts and mansions some of the most fascinating abandonments. Someone once cared about these places so much, they invested untold sums of money and hours of labor into them, perhaps having their walls hand-painted with frescoes or
- [Atomic Alchemy: Photographs of Nuclear Landscapes in the American West](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/18/atomic-alchemy-photographs-of-nuclear-landscapes-in-the-american-west/) - There's a quiet sense of foreboding permeating this series of black and white photos of old uranium mining towns and nuclear test sites throughout the West, captured by Australian-American photographer Brett Leigh Dicks. The images depict scenes that once held enormous potential: first for progress, then for danger and destruction. Now they’re just empty. “Atomic
- [Architecture as Cultural Identity: A Town in Bolivia Gets Bold & Bright](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/15/architecture-as-cultural-identity-a-town-in-bolivia-gets-bold-bright/) - Whether you love it or hate it, the divisive architectural style taking over the Bolivian city of El Alto is certainly a departure from the norm, injecting bold shapes and colors into an otherwise average cityscape. Local architect Freddy Mamani, who has spent the last 18 years developing the signature style he calls “Nuevo Andino”
- [Linking Past and Present: Modern Architecture Made of Reclaimed Materials](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/13/linking-past-and-present-modern-architecture-made-of-reclaimed-materials/) - Recycled architecture is more than just novelty structures and offbeat buildings made from bottles, cans and tires - though those can be pretty cool in their own right. It’s a way to put recycled materials to use on a large scale, reduce the tremendous amount of waste typically produced during construction and stimulate creativity. In
- [Mirage: Mirrored House Reflects Snow-Covered Landscape in Switzerland](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/11/mirage-mirrored-house-reflects-snow-covered-landscape-in-switzerland/) - Mirrored inside and out, a new installation set in a snowy valley in Switzerland will never look exactly the same twice. Created as part of this year’s alpine arts festival Elevation 1049 by Los Angeles-based artist Doug Aitken, “Mirage Gstaad” almost disappears into the stark landscape when gazing at it from a distance, while inside
- [Project Bunker Makes a Tiny Home out of a Diesel Oil Tank](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/08/project-bunker-makes-a-tiny-home-out-of-a-diesel-oil-tank/) - People convert all kinds of unlikely objects into homes: sheds, shipping containers, school buses and even decommissioned wartime bunkers. These creative reclaimed homes can range from tiny to surprisingly spacious, but rarely are they quite as micro-sized (and round) as one particular project by Argentinean architect Martín Marro. “Bunker” began as an exploration of Marro’s
- [Noise-Cancelling Doghouse: Quiet Design Soothes Storm-Scared Canines](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/19/noise-cancelling-doghouse-quiet-design-soothes-storm-scared-canines/) - Between fireworks and thunder, it can be hard to watch your best friend cower and howl when noises beyond your control dominate the soundscape. This noise-cancelling kennel aims to provide shelter from auditory storms, an more robust alternative to hiding in the closet. [youtube=uyfbpQhH-oM] Developed by Ford Europe, the structure employs a combination of sound
- [50 Years Later: Mysteriously Perfect 'Tree Circles' Spotted from Sky in Japan](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/14/50-years-later-mysteriously-perfect-tree-circles-spotted-from-sky-in-japan/) - Like a giant work of long-term land art, a pair of eerily precie circles can be seen over Miyazaki, Japan, made up of cedars planted a half-century ago. As it turns out, though, this was not aesthetic in intent, but scientific: the trees were carefully arrayed to test out a botanical theory. Specifically, Japan’s Ministry of
- [None of Your Beeswax: Urban Anti-Hives Designed for Solitary Bee Species](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/12/none-of-your-beeswax-urban-anti-hives-designed-for-solitary-bee-species/) - Talk of bees usually conjures images of buzzing hives acting in concert, but most species around the world are actually lowners, hence this series of chic abodes for less social bees. Honey bees and bumblebees work together, and get most of the media buzz, while solitary bees work alone -- not producing honey or wax,
- [Stackable School Desks: Multifunctional Designs for Rural Mexican Schools](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/07/stackable-school-desks-multifunctional-designs-for-rural-mexican-schools/) - Stacking chairs have long been a space-saving staple of offices, homes and schools, but getting a complex shape like a desk to stack up is a challenge -- one these designers decided to take on for a very specific and practical application. Studio Nos redesigned the traditional children's school desk to make it affordable, durable,
- [Universal Design: Creating Better Buildings & Cities for All](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/06/universal-design-creating-better-buildings-cities-for-all/) - Conventional design only welcomes a certain type of person: the one arbitrarily deemed "normal." It’s easy for designers, or even the casual observer, to define the most typical user of a space as one who requires no modifications in order to access it. But “normal” doesn’t really exist, and you can’t necessarily tell by looking
- [Who Owns Your Face? Welcome to a New World of Hacking Headaches](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/31/who-owns-your-face-welcome-to-a-new-world-of-hacking-headaches/) - The question of who owns your face sounds absurd on the surface - of course you own it, it's attached to your body after all. But in an era of facial recognition technology, in which your face can be scanned and added to databases without your knowledge or consent, the answer to that question gets
- [Mojow: Modern Flat-Pack Furniture with Inflatable Cushions](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/04/mojow-modern-flat-pack-furniture-with-inflatable-cushions/) - Flat pack furniture makes shipping and moving a lot easier, but it doesn't leave much room for comfortable cushions. A French furniture brand called Mojow came up with a clever workaround that somehow manages to not look like it belongs in a college dorm or a child’s bedroom: inflatables. The simple, streamlined frames for its
- [Underwater Hotel in a Formerly Abandoned Quarry Now Open to Guests](https://weburbanist.com/2019/02/01/underwater-hotel-set-in-a-formerly-abandoned-quarry-now-open-to-guests/) - The concept renderings for this wildly unusual hotel design in an abandoned Chinese quarry debuted on the internet over a decade ago, and now the finished complex is welcoming guests. The InterContinental Shimao Wonderland is the “world’s first underwater quarry hotel” set into the cliff faces of the 288-foot-deep former quarry, with the lowest two
- [Reading the Road: River of 11,000 Glowing Books Flows Down City Street](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/31/reading-the-road-river-of-11000-glowing-books-flows-down-city-street/) - Thousands of books spanned from sidewalk to sidewalk in Ann Arbor's Literature vs Traffic installation, creating a space for quiet reflection on the value of pedestrian-friendly public spaces and the absence of noise pollution. The intersection of Liberty and State, a major juncture in this college town, was closed down for a day and night to allow the
- [How Smart Home Technology Could Change Architecture](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/30/how-smart-home-technology-could-change-architecture/) - Whether you're an early adopter or believe smart technology could invite a host of new headaches into our most private spaces, connectivity and automation are coming for us all. We’re still in the beginning phases of a revolution in the way architecture is designed, built and used, from virtual-reality-enhanced concept development and robotic construction to
- [Vanishing Beauty: A Photographic Tour of Almost-Abandonments](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/28/vanishing-beauty-a-photographic-tour-of-abandoned-places/) - There's something extra eerie about places that are not quite abandoned just yet, but edging closer and closer to a prolonged death process. Relics of another time, these architectural remnants feel like physical connections to all the lives that passed through them, many of which have already met an end. Lacking any efforts to preserve
- [Buckingham Palace Redesigned as Co-Housing for 50,000](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/25/buckingham-palace-redesigned-as-co-housing-for-50000/) - Buckingham Palace could be transformed to convert its luxurious 775 rooms and rooftop space into a solution for London’s housing crisis. At least, that’s the idea behind “Affordable Palace,” a tongue-in-cheek proposal from German design firm Opposite Office. The architects have released plans that add a multi-story extension on top of the royal palace and
- [Maximalist Makeovers: Transforming Architecture with Vivid Paint Jobs](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/23/maximalist-makeovers-transforming-architecture-with-vivid-paint-jobs/) - Minimalism is chic and trendy, but sometimes, there’s nothing more satisfying than blotting out bland and boring surfaces with bold splashes of color and pattern. That’s especially true when the structure in question is an eyesore, abandoned or weighed down by the baggage of a difficult past. Giving architecture a maximalist makeover with colorful paint
- [Early Birds Get Free Noodles in Tokyo Scheme to Ease Metro Crowding](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/21/early-birds-get-free-noodles-in-tokyo-scheme-to-ease-metro-crowding/) - Free soba and tempura in exchange for getting on the train a little earlier could be a tasty offer for Tokyo commuters who are sick of the "subway sandwich," which has nothing to do with bread and everything to do with having your face smashed into a stranger's armpit for the duration of your ride.
- [Print Your City: Custom Street Furniture Made of Plastic Household Waste](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/18/print-your-city-custom-street-furniture-made-of-plastic-household-waste/) - Citizens of Thessaloniki, Greece can bring their plastic household waste to a "zero waste lab," use software to design their own custom recycled street furniture and watch it take form via 3D printer. The project is the latest from “Print Your City,” a creative initiative by Dutch research and design studio The New Raw that
- [Art of the Chinese Courtyard: Respectful Renovations Keep Hutongs Alive](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/16/art-of-the-chinese-courtyard-respectful-renovations-keep-hutongs-alive/) - Building booms around the world can render entire neighborhoods unrecognizable in a matter of days, demolishing historic structures to make way for new developments. In cities like Beijing, where older architecture such as “siheyuan” courtyard houses stand out for their uniqueness and beauty, the transition from traditional to contemporary can feel all the more jarring.
- [A Multi-Layered House Becomes a Landscape of its Own in Dense Osaka](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/14/a-multi-layered-house-becomes-a-landscape-of-its-own-in-dense-osaka/) - When cities are so dense and plots of land so small it seems like you don't have room for a yard, maybe it's time to reconsider what a yard can look like. Presented with the challenge of designing a sunny and spacious residence in a cramped Osaka neighborhood, Japanese firm Tomohiro Hata Architect and Associates
- [Skiers Test Out the Slopes Atop BIG’s ‘Urban Mountain’ Plant in Copenhagen](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/11/skiers-test-out-the-slopes-atop-bigs-urban-mountain-plant-in-copenhagen/) - The vivid blue and green artificial ski slope atop Bjarke Ingels Group’s mountain-shaped Amager Resource Center in Copenhagen is ready for action. The novel waste-to-energy plant aims to be fun and educational while producing power, offering three different gradients of ski surfaces suitable for all experience levels as well as a park complete with hiking
- [Plastic Could Be Fantastic Again if We Make It With These Natural Materials](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/09/plastic-could-be-fantastic-again-if-we-make-it-with-these-natural-materials/) - A material once seen as a breakthrough innovation that could benefit the environment by replacing animal products now litters the Earth to the tune of approximately 6.3 billion metric tons, most of it in the world’s oceans. Forty percent of that plastic is single-use packaging. While recycling might seem like the most obvious way to
- [Heart of Malta: Fallen Natural Landmark Rebuilt in a Dazzling New Form](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/07/heart-of-malta-fallen-natural-landmark-rebuilt-in-a-dazzling-new-form/) - A stunning rock formation in Malta known as the Azure Window drew visitors from around the world until its collapse in a storm in early 2017, but it could be reborn in an unexpected way. In collaboration with Elena Britanishskaya, architect Svetozar Andreev proposes transforming the site of the fallen landmark into a new exhibition
- [Enhancing IKEA: Small Designer Additions Totally Transform Kit Furniture](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/15/enhancing-ikea-small-designer-additions-totally-transform-kit-furniture/) - IKEA furniture can get your interior design most of the way to where you want it, but another Scandinavian company has enlisted three world-renowned architecture firms to help get you the rest of the way to a high-end design. Reform enlisted architects from Bjarke Ingels Group, Henning Larsen Architects, and Norm Architects to create a series of
- [DIY Pop-Up Prefab: Whole House Anyone Can Assemble with a Screwdriver](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/12/diy-pop-up-prefab-whole-house-anyone-can-assemble-with-a-screwdriver/) - Designed to be simple enough for anyone to build in just a few days, the Pop-Up House is made of lightweight and recyclable materials and can be assembled using a simple wireless screwdriver. [vimeo=81180775] Developed by Multipod Studio, the first prototype was erected in the South of France, a working proof-of-concept with 1,600 square feet
- [Refugee Baggage: Suitcase Dioramas Show Dark Scenes from Countries Fled](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/05/refugee-baggage-suitcase-dioramas-show-dark-scenes-from-countries-fled/) - The project of a Syrian-born artist and architect and an Iraqi-born author, this installation invites viewers to imagine what refugees leave behind when the pack up the few things they can carry and flee an oppressive regime or war-torn country. The UNPACKED: Refugee Baggage installation by Mohamad and Ahmed Badr "sculpturally re-creates rooms, homes, buildings and
- [Big Data Art: Printed Visualizations Highlight Daunting Tech "Terms of Service"](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/08/big-data-art-printed-visualizations-highlight-tech-terms-of-service-lengths/) - Everyone knows that actually reading a "terms of service" agreement is rarely (if ever) done by consumers using large digital platforms, but there is something powerful about seeing just how overwhelming this task is in print. Artist Dima Yarovinsky installed a series of these covering Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Tinder on normal-width rolls of paper,
- [Imaginary Movies: Graphic Designer Turns Posted Photos into Film Posters](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/10/imaginary-movies-graphic-designer-turns-posted-photos-into-film-posters/) - Inspired by gorgeous photographs posted to a popular social media website, one designer has reversed the normal narrative of movie marketing, creating publicity posters for speculative films, their scripts yet unwritten. This dedicated redditor goes by Your_Post_As_A_Movie (YPAAM) and has made over 800 such creations to date, each one complete with titles, taglines, casts and credits, not
- [Coral Cities: 30-Minute Urban Commutes Rendered as Blooming Animations](https://weburbanist.com/2019/01/04/coral-cities-30-minute-urban-commutes-rendered-as-blooming-animations/) - Cities like London, Amsterdam and Rome bloom like vivid living organisms in a series of creative road network visualizations, each one as unique as a snowflake. The individual shapes of cities have just as much to do with these arteries multiplying into wispy branches as they do geography, topography and architecture, notes data scientist Craig
- [What Can You Find in This 24.9-Billion-Pixel Panoramic Photo of Shanghai?](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/28/what-can-you-find-in-this-24-9-billion-pixel-panoramic-photo-of-shanghai/) - Commissioned by the Shanghai government, this 24.9-billion-pixel panoramic photograph captures an incredible amount of detail, and it's easy to lose hours zooming in on every individual scene. Taken from the top of a skyscraper, the photo aims to “show China’s economic take off to the world,” both in terms of what can be spotted in
- [Flying Nest: Minimalist Nomadic Container Hotel Travels the World in Style](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/26/flying-nest-minimalist-nomadic-container-hotel-travels-the-world-in-style/) - Currently perched atop the Avoriaz Mountain in France so guests can flip from their beds straight onto the ski slopes, this traveling minimalist hotel made of shipping containers signals a new nomadic future for comfortable accommodations. Instead of housing attendees in tents, events in far-flung locales can now offer all the comfort of an urban
- [Gingerbread City: Hyper-Detailed Edible Replica of New York Built to Scale](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/24/gingerbread-city-hyper-detailed-edible-replica-of-new-york-built-to-scale/) - It’s not unusual for architecture enthusiasts to drool over elaborate scale models, but edible materials definitely add an extra dimension to our hunger for accurate miniature details. More than 200 pounds of gingerbread, 60 pounds of royal icing and 10 pounds of gum paste and pastillage went into the making of this holiday masterpiece completed
- [Street Films: 7 Top Urban Transit Design Videos from Amsterdam to Zurich](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/29/street-films-7-top-urban-transit-design-videos-from-amsterdam-to-zurich/) - Amsterdam, Zurich, Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Vancouver, Oslo and more are all great cities of the world which are succeeding in making the lives better for their residents via innovative transportation policies. Over the years, Streetfilms producers have "visited many places we thought were doing best practices." This group of videos they created along the way
- [Cool Vernacular: How Regional Ceiling Heights Shape Room Temperatures](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/25/cool-vernacular-how-regional-ceiling-heights-shape-room-temperatures/) - Modernism sought to bring a healthy uniformity to architectural design, in part through with clean lines and material minimalism. New technologies like air conditioning also allowed for an unprecedented level of global standardization in terms of temperature-controlled spaces. Of course, this often meant disregarding local traditions that had been successful for centuries (or longer). Among
- [The Great Wave: Iconic Hokusai Work Splashes Across Moscow Apartments](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/21/the-great-wave-iconic-hokusai-work-splashes-across-moscow-apartment-complex/) - In Moscow, the iconic “Great Wave off Kanagawa” woodblock print by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai has reached greater heights than ever before as it breaks across the facades of six apartment towers. The print stretches from one building to the next as it crests and falls, taking up a total of 645,834 square feet. These
- [Best of the Year: 10 Projects Honored at World Architecture Festival 2018](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/19/best-of-the-year-10-projects-honored-at-world-architecture-festival-2018/) - When you’re judging thousands of architectural projects from all around the world, even the process of narrowing down the shortlist to 535 has got to be hard. This year, the World Architectural Festival (WAF) had its biggest year yet with submissions from 81 countries, and in November, the shortlisted teams presented their designs to a
- [Pinecone Treehouse: Naturally Shaped Wonder in the California Redwoods](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/17/pinecone-treehouse-naturally-shaped-wonder-in-the-california-redwoods/) - An enormous glittering inhabitable pine cone dangling from the majestic redwoods in Alameda, California could be transplanted to your very own backyard. Built by Dustin Fieder of O2 Treehouse, this highly unusual structure is equal parts sculptural wonder and enchanting getaway with its faceted glass exterior taking inspiration directly from its environment. The Pinecone Treehouse
- [Subterranean Seashore Museum Buries Art Beneath the Dunes in China](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/14/subterranean-seashore-museum-buries-art-beneath-the-dunes-in-china/) - Like the chambers of a seashell eroded over time by sand and water, the white hollows of this subterranean museum offer a series of organically shaped spaces tucked beneath the dunes. The UCCA Dune Museum by OPEN Architecture draws inspiration from both children digging in the sand at the beach and the caves that housed
- [Come Hell or High Water: Cities Must Evolve in the Face of Climate Change](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/12/come-hell-or-high-water-cities-must-evolve-in-the-face-of-climate-change/) - The time to talk about climate change as if it's merely a hazy possibility that won't occur in our lifetime anyway has long passed. Multiple recent reports have made it clear that it’s already happening, and its effects will be much worse than previously expected. In 2016, the Paris climate accords set a goal of
- [Dispersed Hotel: Distributed Urban Suites Inspire Exploration of Historic Kyoto](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/15/dispersed-hotel-distributed-urban-suites-inspire-exploration-of-historic-kyoto/) - It's a simple but powerful idea, spreading out and embedding hotel rooms into the urban fabric to give visitors a space from which to explore as well as a place that feels like it's more part of the city than a monolithic tourist resort. The Hotel Enso Ango features a series of zen-inspired buildings and landscaping
- [Swim BIG: Artificial Island Supports World's Largest Saltwater Pool Complex](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/13/swim-big-artificial-island-supports-worlds-largest-saltwater-pool-complex/) - Now open on the edge of Aarhus, Denmark's second-largest city, the Harbor Bath project features a main 150-foot-long pool as well as diving and children's pools, plus a pair of saunas. Naturally, the water is drawn directly in from the surroundings. Designed by architects from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) -- images by Rasmus Hjortshøj --
- [Getting Real: Placeholder Graphics Lead to Literal Architectural Renderings](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/11/getting-real-placeholder-graphics-lead-to-literal-architectural-renderings/) - Architects are sometimes criticized for taking creative liberties with their artwork, setting unlikely green scenes or populating their rendered scenes with an improbable array of happy figures. While these "literal renderings" (per Mike Rosenberg) may in some sense be figurative, using signage one would not likely see on an actual structure, they also are refreshingly blunt about the
- [Found Victorian Photographs Transformed into Pop Culture Trading Cards](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/10/found-victorian-photographs-transformed-into-pop-culture-trading-cards/) - Victorian-era photographic subjects are transformed in ways they couldn’t possibly have imagined in a series of modified cabinet cards by artist Alex Gross. A buttoned-up young woman becomes Harley Quinn, a group of young men in suit jackets and cravats turn into the members of KISS, an ordinary-looking couple reveal themselves as Batman and Catwoman.
- [The Other Place: Surreal MC Escher-Inspired Hotel Interior in China](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/07/the-other-place-surreal-mc-escher-inspired-hotel-interior-in-china/) - A maze of staircases leads absolutely nowhere within a series of new hotel rooms at 'The Other Place' in China, nodding to artist MC Escher’s famous lithograph print entitled 'Relativity.' Shenzhen-based architecture firm Studio10 renovated the existing rooms at ‘The Other Place’ guesthouse in Guilin, giving half the rooms a ‘maze’ theme with deep forest
- [When Infrastructure Costs More Than Money: History's Deadliest Projects](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/05/when-infrastructure-costs-more-than-money-historys-deadliest-projects/) - Construction is a deadly industry. Falls, electrocution, blunt force trauma and mishaps with heavy machinery are just a few of the hazards workers face on project sites around the world, whether they’re building a small house or a massive dam. Historically, it hasn’t just been the nature of the work that makes this job so
- [Large-Scale Light Art Comes to Life in Amsterdam for Annual Festival](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/03/large-scale-light-art-comes-to-life-in-amsterdam-for-annual-festival/) - Every winter, visitors and residents alike get to see Amsterdam in a whole new light - literally - as large-scale light art installations add an extra layer of vibrance to the city. For the seventh annual edition, the Amsterdam Light Festival chose the theme “The Medium is the Message,” a modern-day evaluation of the famous
- [Daily City: London Architect Drafts 365 Urban Plans, 1 Day & Design at a Time](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/06/daily-city-london-architect-drafts-365-urban-plans-1-day-design-at-a-time/) - A London architect has is working to sketch a new city each day, mining his imagination and experience for fresh ideas for a full year, a practice inspired in part by the failures of modern urban planning. Peter Barber is sharing the results of his work online, driven by an architectural theorist."The idea arose from
- [Miniature Calendar: Micro-City Scenes Made Daily from Household Objects](https://weburbanist.com/2018/12/04/miniature-calendar-micro-city-scenes-made-daily-from-household-objects/) - It takes just one artist to raise this annual micro-village, putting out a fresh scene daily featuring miniature people going about their everyday lives, navigating repurposed objects designed for different purposes at larger scales. The new Miniature Calendar by Tastuya Tanaka is the latest in a series of 7, each one featuring 365 snapshots of
- [Daring Glass Observation Deck Opens Atop 77-Story Tower in Bangkok](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/30/daring-glass-observation-deck-opens-atop-77-story-tower-in-bangkok/) - Over 1,000 feet above the streets of Bangkok, thrill-seeking tourists creep out onto the glass floor of an observation deck at the top of a futuristic-looking tower. The new observatory is the crown jewel of the MahaNakhon building by Buro Ole Scheeren, a residential skyscraper adjacent to Chongnonsi Sky Train Station. Dubbed the “Skytray,” the
- [From Pompeii to Gaza: The History of Street Art as a Voice for the People](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/28/from-pompeii-to-gaza-the-history-of-street-art-as-a-voice-for-the-people/) - Over the past half-century, street art has evolved from squiggled lettering on subway cars to a cultural force practiced in virtually every corner of the globe. It began unsanctioned and disdained, and though some prominent street artists now sell their work for millions behind gallery doors, it remains firmly rooted in counterculture, simultaneously celebrated and
- [Nera: The World’s First Fully 3D-Printed Motorcycle Features Airless Tires](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/26/nera-the-worlds-first-fully-3d-printed-motorcycle-features-airless-tires/) - All black, electric and completely 3D-printed: BigRep's Nera Motorcycle is here, and ready to change the game. The electronic components of this brand new, futuristic-looking motorbike are the only elements that weren’t created on large-scale 3D printers. Flexible bumpers replace traditional suspension systems, and those custom tires are as cool as they are intriguing. BigRep
- [Life-Sized Interactive Drawings by Levalet Envision a Parallel Universe](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/23/life-sized-interactive-drawings-by-levalet-envision-a-parallel-universe/) - Life-sized street art interventions play out scenes from a parallel universe on public surfaces all around us in the interactive works of French artist Levalet. Raised in Guadeloupe, France, the artist (also known as art teacher Charles Leval) saw the graffiti that surrounded him as part of the city’s identity, prompting him to look at
- [Designed for Disassembly: Architecture Built with its Own End in Mind](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/21/designed-for-disassembly-architecture-built-with-its-own-end-in-mind/) - Few of us make plans for our lives with our own deaths in mind, so perhaps it's not surprising that architects don't usually spend much of the design process thinking about the virtually inevitable demolition of their creations. It might seem as morbid and premature as college graduates making plans for their own funerals, but
- [Bought to be Destroyed: Artist Ron English Will Whitewash His New Banksy](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/19/bought-to-be-destroyed-artist-ron-english-will-whitewash-his-new-banksy/) - Street artist Ron English paid over $730K for a work of art by Banksy - and he plans to paint over it. It might sound like some kind of silly high-profile artist feud, but English harbors no animosity toward the infamously anonymous creator of ‘Slave Labour,’ the mural he just bought at auction. He just
- [Midcentury Modern ‘Draper’ RV Offers a Nomadic Lifestyle for Discerning Design Fans](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/16/midcentury-modern-draper-rv-offers-a-nomadic-lifestyle-for-discerning-design-fans/) - With its black facade, stylish roof slant and fold-down deck, the new 'Draper' RV by Land Ark is ready to cruise all over the country and look hot doing it. The lines between recreational vehicles and tiny houses continue to blur, and while the Draper is closer to the latter than the former, it runs
- [From Saving Lives to Raining Candy: Drones Do a Lot of Good, Too](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/14/from-saving-lives-to-raining-candy-drones-do-a-lot-of-good-too/) - We haven't quite reached the predicted point at which drones become an intrinsic part of our daily lives, but small autonomous flying machines are learning how to do a lot more than spook people with their surveillance potential and take amazing aerial photographs. Not that they aren’t still really good at both of those. A
- [The World’s First Underwater Hotel Villa is Officially Open in the Maldives](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/12/the-worlds-first-underwater-hotel-villa-is-officially-open-in-the-maldives/) - Sleep sixteen feet below the surface of the ocean at the new Conrad Muraka villa in the Maldives, nestled into bed with panoramic views of marine creatures to color your dreams. Officially the world’s first underwater hotel residence, the two-story Muraka villa is now open for booking at the same Rangali Island resort hosting the
- [Zaha Hadid Architects to Design a Swirling New Smart City in Moscow](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/09/zaha-hadid-architects-to-design-a-swirling-new-smart-city-in-moscow/) - A whole new smart city is set to begin construction west of Moscow, Russia, and Zaha Hadid Architects has been selected to help design it. The firm’s proposal is a phased development prioritizing residential interactions with each other, nature and new technologies, creating “a diverse ecology” of spaces for living, working, education and leisure. The
- [Boats + Yards: Dutch Architects Convert Cargo Ships into Waterfront Homes](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/24/boats-yards-dutch-architects-convert-cargo-ships-into-waterfront-homes/) - Lifting cargo ships out of boat yards in the water up onto adjacent land, a Dutch design firm is creating a series of creatively recycled estates using maritime vessels that are no longer seaworthy. [youtube=mIMAljE5a8I] The Dutch firm, Studio Komma, has dubbed their project the Marine-doc Estate. Their process involves matching different ships to ideal lots
- [Four-Dimensional Murals: Artist Folds Space Inside Architectural Facades](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/22/four-dimensional-murals-artist-folds-space-inside-architectural-facades/) - Folding and flexible geometric forms seem to weave in and out of the structures graced with murals by David Louf (known as Mr. June), seeming to imply what a blank facade could have been in the past or become in some imagined future. Louf toys with a combination of reality and abstraction. Depending on the
- [True Colors: Photographer Captures Urban Spectrum of Modern Istanbul](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/15/true-colors-photographer-captures-urban-spectrum-of-modern-istanbul/) - Istanbul, Turkey, conjures to mind far-off days of Constantinople and historic works of architecture, from stone masonry homes ot ornate mosques, but there is a colorful variety to the city's more modern buildings, too, as captured in this photo series. An architect and photographer, Yener Torun photographs elements of the city's past, but focuses mostly on more contemporary
- [Wave Forms for Artists & Artisans: Free Vintage Design Guide to Japanese Waves](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/13/wave-forms-for-artists-artisans-free-vintage-design-guide-to-japanese-waves/) - In Japan, an island nation, waves are symbols long found in a vast array of art, design and craft from around the country, which one author decided to systemize in a three-book series now available for free online. Myriad ancient wave and ripple examples were carefully compiled and catalogued in black ink by little-known artist
- [We Could All Use a Little More Chindogu, the Japanese Art of Useless Inventions](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/07/we-could-all-use-a-little-more-chindogu-the-japanese-art-of-useless-inventions/) - A little bit Dada, a little bit "only sold on television," intentionally useless inventions called Chindogu look like a bunch of plastic junk at first glance, but there’s more to it than that. And they’re not quite altogether useless. In fact, as creator Kenji Kawakami stated when he first revealed Chindogu to the world in
- [Sliced and Folded: Modern White House Tumbles Down a Hill in Los Angeles](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/05/sliced-and-folded-modern-white-house-tumbles-down-a-hill-in-los-angeles/) - Looking a bit like an architectural Transformer in the middle of taking on a new form, this Highland Park home by the firm Urban Operations takes a highly structured, geometric approach to occupying a hillside. There are no organic forms or curves following the contours of the land; rather, the house seems to exist in
- [Human-Sheep Embryos to Lab-Grown Leather: Biotechnology and Animals](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/31/human-sheep-embryos-to-lab-grown-leather-biotechnology-and-animals/) - Considering that it produces such controversial projects as human-sheep embryos, it's not surprising that biotechnology is often at the center of thorny ethical debates. It’s one of those fuzzy areas of scientific study that routinely prompts headlines like Has Science Gone Too Far? While a lot of biotech simply consists of studying and modifying living
- [Unseen Movements: Multi-Shot Photography Captures the Complex Trails of Birds](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/29/unseen-movements-multi-shot-photography-captures-the-complex-trails-of-birds/) - For all the effort we humans put into light art, birds have us beat - we just don’t realize it most of the time, because their work is invisible to us. Spanish photographer Xavi Bou reveals the hidden works of art produced as birds fly through the sky using a multi-shot technique that captures both
- [Cloud-like Circular Staircase Stands at the Center of This Chinese Villa](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/26/cloud-like-circular-staircase-stands-at-the-center-of-this-chinese-villa/) - Floating staircases always make a big impact, but rarely do they actually look like they’re just wisps of clouds spiraling through a living space. Prior to renovation, the three floors of this home weren’t connected by a single staircase, leading the basement walkout level to feel distanced from the first and second floors. KOS Architects
- [MiGs & Match: Abandoned Albanian Airbase Exposed](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/28/migs-match-abandoned-albanian-airbase-exposed/) - Tirana soars wrecks, anyone? The Kucove Air Base in south-central Albania houses dozens of historic Soviet aircraft dating back to the time of the Korean War.
- [Atlas of Atlases: Graphic Design Meta-Book Samples 1,366 Vintage Maps](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/21/atlas-of-atlases-graphic-design-meta-book-samples-1366-vintage-maps/) - The map is not the territory, but the exception also proves the rule, as in the case of this book, which samples over 1,000 different maps to deconstruct their design approaches and inspire designers through their visuals. It's not about the territories the original maps were made to represent, but all of the different design
- [Glass Houses: The Lure of Transparent Materials in an Era of Waning Privacy](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/24/glass-houses-the-lure-of-transparent-materials-in-an-era-of-waning-privacy/) - We seem to have reached a new era of human civilization in which people marvel over the lack of privacy to be found in a completely transparent glass house while also revealing every last intimate detail of our lives to strangers over the internet. We tend to think of loss of privacy in terms of
- [World’s Tallest Residential Building Planned for New York’s ‘Billionaire’s Row’](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/22/worlds-tallest-residential-building-planned-for-new-yorks-billionaires-row/) - A new skyscraper looms over Central Park in Manhattan, towering above all the others, though at its current height of 1,100 feet, it's not even finished. Not only is ‘Central Park Tower’ by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture an unmissable landmark for New York City, it’ll officially nab the title of world’s tallest residential
- [Subjective City: Massive Wall Map of NYC Assembled from Handwritten Directions](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/03/subjective-city-massive-wall-map-of-nyc-assembled-from-handwritten-directions/) - A few years back, artist Nobutaka Aozaki started asking directions from strangers on the streets of Manhattan, then collecting those maps (hand-drawn from memory) to assemble into a huge and growing work of geographic wall art. To aid his work, the artist pretends to be a tourist, donning souvenir apparel and carrying around a shopping
- [Urban Forestry: Explore 678,632 Street Trees of NYC with Interactive Map](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/10/urban-forestry-explore-678632-street-trees-of-nyc-with-interactive-map/) - The NYC Parks Department offers an amazing resource in the form of an online map that "includes every street tree in New York City" (spanning 422 species) first mapped by volunteers in 2015 and now updated daily by their forestry team. "On the map, trees are represented by circles. The size of the circle represents
- [Wild Waste: Giant Trash Animals Nest Inside Abandoned Las Vegas Motel](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/08/wild-waste-giant-trash-animals-nest-inside-abandoned-las-vegas-motel/) - A classic mid-century roadside motel in Las Vegas has been turned into a fantastically colorful habitat for a series of huge animals, constructed from waste collected from dumpsters, abandoned factories and scrap yards. This 10,000-square-foot zoo parody (dubbed 'Wild Wild Waste') by artist Bordalo II is his biggest installation to date. It's designed to make
- [Intelligent Interiors: Robotic Furniture Retracts to Ceiling When Not in Use](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/01/intelligent-interiors-robotic-furniture-retracts-to-ceiling-when-not-in-use/) - Driven by an artificially intelligent butler, this smart furniture system promises to free up valuable floor space by lifting and lowering modular interior design elements as needed, putting them into play or pulling them up to the ceiling on demand. Bumblee Spaces has designed their bot to learn and adapt, anticipating needs in addition to
- [Hidden Depths: 20 Tentacles of Lurking Sea Creature Sprout from Warehouse](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/30/hidden-depths-20-tentacles-of-lurking-sea-creature-sprout-from-warehouse/) - Any horror fan knows hinting at a larger evil with teaser visuals is a classic trick, like letting viewers imagine, for instance, what kind of hideous invader might be putting feelers out the window of this old warehouse in Philadelphia's Navy Yard. Titled simply Sea Monsters HERE, the inflatable installation was created by artists Filthy
- [Redesigners Pack Derelict Bridge Framework with New Condos & Rooftop Park](https://weburbanist.com/2018/11/06/redesigners-pack-derelict-bridge-framework-with-new-condos-rooftop-park/) - A Swedish design studio aims to bring new functionality to a century-old bridge in Stockholm, fitting 50 residential units into the framework below while creating a pedestrian path and linear park on the paved thoroughfare above. In many cases, new bridges are constructed while their predecessors remain active, so why not use the old adjacent
- [Dystopia Now: Office-Oriented "Blinkers" Serve as Horse Blinders for Humans](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/27/dystopia-now-office-oriented-blinkers-serve-as-horse-blinders-for-humans/) - As workers become increasingly packed in modern, open-plan offices and coworking spaces, designers keep working on high-tech solutions to allow employees to focus, often with the unintended effect of highlighting office layout shortcomings. The latest of these gadget-based solutions is a set of "blinkers" from Panasonic's "Future Life Factory," designed to block out sights and
- [Chinese City to Replace Street Lights with Orbiting Artificial Moon by 2020](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/25/chinese-city-to-replace-street-lights-with-orbiting-artificial-moon-by-2020/) - Within two years, the city of Chengdu aims to swap out its ground-based street lighting with the soft glow of an artificial moon, casting light across 50 square miles of the urban landscape. Wu Chunfeng, chairman of Chengdu Aerospace Science and Technology Microelectronics System Research Institute, announced the news at a national mass innovation and
- [Architect Ordered to Demolish New Award-Winning Apartment Building in London](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/23/architect-ordered-to-demolish-new-award-winning-apartment-building-in-london/) - Normally, a new structure is safe from the wrecking ball so long as it is structurally sound, but not so with 15 Clerkenwell Close, a housing block that is at issue for reasons of appearance rather than engineering (and despite recently winning an RIBA award). Designed by architect Amin Taha, the six-story facade features raw
- [Walkable Rooftop: Vaulted Bricks Cover Library & Connect Campus in India](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/16/walkable-rooftop-vaulted-bricks-cover-library-connect-campus-in-india/) - Unlike other arts, architecture is generally limited by practical matters, including what materials can do, how things stand up, and in most cases (but not so much this one) an array of challenging local building codes. A firm in Mumbai, India called sP+a developed this vaulted brick library roof with a playful purpose in mind,
- [Peeled to Reveal: Condemned Building Neatly "Unzipped" Along its Facades](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/18/peeled-to-reveal-condemned-building-neatly-unzipped-along-its-facades/) - Cracked open like a coat (or pair of pants), the walls of this structure in England, have been opened up to expose its abandoned interior ahead of its scheduled demolition. "Open to the Public" is an art installation by Alex Chinneck located in Kent that deconstructs a mid-century tannery to create a mind-bending, giant-sized illusion of
- [Seven-Story Neoclassical Painting by William Bouguereau Looms Over Memphis](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/12/seven-story-neoclassical-painting-by-william-bouguereau-looms-over-memphis/) - A little girl from William Bouguereau’s 1886 painting 'Au pied de la falaise' looks out over the city of Memphis from the side of a seven-story building, freed from the original work's confines within the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. French street artist Julien de Casabianca is known for moving the subjects of famous paintings
- [Cross-Stitch Murals Bring a Traditionally Domestic Craft Out Into the World](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/19/cross-stitch-murals-bring-a-traditionally-domestic-craft-out-into-the-world/) - Often viewed as the domain of women within the home, the art of cross-stitch embroidery escapes its boundaries and finds a new footing within the modern world in works by Aheneah, also known as Ana Martins. The 22-year-old Portuguese artist and graphic embroiderer fell in love with textiles while working on her bachelor’s degree in
- [Nomadic Futures: Self-Driving Cars Could Change How We Interact with Cities](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/17/nomadic-futures-self-driving-cars-could-change-how-we-interact-with-cities/) - "Location, location, location" might be the mantra of the real estate industry, but that mindset could change radically with the advent of autonomous vehicles. It may take a while, but once driverless cars are adopted by consumers on a wide scale, everything from land usage to property values could shift as parking space is freed
- [Fake News: Miniature Signs Around the City Convey Confusing Messages](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/15/fake-news-miniature-signs-around-the-city-convey-confusing-messages/) - If all the official signage that can be found around an average city bores you, you might not even notice the ones that are a little bit off, warning you of dangerous pigeons and tiny sinkholes or explaining the history of awkward silences in the area. Some are so small, they’re easy to just pass
- [10 Architects, 10 Homes of the Future: The 2018 China House Vision Exhibition](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/10/10-architects-10-homes-of-the-future-the-2018-china-house-vision-exhibition/) - Visions for the homes of China’s future actively transform, adapt, provide greater comfort when sharing small spaces, grow food and even prepare for extraterrestrial lifestyles. The theme of this year’s HOUSE VISION exhibition is “NEW GRAVITY,” focusing on finding solutions for practical problems in China’s living environment while combining “human wisdom with modern science and
- [Warnings at Scale: Tiny Signs Highlight Hazards of a Miniaturized World](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/20/warnings-at-scale-tiny-signs-highlight-hazards-of-a-miniaturized-world/) - What may look like a harmless pothole or random remainder of grass takes on a different meaning when viewed from the perspective of the ultra-small, becoming dangerous sinkholes or inviting plots of land for sale, respectively. Michael Pederson crafts signage for just such a miniature reality, helping form orderly lines for anyone heading into a
- [32 Artists Take Over a Hydraulic Power Station for Kazakhstani Exhibition](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/05/32-artists-take-over-a-hydraulic-power-station-for-focus-kazakhstan-exhibition/) - London’s Wapping Hydraulic Power Station is transformed into a multifaceted exploration of post-Soviet identity for the groundbreaking Focus-Kazakhstan exhibition series, featuring 32 established and emerging artists. The first major traveling exhibition of Kazakh art will be on display in this form through October 16th before moving on to Germany, the United States and South Korea
- [File Under Fiction: Artful Self-Help Book Covers Speak to Human Conditions](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/11/file-under-fiction-artful-self-help-book-covers-speak-to-human-conditions/) - Like the old "picture worth 1,000 words" adage, these book covers use just a little language and as context for larger messages. Perhaps the more appropriate phrase would be some turn on: "what you don't say speaks volumes." Designed by Johan Deckmann, an artist as well as psychotherapist, these self-help spoofs tackle existential issues most
- [Skate or Buy: Skateboard Shop Rolls Out Clever Skateable Sidewalk Signs](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/13/skate-or-buy-skateboard-shop-rolls-out-clever-skateable-sidewalk-signs/) - Most urban designs are at best useful for skaters as an afterthought, or more typically: specifically created to foil skaters, but not this set of signs. [vimeo=239045202] The Drive Skate Shop in Vancouver created two of these, the first of which mimics a typical and ubiquitous "sandwich board" style sign, which normally consists of two
- [Habitat 2.0: Pixelated Apartment Complex by BIG References Design Classic](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/09/habitat-2-0-pixelated-apartment-complex-by-big-references-design-classic/) - With an overt nod to Habitat 67 in Montreal by Moshe Safdie (similarly made up of many smaller modules, as show below), this new, undulating, mixed-use megastructure has been approved for construction in Toronto, Canada. The King West Street development from Bjarke Ingels' firm BIG looks like a series of rolling hills, or in the
- [Going, Going, Gone: Banksy Artwork Self-Destructs the Moment it's Sold](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/08/going-going-gone-banksy-artwork-self-destructs-the-moment-its-sold/) - In a stunt that should surprise absolutely no one who knows anything about Banksy, the elusive street artist's iconic work Girl with Balloon literally self-destructed the moment it was sold at auction for more than £1 million on Friday. “It appears we just got Banksy-ed,” said a Sotheby’s official afterward. Yep, it appears you did.
- [Topographical Architecture Brings the Printed Contours of Maps to Life](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/03/topographical-architecture-brings-the-printed-contours-of-maps-to-life/) - When artificial structures mimic the contours of topographic maps, which are almost sculptural in their own right, they become an extension of the land itself. The lines on the map that indicate changes in elevation, following the curves of dips and projections, easily transform into flat abstracted planes delineating the floors of a building or
- [Sinuous Concert Hall by Zaha Hadid Architects Mimics the Shape of Sound](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/01/sinuous-concert-hall-by-zaha-hadid-architects-mimics-the-shape-of-sound/) - The sinuous curves of sound waves will take shape on a massive scale as Zaha Hadid Architects' design for the new Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Concert Hall comes together in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Selected as the winner of an international competition, the proposal inserts billowing openings into a floating canopy roof, continuing these sonic volumes deep into the
- [Cartoon Cafe: 2D Illusion in Korea Makes You Feel Like You’ve Entered a Sketch](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/28/cartoon-cafe-2d-illusion-in-korea-makes-you-feel-like-youve-entered-a-sketch/) - At a glance, photos of Cafe Yeonnam-dong in South Korea appear to show a flat two-dimensional drawing of a dining space, but these objects are far more 3D than they appear. From the floorboards to the plants to the door handles, every detail of the cafe has been sketched in black on white and brightly
- [Unstable Housing: Balancing ReActor Building Tilts as its Occupants Move](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/26/unstable-housing-balancing-reactor-building-tilts-as-its-occupants-move/) - Off-kilter balancing buildings that seem to defy gravity are more common than you might think, but most of them don’t tilt like a see-saw when their occupants walk from one side of the house to the other. The ReActor is definitely one-of-a-kind, and not just because it stands on a single concrete pillar that seems
- [Don’t Wreck the Ruins: Aging Structures Adapted with Style and Sensitivity](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/24/dont-wreck-the-ruins-aging-structures-adapted-with-style-and-sensitivity/) - When historic structures have fallen into ruin, should architects restore them to their original glory or acknowledge the passage of time? The answer to that question might depend on the significance of the building (and whether or not it’s legally protected), its condition and the client's vision for its new purpose, but projects that take
- [Mobile Moon Museum: A Massive Lunar Replica Exhibit is Circling the Globe](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/06/mobile-moon-museum-a-massive-lunar-replica-exhibit-is-circling-the-globe/) - This 23-foot scale model of the moon is making its way around the world, allowing viewers to get close and see the many facets of this amazing celestial object. Each centimeter on the replica represents 5 kilometers on the lunar surface. Created by artist Luke Jerram, the Museum of the Moon is stopping in China,
- [Green Ruff: Eco-Doghouse Topped with Live Grass & Solar Water Fountain](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/04/green-ruff-eco-doghouse-topped-with-live-grass-solar-water-fountain/) - It may not stop Fido from tracking in mud on his paws, but this doghouse can reduce your best friend's carbon footprint while providing different levels of entertainment (plus bonus treat storage drawers). Topped with a green roof (accessed by a sod-covered ramp), the house features a built-in water fountain that can be used both
- [Post Postmodern: Nightlife Complex Remixes Local Architectural Details](https://weburbanist.com/2018/10/02/post-postmodern-nightlife-complex-remixes-local-architectural-details/) - Taking Postmodern ideas to high-contrast extremes, this set of nightclub-and-entertainment structures designed by MVRDV borrows from its surroundings, boiling area architecture down to white-and-gold shadows on peel-to-play facades. Since neither core space of The Imprint needed natural light, the decision was made to create faux windows instead. These would reference the neighborhood in an abstract
- [Formula 1 Mobility: Graphene Enables World's Lightest Wheelchair Design](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/29/formula-1-mobility-graphene-enables-worlds-lightest-wheelchair-design/) - Working with Formula 1 race car manufacturers and employing aerospace materials, a Swiss firm has developed what they claim is the world's lightest wheelchair, with a frame weighing in at just 3.3 pounds. Significantly lighter and stronger than typical high-performance carbon variants, Kueschall employed graphene (which can be hundreds of times stronger than steel and
- [Dune Art Museum: Maze of Galleries Buried Under Beach Dunes Near Beijing](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/27/dune-art-museum-maze-of-galleries-buried-under-beach-dunes-near-beijing/) - Designed by OPEN Architecture and sited along the Chinese coast near Beijing, this building complex is a mysterious maze of fluid concrete shells, all of which will be reburied under sand when construction is complete, restoring the appearance of the beach. The monumental and cavernous Dune Art Museum is meant to evoke primal imagery, tying
- [Abstract Geography: Huge Historical Map Spans Dutch Train Station Ceiling](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/25/abstract-geography-huge-historical-map-spans-dutch-train-station-ceiling/) - Amidst the modern architecture and undulating spaces of this station in Delft, one design detail stands out above the rest: a huge abstracted version of a map from the late 1800s that connects across a series of aluminum ceiling fins. As travelers move through the space, their perspective shifts -- overlaid on vertical slats, the
- [Graffiti Glam: Surreal Scenes Transform a Baroque Dutch Building](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/21/graffiti-glam-surreal-scenes-transform-a-baroque-dutch-building/) - Classical meets modern in a surreal mashup splashed all over the walls of the Thomas cafe in the Netherlands, the work of a duo of artists known as Studio Giftig. Highly in demand for their colorful, oversized works of art, Niels van Swaemen and Káspar van Leek were invited to transform the kind of space
- [Blind Building Facades Become Urban Farms with Scalable Scaffolding System](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/17/blind-building-facades-become-urban-farms-with-scalable-scaffolding-system/) - Blank, windowless exterior walls that get plenty of sun exposure could become vertical farms with the addition of recycled modular scaffolding. A project called GreenBelly aims to make use of these wasted urban spaces to provide fresh food to the surrounding neighborhood with a system that’s easy to transport, install and remove, and it doesn’t
- [Brutal-ish: Japan’s Long, Dramatic Love Affair with Concrete Architecture](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/19/brutal-ish-japans-long-dramatic-love-affair-with-concrete-architecture/) - Japanese architecture may be most closely associated with natural, lightweight materials like wood and paper, but Japan is also home to some of the world’s most incredible concrete architecture, and the two styles aren’t as disparate as they first appear. The nation’s love for a seemingly cold, unyielding material evolved out of resilience after war
- [Fast Driver: Powerless Auto-Hammer Packs Strip of Nails for DIY Projects](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/22/fast-driver-powerless-auto-hammer-packs-strip-of-nails-for-diy-projects/) - Nail guns can be handy but also bulky and awkward, not to mention: limited by the presence of batteries or electrical outlets. A new tool for the kit comes from product designer Michael David Young: the automatic nail-dispensing hammer. Strips of nails are loaded into the device, a tap sets the nail in place and
- [Thin Facade: Old Small Town Storefront Folds Down into 100-Seat Theater](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/20/thin-facade-old-small-town-storefront-folds-down-into-100-seat-theater/) - Walking down the vintage commercial strip of Lyons, Nebraska, it looks like any other building with shop windows and a front door, sharing walls with neighboring structures, but that's all a disguise. In fact, the disguise predates this creative conversion -- when artist Matthew Mazzotta came to town, the lot behind the front wall was
- [Unequal Scenes: Aerials Photos Highlight Stark Lines Between Rich and Poor](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/18/unequal-scenes-aerials-photos-highlight-stark-lines-between-rich-and-poor/) - There are places in the world where a single road, wall or an even thinner, more invisible line separates rich from poor, and those are the kinds of intersections captured by photographer Johnny Miller. A student of anthropology, Miller started out using images to illustrate wealth disparities in South Africa, but has since gone on
- [Paranoia Palace: High-Security Atlanta Estate Features Secret Tunnels](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/14/paranoia-palace-high-security-atlanta-estate-features-secret-tunnels/) - If living in a veritable fortress complete with a massive bunker, bank vault room, indoor gun range and a network of secret tunnels sounds like a good time, the Atlanta area has just the property for you. Provided you have around $15 million in the bank, that is - but you could end up getting
- [Home Anywhere: Compact Cabin Hosts Urban Pioneers on Berlin Rooftops](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/12/home-anywhere-compact-cabin-hosts-urban-pioneers-on-berlin-rooftops/) - Affordable apartments are getting harder to find in just about every major city, but if we want to multiply our options, we just have to look up. That’s the idea behind Cabin Spacey, a modular cabin project aiming to take advantage of flat urban rooftops and other disused spaces, with the ability to move on
- [Flight to the Future: How Airport Design is Adapting to a New Age](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/10/flight-to-the-future-how-airport-design-is-adapting-to-a-new-age/) - Would you ever go to an airport just to hang out? Chances are, unless you’re an avid people-watcher, the answer to that question is no. Modern airports aren’t typically pleasant places to be, and most of us associate them with lengthy lines, security pat-downs, cramped gates and possibly a harried sprint to a terminal that
- [Lizard Men at Work: Denver Airport Construction Signs Confirm Conspiracy Theories](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/09/lizards-men-at-work-detroit-airport-construction-signs-confirm-conspiracy-theories/) - The Denver International Airport has long been a hub of conspiracy theories, a number of which seem to be confirmed by signs put up by the DIA on walls blocking off areas under renovation. Some theories hold that the DIA is the home base of the Illuminati, New World Order or Reptoids, citing everything from
- [Piercing Images: 10 Shockingly Extreme Body Modifications](https://weburbanist.com/2013/07/17/piercing-images-10-shockingly-extreme-body-modifications/) - Body modification covers anything from ear piercings to circumcisions, but there's a niche that involves the most extreme manipulation of the human body.
- [Ephemeral Figures Loom Large in Biodegradable Land Art by Saype](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/07/ephemeral-figures-loom-large-in-biodegradable-land-art-by-saype/) - Most graffiti artists never get the chance to paint a human figure measuring a staggering 100,000 square feet, but most of them aren’t working directly on massive mountainsides, either. Swiss artist Guillame Legros, better known as Saype, creates temporary scenes in the grass using a special biodegradable paint he developed himself after a year of
- [In-Floor Wayfinding: Textured Tiles Guide Blind Client Through New Home](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/06/in-floor-wayfinding-textured-tiles-guide-blind-client-through-new-home/) - To address the needs of a visually impaired client, architects in Thiene, Italy, worked from the start to integrate a custom wayfinding system into the structure and layout of this home, including a creative set of tiles with varied textures to guide the owner from room to room. The owner, who had lived in one
- [Out-of-Place Artifacts: The Perpetual Puzzle of Reverse-Engineering Mysterious Objects](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/05/out-of-place-artifacts-the-perpetual-puzzle-of-reverse-engineering-mysterious-objects/) - It can be hard to resist the allure of a mysterious object found in a context that doesn’t seem to make rational sense, suggesting that it’s proof of time travelers, lost civilizations or alien visitors. You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist or a cryptozoologist to marvel at a bizarre computer-like device that dates
- [A House to Die In: Oslo Officials Block Controversial Home Designed by Snøhetta](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/13/a-house-to-die-in-oslo-officials-block-controversial-home-designed-by-snohetta/) - Designed to be a fittingly strange work of architecture on the grounds of famous painter Edward Munch's former home, A House to Die In has sparked controversy since its proposal some years back. Modeled in collaboration with the artist who now owns the estate, the building features cartoonish characters act as support columns for this algorithmically
- [Floating Backpack: Self-Stabilizing Gear Carries 12 Load-Free Pounds](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/15/floating-backpack-self-stabilizing-gear-carries-12-load-free-pounds/) - Hiking means going up and down, but not just over long distances -- each step raises and lowers your pack, which means you do more lifting, unless, that is, you have a "Lightening Pack" to help carry the load. [youtube=to5OKjZsKRs] The HoverGlide's designers say their backpack can reduce the bodily impact of heavy loads by
- [River-Spanning Town Hall Literally Bridges Two Faroe Islands Communities](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/11/river-spanning-town-hall-literally-bridges-two-faroe-islands-communities/) - A pair of island municipalities between Denmark and Iceland in the North Atlantic Ocean has been bridged by a work of architecture and engineering, a town hall that crosses a river below and features a green roof bridge above. Designed by Henning Larsen Architects of Copenhagen, this new town hall for Norðragøta blends naturally into its surroundings.
- [Out of Focus: Blurred Street Scenes Capture Cities as Cinematic Moments](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/08/out-of-focus-blurred-street-scenes-capture-cities-as-cinematic-moments/) - Like stills from some rainy noir film, these paintings are deceptively realistic in part due to their abstraction -- unresolved details look like a trick of the lens rather than the work of a brushstroke. Based in Cape Town, South Africa, Philip Barlow's canvases capture all the elements we expect to see on an urban
- [Fertile Grounds: Low-Tech "Sand Dams" Breathe New Life into African Drylands](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/04/fertile-grounds-low-tech-sand-dams-breathe-new-life-into-african-drylands/) - When it rains, it can pour, but in the world's drylands the net result can be disastrous: flows of water washing away useful soil and what little gets left behind dries up, forcing locals to take long treks to find more during dry seasons. Unless, that is, these flows are stopped by sand dams. Sand
- [Fishing for Plastic: Amsterdam Puts Tourists to Work Cleaning its Canals](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/31/fishing-for-plastic-amsterdam-puts-tourists-to-work-cleaning-its-canals/) - It’s not often that tourists line up to collect trash in the cities they're visiting, and pay for the privilege, too. But in Amsterdam, ‘plastic fishing’ is a surprisingly popular way for outsiders to experience the city’s canals and give back at the same time. As awareness grows about the problem of plastic pollution, so
- [Distorted Shapes Made of Tape: Mesmerizing Installations by Darel Carey](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/29/distorted-shapes-made-of-tape-mesmerizing-installations-by-darel-carey/) - Step into one of Darel Carey's art installations and you'll quickly lose your sense of the room's actual dimensions, your confused eyes tripping over illusions of ridges and voids that aren’t really there. Using nothing but roll after roll of black electrical tape, Carey transforms ordinary spaces into disorienting, graphic landscapes that seem to shift
- [Concrete Skies: Reclaiming the Urban Wilderness of Disused Underpasses](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/27/concrete-skies-reclaiming-the-urban-wilderness-of-disused-underpasses/) - As cities grow and change, complex networks of elevated concrete highways and railways sprout up like vines, twist around each other and radically transform the space beneath them. Formerly vibrant urban districts are shrouded in darkness, and the potential to use that space is often wasted as officials fence it off or incorporate hostile features
- [Green Machines: India's First IKEA Boasts Fleet of Solar-Powered Rickshaws](https://weburbanist.com/2018/09/01/green-machines-indias-first-ikea-boasts-fleet-of-solar-powered-rickshaws/) - When in India, do like the Indians do -- at least that seems to be IKEA's approach -- which in this case means spinning up an array of small, nimble vehicles able to duck and weave through traffic on crowded and narrow streets. The company's first store to open in this country is staffed with some ordinary
- [Reframing Modernism: Famously Severe Homes Softened by Lush Landscapes](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/28/reframing-modernism-famously-severe-homes-softened-by-lush-landscapes/) - The site and setting of Modernist masterpieces is a key ingredient of their aesthetic, so what, wondered one architect, would happen if these famous buildings were repositioned, set instead in oddly idyllic landscapes ala painter Thomas Kinkade? Suddenly, the Eames House, Farnsworth House, Eames and Glass Houses are all transformed into surreal standouts against incongruous
- [Retrofitting Ruins: Designer Turns 6 Abandonments into Modern Dwellings](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/21/retrofitting-ruins-designer-turns-6-abandonments-into-modern-dwellings/) - The question of what to do with ruins is as old as architecture, and answers range from demolition to meticulous reconstruction, or: cleverly combining what's there with something new and functional. Graphic designer Neomam has taken on a series of uninhabited buildings, playfully updating them while preserving core elements of what was left behind. Castles
- [Ballet Mécanique: House Facade Transforms to Offer Pop-Out Balconies](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/24/ballet-mecanique-house-facade-transforms-to-offer-pop-out-balconies/) - In Zurich, the mechanical facade of an unusual house performs an intricate dance, with petal-like louvers opening and closing as balconies pop out and lock into place. Dubbed ‘Ballet Mécanique,’ the five-unit rental structure designed by Basel-based architect Manuel Herz was commissioned by reclusive textile heiress Katrin Bechtler, who lives on an adjoining property. The
- [A Real Hole in the Wall: World’s Tiniest Office for Brazil's Agencia Grande](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/22/a-real-hole-in-the-wall-worlds-tiniest-office-for-brazils-agencia-grande/) - What began as a random hole in a São Paulo wall is now the world’s tiniest office, complete with miniature books, laptops, paperwork and design tools. Emerging creative agency Agencia Grande created the public installation to celebrate its opening while also making a statement about the unnecessarily large proportions of many commercial offices in Brazil,
- [Stripped: 12 Sleazy Abandoned Adult Movie Theaters](https://weburbanist.com/2016/07/31/stripped-12-sleazy-abandoned-adult-movie-theaters/) - These 12 abandoned adult movie theaters hark back to the days before the advent of the internet let porn aficionados get their kicks without leaving home.
- [Constructing the Future: Defining and Designing Better Affordable Housing](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/20/constructing-the-future-defining-and-designing-better-affordable-housing/) - The United States currently has a shortage of about 7.2 million affordable and available rental homes for households with incomes at or below the poverty level, a statistic that’s clearly linked to the homelessness crisis. Meanwhile, 8 million Americans spend more than half of their monthly income on rent. To house those most urgently in
- [Pretty Abandoned: Tucson's Lisa Frank Factory](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/19/pretty-abandoned-tucsons-lisa-frank-factory/) - The former Lisa Frank factory in Tucson, mostly abandoned and sporadically for sale since 2001, stubbornly refuses to give up the rainbow-colored ghost.
- [No Butts About It: Crows Cleaning Up Cigarettes at a French Theme Park](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/17/no-butts-about-it-crows-cleaning-up-cigarettes-at-a-french-theme-park/) - When an Amsterdam-based startup announced last year that it was training crows to pick up cigarette butts in exchange for food, the concept seemed a little ridiculous, but not because crows aren’t smart enough to pull it off. Corvids are among the most intelligent animals in the world, routinely shocking scientists with their reasoning skills,
- [Measuring Wheel: Ditch Roll-Up Tape for a Coin-Sized Pocket 'Rollbe' Ruler](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/11/measuring-wheel-ditch-roll-up-tape-for-a-coin-sized-pocket-rollbe-ruler/) - Architects, carpenters and other design and construction professionals often carry measuring tape wherever they go, but this small wheel makes for a much less bulky companion tool. Measuring trundle wheels used to determine distances by rolling on a surface are not new, but they are big, and this design miniaturizes their function while maintaining a
- [Yo-Yo Pedestrian Zones: What Makes Urban Walkability Flourish or Fail?](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/15/yo-yo-pedestrian-zones-what-makes-urban-walkability-flourish-or-fail/) - A bustling car-filled street by day and a 1,500-foot pedestrian promenade on weekend nights, Sai Yeung Choi Street South in the dense neighborhood of Mong Kok was the stage upon which urban life in Hong Kong played out - markets, music, dancing, protests, parties. Clashes with police. Noise. So much noise, in fact, that after
- [The Beauty of Books: Journey Through The World’s Most Ornate Libraries](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/13/the-beauty-of-books-journey-through-the-worlds-most-ornate-libraries/) - Some of the world’s most stunning old structures were built to house books with a reverence equal to that of cathedrals, every grand hall, domed ceiling and hand-carved scroll a testament to the importance of the tomes. All over the world, ornate libraries act as veritable temples of knowledge, their very proportions inspiring feelings of
- [Airstream’s Rugged Basecamp X Lets You Go On Rough Roads for Bigger Adventures](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/10/airstreams-rugged-basecamp-x-lets-you-go-on-rough-roads-for-bigger-adventures/) - Smaller than an iconic "silver bullet" Airstream trailer but cuter than the brand’s compact lightweight Nest model, the new Airstream Basecamp X is designed to go farther than ever. An upgrade to the standard Basecamp model released in 2016, the X adds three inches of extra ground clearance, Goodyear all-terrain tires, increased departure angles and
- [Ghostly, Plant-Filled Abandoned Houses in Tehran Symbolize Toll of War](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/08/ghostly-plant-filled-abandoned-houses-in-tehran-symbolize-toll-of-war/) - A series of abandoned houses in Iran’s capital city overflow with vegetation in varying states of vitality and decay, making them feel untamed, out of control and perhaps impossible to save. In some rooms, saplings spring up from cracks in concrete with a certain defiance, and flowers bloom in the dim light. In others, dead
- [Urban Rewilding: Reverse-Engineering Cities to Save Nature - And Ourselves](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/06/urban-rewilding-reverse-engineering-cities-to-save-nature-and-ourselves/) - In an age of mass extinctions and climate chaos, can we reverse-engineer some aspects of our built environments to live in greater harmony with nature? Many of our cities are built on former wetlands, fighting a losing battle with erosion and the sea. We’ve lined important ecological corridors with concrete. We’ve hunted into oblivion many
- [History Unzipped: Installation Reveals the Guts of an Abandoned Factory](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/03/history-unzipped-celebrating-an-old-textile-factory-slated-for-demolition/) - This is no illusion - what you're looking at is literally the facade of an abandoned building peeling away from the structure itself, a gigantic metal zipper running down the center. The surreal installation entitled Open To The Public makes use of a building slated for demolition, the zipper referencing its past as a leather
- [Cyberpunk Furniture: City Streets Light Up Through Laser-Cut Wood Table](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/28/cyberpunk-furniture-city-streets-light-up-through-laser-cut-wood-table/) - Iconic cities come to life in this custom wood table series, their resin streets and waterways glowing through grids of raised wooden architecture, all sitting on top of wrapping thin and dark steel supports. Crafted by Wood Designs in Warsaw, this array of oak surfaces includes cultural capitals like New York, Berlin, London and Paris, but
- [Pothole Pests: Street Artist Repairs NYC Road Damage with Mosaic Vermin](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/01/pothole-pests-street-artist-repairs-nyc-road-damage-with-mosaic-vermin/) - New York City’s most loathed and celebrated vermin are preserved for posterity in a series of new pothole mosaics by artist Jim Bachor. Inspired by the legendary grit of the city and the bottom-feeding inhabitants that plague its streets, the Vermin of New York series consists of classically styled mosaics depicting dead rats and pigeons,
- [With Amazon on the Scene, Has Shipping Container Housing Gone Too Far?](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/30/now-that-amazons-in-the-game-has-shipping-container-housing-gone-too-far/) - Shipping containers may seem like a self-contained drag and drop solution for quick and affordable housing, but the process of making them livable is a lot more complicated than that. The premise is alluring: you reclaim one of the many disused containers found all over the world as the structural basis of a compact home,
- [Abandonments from Above: Drone Photos of Spain’s Crumbling Architecture](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/27/abandonments-from-above-drone-photos-of-spains-crumbling-architecture/) - For photographer Mark Redondo, the many abandoned developments littered throughout Spain aren’t just symbols of economic troubles, but a failure to learn from our mistakes. Even in the midst of a housing crisis, Spain has an incredible 3.4 million deserted houses, and many of them have stood empty since the collapse of the country’s real
- [Ukraine's Endangered Brutalist Architecture Gets a Closer Look in Short Film](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/25/ukraines-endangered-brutalist-architecture-gets-a-closer-look-in-short-film/) - Some of Ukraine's most stunning Soviet Modernist landmarks are at risk of demolition, including the State Scientific and Technical Library, better known as the 'UFO Building.' Grandiose and imposing, these concrete wonders may be fascinating to many of us who live outside of former USSR territories, but they can also be a reminder of a
- [Virtual Atlas: New Book Explores Digital Cities Inside 40 Video Games](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/24/virtual-atlas-new-book-explores-digital-cities-inside-40-video-games/) - Spanning 40 years of gameplay and 40 different games, this new volume dives into the design and history of dozens of virtual realities, acting as a travel guide to imaginative places that only exist in cyberspace. Game developer and writer Konstantinos Dimopoulos's upcoming book is called Virtual Cities: An Atlas & Exploration of Video Game Cities and
- [Dementia Villages: The Delicate Art of Designing to Deceive](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/23/dementia-villages-the-delicate-art-of-designing-to-deceive/) - You take a stroll down a sunny street, wave to the smiling vendor at the flower stall on the corner, chat with a friend by the fountain at the center of the town square and head back to your picturesque cottage with a baguette tucked under your arm. Perhaps you haven’t noticed that all the
- [Virtual Fixer Uppers: Buy, Renovate & Sell Homes in "House Flipper" Game](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/30/virtual-fixer-uppers-buy-renovate-sell-homes-in-house-flipper-game/) - For those who enjoy fixing and flipping homes, this video game could be a dream come true, virtually speaking, letting you purchase rundown shacks and turn them into market-ready models. Players in House Flipper can buy dwellings that look ready for the scrap heap, then "hammer, drill, nail down, screw, and do what needs to be
- [Brazilian Hybrid: Herringbone Home Blends Bamboo & Modern Simplicity](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/25/brazilian-hybrid-herringbone-home-blends-bamboo-modern-simplicity/) - This tropical residence along the coast of Brazil combines traditional and local materials like stone, wood and bamboo to fashion a contemporary-looking abode that fits into both its natural and cultural context. Designed by Vilela Florez Architects, the various spaces are simple and connected by covered outdoor walkways, paved in stone in line with Portuguese
- [The Nature of Cities: Built Environments Win National Geographic Awards](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/23/the-nature-of-cities-built-environments-win-national-geographic-awards/) - Among the winners and honorable mentions from the 2018 Travel Photographer of the Year Contest are an expected array of wilderness scenes and animal portraits, but also a surprising number of unnatural environments. Over 12,000 submissions for this year's competition included mesmerizing images of art installations, aerial views of urban architecture, suspenseful shots of elegant bridges and
- [Radiant Design: Tree Rings Spin Outward in Elemental Wood Dresser & Desk Set](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/18/radiant-design-tree-rings-spin-outward-in-elemental-wood-dresser-desk-set/) - Flowing out like the rings from the center of a tree, the veneers on this chest of drawers were carefully selected, perfected and oiled to create a remarkable effect. The lightening of the wood as it pushes outward creates a compelling organic variant, and reinforces the impression that the whole piece was cut from a
- [Flat-Pack Night Market: Modular South Korean Vendor Stalls Fold & Stack](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/16/flat-pack-night-market-modular-south-korean-vendor-stalls-fold-stack/) - Perfect for a pop-up market in Seoul that appears only overnight and on weekends, these collapsible and stackable structures take up little space when not in use and can be deployed and stored quickly and easily. Designed by Motoelasico for the capital city of South Korea, the temporary tents provide space for craftspeople and designers
- [60 Years Later: Original Le Corbusier Interior Design Vision Finally Realized](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/14/60-years-later-original-le-corbusier-interior-design-vision-finally-realized/) - When Le Corbusier designed his Brutalist Unité d'Habitation structures in Marseilles and Berlin, the architect imagined these as models for the future of vertical urban living. But, as they say in war: his plans didn't survive contact with the enemy. Completed in 1958, the Berlin version in particular was altered internally prior to construction, meaning that the original
- [Pigeon Portraiture: Photographer Highlights Beauty of Everyday Urban Bird](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/09/pigeon-portraiture-photographer-highlights-beauty-of-everyday-urban-bird/) - An oft overlooked wonder of the urban wilderness, the common pigeon is much more than it appears, with a rich history of aristocratic breeding dating back centuries. Photographer and native New Yorker Andrew Garn has spent years documenting these creaturing and collecting them into a book titled The New York Pigeon: Behind the Feathers to share
- [Sleep in a Legend: Bauhaus School Opens Student Rooms to Public Guests](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/07/sleep-in-a-legend-bauhaus-school-opens-student-rooms-to-public-guests/) - A pivotal institution in the early development of Modernism, the iconic Bauhuas school in Germany has been renovated to match its 1926 look and feel, complete with studios and sleeping spaces now open to the public. The student rooms, now available for rent, are small, minimally appointed and feature private balconies, designed as spaces to sleep,
- [Mobile Phone Airbag: Spring-Loaded Legs Deploy to Save Dropped Devices](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/04/mobile-phone-airbag-spring-loaded-legs-deploy-to-save-dropped-devices/) - Protecting better than conventional cases or edge bumpers, this "active dampening" unit acts like an airbag for your portable handheld gadget, springing to action as it heads toward the concrete sidewalk or hardwood floor below. Award-winning German mechatronics design student Philip Frenzel designed the ADcase with four "legs" that auto-detect a phone's fast motion, flipping
- [Recycled Islands: Floating Dutch Park Constructed from Waterway Waste](https://weburbanist.com/2018/08/02/recycled-islands-floating-dutch-park-constructed-from-waterway-waste/) - A fresh new type of park-on-the-water in Rotterdam is turned plastic trash that once polluted the area into a series of hexagonal pods now open to the public. The design is built to scale, too -- more units can be added as more waste is recovered. The floating landscape is meant to raise awareness, but
- [Zootopias: Forward-Thinking Zoos Designed to Advance Animal Welfare](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/31/zootopias-forward-thinking-zoos-designed-to-advance-animal-welfare/) - Historically, zoos have been both productive and problematic for the animals they house, in some cases advocating for and publicizing real issues faced by species but also criticized for locking them up in inadequate captive conditions. Designers from dozens of countries submitted fresh ideas to the Coexist: Rethinking Zoos architecture competition, pitching non-intrusive paths, virtual
- [Microlino: Tiny Electric Car With Front "Hood Door" for Easy Urban Parking](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/26/microlino-tiny-electric-car-with-front-hood-door-for-easy-urban-parking/) - The smallest of the small, this two-seat micro-machine features just one (quite literal) front door positioned where one would expect to find its engine, perfect for navigating and parking on tiny European streets. Recharging is easy since the auto can plug into a conventional socket. Finding a spot also a breeze since the little car
- [Reinventing the Cat: Mobile Succulent Planter Robot Seeks Out Sunlight](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/21/reinventing-the-cat-mobile-succulent-planter-robot-seeks-out-sunlight/) - This robotic "smart" planter wanders around on six articulated legs to make sure your precious greens get enough natural light, prompting the observation: "This is called a cat. You've invented a cat." And there's something to the comparison -- cats self-regulate, so why not plants? Heliotropism draws plantlife naturally to the sun for nutrients, causing owners
- [Bike Route 66: Historic Roadway Open to Two-Wheeled Adventurers](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/20/bike-route-66-historic-roadway-open-to-two-wheeled-adventurers/) - The loneliness of mostly-abandoned Route 66 is all the more cutting for the towns that once thrived along its 2,448-mile length, many of which declined or dried up altogether when it was decommissioned in the 1970s and ‘80s. The famous route that brought migrants west during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and served as
- [New York’s Newest Waterfront Park Revitalizes an Abandoned Industrial Site](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/18/new-yorks-newest-waterfront-park-revitalizes-an-abandoned-industrial-site/) - In Long Island City, nearly 11 acres of continuous waterfront park have bloomed along a formerly abandoned industrial landscape, offering a buffet of recreational opportunities while protecting the shoreline from floodwaters. The second phase of Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park, which begins south of 54th avenue and wraps around Newton Creek, is officially open to
- [Rendering Trends: Decoding Tired Tropes of Flashy Architectural Graphics](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/16/rendering-trends-decoding-tired-tropes-of-flashy-architectural-graphics/) - Look at architectural renderings on a regular basis and soon you’ll start to spot stylized elements that pop up often enough to be called cliches, every one of them inserted into the image for a specific purpose. It’s all about selling the viewer on the concept, consciously and subconsciously, like any other form of marketing.
- [Store Age: Eerie Abandoned Brick Warehouse In Richmond](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/15/store-age-eerie-abandoned-brick-warehouse-in-richmond/) - An abandoned warehouse in Richmond, VA, exquisitely photographed by Joel Handwerk of Lithium Photo, is an earthbound example of magnificent desolation.
- [Hands to the Wall: Chile Unveils Tactile Street Art for the Visually Impaired](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/13/hands-to-the-wall-chile-unveils-tactile-street-art-for-the-visually-impaired/) - In Santiago, Chile, six murals offer visually impaired people the chance to experience large-scale works of street art by Chilean artists through touch panels, braille and audio descriptions. Entitled “Manos a la Pared (Hands to the Wall),” the project adds accessibility to some of the murals found in the bustling Barrio Lastarria, one of the
- [Concentric Eccentric: Colorful Mural on a Medieval Fortress Courts Controversy](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/11/concentric-eccentric-colorful-mural-on-a-medieval-fortress-courts-controversy/) - An optical illusion mural affixed to the facade of a medieval fortress in France is no less controversial for its temporary nature, even though the piece is not quite what it seems at first glance. Those aren’t swaths of paint defacing the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Carcassonne, Southern France - they’re ribbons of thin
- [Only in Dubai: 10 Wild, Dazzling & Absurd Record-Breaking Projects](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/09/only-in-dubai-10-wild-dazzling-absurd-record-breaking-projects/) - Dubai is a city of innovation, imagination and virtually unlimited capital, with a habit of smashing world records for everything from the most expensive building to the first artificially conceived camel. It seems like nothing is ever too big, too ambitious or too silly to add to Dubai’s long list of firsts, whether we’re talking
- [Snug Streets: Painted Pavement & Paver Rugs Animate Boring City Surfaces](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/19/snug-streets-painted-pavement-paver-rugs-animate-boring-city-surfaces/) - Painted patterns turn ordinary sidewalks and other urban surfaces into geometric artworks, creating a level of creative interaction as well as domestic intimacy in public spaces. European artist Ali (Arthur-Louis Ignoré) takes cues from ancient decorative rug design traditions as well natural and geometric forms from other ornamental sources. Using simple white-on-gray, the drawings themselves
- [Skywalk of Gibraltar: Stunning Views from a Converted WWII Lookout Station](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/17/skywalk-of-gibraltar-stunning-views-from-a-converted-wwii-lookout-station/) - Cantilevered off the steep edges, near the top of the famous Rock of Gibraltar, it's hard to believe this peaceful viewing platform once housed anti-aircraft guns, its critical location a strategic lynchpin during World War II. Developed by Arc Designs, the Skywalk sits in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve on top of a natural stone base, accessed
- [Guerrilla Artist Pulls a Banksy, Installs Own Art at Banksy Museum Exhibit](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/08/guerrilla-artist-pulls-a-banksy-installs-own-art-at-banksy-museum-exhibit/) - In the early 2000s, Banksy famously hung one of his own works at London's famous Tate Britain museum, and now, 15 years later, a Toronto artist has pulled off a similar guerrilla trick, this time targeting an exhibition of Banksy's own work in Canada. Tharanga Ramanayake's piece involves a Banksy-worthy critique of the art world,
- [Meals to Go: Mobile 7-in-1 Micro-Kitchen Box for Space-Strapped Millennials](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/14/meals-to-go-mobile-7-in-1-micro-kitchen-box-for-space-strapped-millennials/) - Designed to serve as an ersatz kitchen for those living without, this seven-in-one design features a cutting board, an induction hob, a pot and pan, a wrap for utensils and cutlery, a dish rack, all tucked into a portable box. While it may sound like a dystopian product for a generation that can't afford houses,
- [Whale of a Sculpture: Repurposing 5 Tons of Plastic Pollution Ocean Pollution](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/12/whale-of-a-sculpture-repurposing-5-tons-of-plastic-pollution-ocean-pollution/) - Standing nearly 40 feet tall, this giant arcing whale is composed entirely of plastic waste gathered from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, carefully assembled in a canal of Bruges, Belgium. Following a Liquid City theme, Brooklyn designers from STUDIOKCA chose the form to help observes visualize the magnitude and shape of both what winds up clogging the
- [Coralarium: Ocean's First Intertidal Art Museum Doubles as Marine Habitat](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/10/coralarium-oceans-first-intertidal-art-museum-doubles-as-marine-habitat/) - A new first-of-its-kind underwater art museum in the Maldives features exhibits and sculptures at various levels, from the seabed through the intertidal waterline and up to the skyline, designed to be exposed and submerged to different degrees. More than just an aesthetic endeavor, however, the project by environmental artist Jason Decaires Taylor is engineered to
- [Aarhus Harbor Bath by BIG: A Floating Seawater Structure for Swimmers](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/06/aarhus-harbor-bath-by-big-a-floating-seawater-structure-for-swimmers/) - A massive floating plaza juts out of the harbor in Aarhus, Denmark, creating a protected area for bathers to swim and lounge in the sun. The Aarhus Harbor Bath by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) can accommodate up to 650 people at a time and features a diving pool, a shallow children’s pool, two saunas and
- [Found Art: Huge Exterior Wall Mural Uncovered in Dutch Museum Renovation](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/07/found-art-huge-exterior-wall-mural-uncovered-in-dutch-museum-renovation/) - Originally painted in 1968 on the side of an Amsterdam museum building, this Keith Haring mural was covered in a subsequent renovation before recently being revealed once again to the public. Standing 40 feet high, the drawing was added to complement an indoor exhibit at the Stedelijk Museum. A new layer to the exterior facade, however,
- [Buckle Your Seat: Leather Belt Brings Creative Class to 'Cinch' Folding Chairs](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/30/buckle-your-seat-leather-belt-brings-creative-class-to-cinch-folding-chairs/) - A twist on the traditionally dull folding chair, the 'Cinch' is simple to assemble, requiring no screws, glue or tools, but it also comes with a twist: a belt that buckles up to hold everything in place. The designers from Box Clever in San Francisco note that the belt is both practical (a way to
- [Immerse Yourself in Interactive Digital Environments at Japan's Mori Museum](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/04/immerse-yourself-in-interactive-digital-environments-at-japans-mori-museum/) - Can we ever be satisfied gazing at static objects set against blank white walls again after experiencing total immersion in a dynamic, interactive digital environment? Granted, traditional museums have their place. But it’s easy to imagine many of them shifting their programming over the coming years to accommodate these kinds of dazzling installations. Tokyo-based techno-artist
- [Architectural Fashion: Hybrid Outfits Combine Bauhaus with Arts & Crafts](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/05/architectural-fashion-hybrid-outfits-combine-bauhaus-with-arts-crafts/) - A new collection of shirts, jackets, dresses and more from fashion designer Mary Katrantzou recalls two very different design movements, one focusing on the hand-made (Arts & Crafts) and one on powerful, industrial-age graphics and shapes (the Bauhaus). Debuted on the catwalk of London Fashion Week, this series celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus,
- [Nano-House: World's Smallest Home Built in a Vacuum by Micro-Robots](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/03/nano-house-worlds-smallest-home-built-in-a-vacuum-by-micro-robots/) - Standing just over one two-thousandth of an inch (.0006 inches), the world's tiniest home sits on an optical fiber lot that is about a million times smaller than a typical two-story, single-family house. Designed and built by French researchers from the Femto-ST Institute, the micro-home features all the hallmarks of a cozy little residence: gable roof,
- [VTN Architects Gives Modern Architecture a Fresh Spin with Bamboo](https://weburbanist.com/2018/07/02/vtn-architects-gives-modern-architecture-a-fresh-spin-with-bamboo/) - In countries like Vietnam and Thailand, bamboo is taking on more complex forms than ever before, playing an integral role in the future of modern sustainable architecture. One of the firms at the forefront of bamboo innovation is VTN Architects (formerly known as Vo Trong Nghia Architects), founded in 2006 with offices in Ho Chi
- [Paper Sculptures Depict Bacteria in the Human Body as a Coral Reef](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/29/paper-sculptures-depict-bacteria-in-the-human-body-as-a-coral-reef/) - If you could shrink yourself down like cartoon schoolteacher Ms. Frizzle and take a journey through your own microbiota, it might look a bit like scuba-diving through a coral reef. Each individual strain of bacteria, fungi or archaea (single-celled organisms with no cell nucleus) is surprisingly beautiful in its own way, often manifesting as an
- [5 Architects Designed 5 Facades for Miami’s Wild ‘Museum Garage’](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/27/5-architects-designed-5-different-facades-for-miamis-wild-museum-garage/) - Apparently, Miami is hellbent on being home to all of the world's coolest parking garages. It’s already famous for 1111 Lincoln Road, a landmark gem by Swiss firm Herzog de Meuron that hosts fashion shows, music videos, orchestral performances and interactive art installations in addition to parked vehicles. Arquitectonica's Ballet Valet garage is world-renowned for
- [Prismatic Pride: 20+ Rainbow-Centric Murals & Street Art Installations](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/27/prismatic-pride-20-rainbow-centric-murals-street-art-installations/) - The world gets a whole lot brighter with the addition of vivid murals incorporating every color of the rainbow, splashed all over public surfaces like apartment buildings, walls, staircases and bridges. Whether they're officially created in celebration of Pride in cities like Montreal and Minneapolis or simply because the artists love to work in vivid
- [10 Architects Design Modern Chapels for the Vatican at the Venice Biennale](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/04/10-architects-design-modern-chapels-for-the-vatican-at-the-venice-biennale/) - Ten acclaimed international architects including Norman Foster and Terunobu Fujimori have built an incredible series of modern chapels for the Holy See on the Venetian island of San Giorgio Maggiore as part of this year's Venice Architecture Biennale. Tucked into the woods, the temporary chapels collectively form the Vatican Pavilion. The number ten references the
- [Between the Lines: 3D Graffiti Artist Layers Letters to Form Punchy Phrases](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/28/between-the-lines-3d-graffiti-artist-layers-letters-to-form-punchy-phrases/) - Warping classical fonts into rich mural art, Peter Preffington (or: Pref) uses three-dimensional complexity to draw the eye to deceptively simple messages. A veteran street artist, Pref has "always been interested in the idea of graffiti speaking to the general public," and has "pushed and experimented with this idea of overlapping words, seeing how many
- [Forest Foundation: The 10,000,000 Underwater Logs that Hold up Venice](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/26/forest-foundation-the-10000000-underwater-logs-that-hold-up-venice/) - It is hard to walk through Venice, Italy without wondering how the place was built, its architecture rising inexplicably out of the dark water below, or how water, power and internet traverse its myriad canals. The Rialto Bridge is a great place to begin unpacking these mysteries. [youtube=B3INp81NimE] Making this bridge possible is a forest of
- [Hack Your City: Guerrilla Grafters’ Manual for Making Ornamental Trees Edible](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/25/hack-your-city-guerrilla-grafters-manual-for-making-ornamental-trees-edible/) - You don't have to ask permission to make your city more abundant, growing food where once there was none. Sometimes this type of urban hacktivism is obvious to passersby and thus, susceptible to interruption - like planting guerrilla gardens in vacant lots - but sometimes it can fly under the radar, with a much higher
- [Beyond Brutalism: Spotlight on Iconic Architecture by Ricardo Bofill](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/25/beyond-brutalism-spotlight-on-iconic-architecture-by-ricardo-bofill/) - Legendary Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill may be most widely known for his dystopian-looking postmodern housing estate Le Palacio d'Abraxas as well as his own reclaimed cement factory home, but his body of work is much more colorful and diverse than these examples would suggest. Celebrated for modernizing historic and regional architectural attributes in his own
- [Looking ‘Under’: Snøhetta’s Submerged Restaurant is Taking Shape in Norway](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/20/looking-under-snohettas-submerged-restaurant-is-taking-shape-in-norway/) - Half-sunken into the sea along the Norwegian coastline, Snøhetta's submerged restaurant project looks like yet another cool rendering that will never actually be built - but a new series of images by architectural photographer Aldo Amoretti reveals promising progress. ‘Under’ is set to be Europe’s first underwater restaurant, with a monolithic form that appears to
- [Chrome Master: Gleaming Metallic Street Art by Puerto Rican Pro Bik Ismo](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/22/chrome-master-gleaming-metallic-street-art-by-puerto-rican-pro-bik-ismo/) - As striking and skillfully painted as each one of Bik Ismo's chrome murals are, the coolest part might just be peering into each one and trying to discern what's in its reflection. It might just be a wisp of sky or what looks like the interior of an art studio, but at other times, you
- [Unearthly Architecture: 13 Structures That Look Like Aliens Built Them](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/20/unearthly-architecture-13-structures-that-look-like-aliens-built-them/) - Pluck these structures out of their environments and photoshop them onto a Martian landscape and you’d never know they're real, physical buildings interplaying with ordinary scenery in cities all over the globe. Some strike a somewhat ominous tone while others are almost cartoonish in their Space Age aesthetics. Many of these alienesque buildings are designed
- [Michigan Central Station: Ford & Snohetta to Revive Abandoned Detroit Icon](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/19/michigan-central-station-ford-snohetta-to-revive-abandoned-detroit-icon/) - Driving into Motor City, the beautiful and towering 18-story Michigan Central Station is hard to miss -- it is both a Beaux-Arts Classical landmark (standing out even in a city rich with historical architecture) but also a famous abandonment, which became emlematic of the city's decline, at least until now. This train station operated on and off from
- [3D Dragon Gates: New Twist on Coastal Feng Shui by Zaha Hadid Architects](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/21/3d-dragon-gates-new-twist-on-coastal-feng-shui-by-zaha-hadid-architects/) - A new building has sprouted up in Macau that innovates in three dimensions on a form often found across the delta in Hong Kong: rectilinear boxes with central linear voids, a classic feng shui strategy to allow dragons to pass from the mountains down to the sea. But there is more than fantastical tradition to this
- [Strangest Urban Animals: City Chickens to Thieving Monkeys](https://weburbanist.com/2007/11/17/strange-urban-animals-of-the-world-from-thieving-monkeys-to-city-chickens/) - While you're unlikely to see El Chupacabra, the Jersey Devil or the Windigo in real life, you might be surprised by what animals are increasingly lurking in cities.
- [Go Cuckoo for These Brutalist ‘Block Clocks’ Inspired by Concrete Landmarks](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/18/go-cuckoo-for-these-brutalist-block-clocks-inspired-by-concrete-landmarks/) - Taking inspiration from La Flaine Hotel by Marcel Breuer and the Glenkerry House in London by Erno Goldfinger, these 'Cuckoo Blocks' by artist Guido Zimmermann use iconic Brutalist architecture to make a political statement. Structures like these were once built as affordable housing, but now many of them are far out of reach for the
- [Inflatable: Giant Air-filled Artworks Come to the Exploratorium (Sponsored)](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/26/inflatable-giant-air-filled-artworks-come-to-the-exploratorium-sponsored/) - Explore, play, and wonder at gigantic, fantastical, artworks at Inflatable — a new exhibition at the Exploratorium, opening on May 26, 2018. The renowned San Francisco museum is partnering with art, design, and visual culture blog Colossal to present a collection of large-scale, inflatable artworks. Inflatable features artwork by contemporary artists Amanda Parer, Jason Hackenwerth,
- [Summer Houses: 7 Tropical Dream Dwellings by Wallflower Architecture & Design](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/18/summer-houses-7-tropical-dream-dwellings-by-wallflower-architecture-design/) - Based in Singapore, Wallflower Architecture + Design creates ultimate tropical dream homes for a steamy rainforest climate, each one laid out for optimal air flow, natural cooling and views of the lush vegetation and blue skies outside. Founded in 1999 by Tan Chai Chong Robin and Cecil Chee, the firm “believes that beauty and cleverness
- [Car Pool: Converted Caravan Filled with Water to Create Mobile Swimming Unit](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/23/car-pool-converted-caravan-filled-with-water-to-create-mobile-swimming-unit/) - The ultimate mobile swimming experience, this gutted camper was carved out to create space for a classic blue pool liner, and secured to allow for folks to slosh around between stops (or possibly on the road, depending on local laws). https://www.facebook.com/leconfortmoderne/videos/10156254938092527/ French artist Benedetto Bufalino removed the roof and got rid of interior furniture, then
- [Luxembourg Skatepark Design Pays Tribute to an Adjacent UNESCO Fortress](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/15/luxembourg-skatepark-design-pays-tribute-to-an-adjacent-unesco-fortress/) - Surely a contender for the title of 'World's Most Beautiful Skatepark,' this stunning urban park project by Constructo Skatepark Architecture incorporates design elements abstracted from an adjacent 17th-century fortress. Set in Luxembourg’s Peitruss Valley at the foot of the old Vauban fortification that encircles the old city, the Luxembourg City Skatepark pays tribute to the
- [Modulofts: Sliding Walls Divide Interior Space & Provide Exterior Shade](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/14/modulofts-sliding-walls-divide-interior-space-provide-exterior-shade/) - A new housing project in Beirut uses flexible wall dividers in an unconventional way, allowing huge steel panels to slide into and out of the structure itself, animating the facade while partitioning space on demand. Designed by Fouad Samara Architects, these duplex 'Modulofts' units in the capital of Lebanon were modeled after a combination of classic
- [Augmented Nature: 6 Ways Robotics Are Aiding Conservation Efforts](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/13/augmented-nature-6-ways-robotics-are-aiding-conservation-efforts/) - Does the idea of deploying robotic plants and animals in natural habitats to help save threatened species and reduce pollution make you feel better or worse about the state of the world? On the one hand, it's kind of alarming that we've reached the point where we're investing in bionic cockroaches and robot bees to
- [Declassified NSA Designs: Surreal Vintage National Security Agency Posters](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/12/declassified-nsa-designs-surreal-vintage-national-security-agency-posters/) - Stereotypically secretive and serious, these posters from the 1950s and 60s show another side of the NSA, full of strange art and bizarre messaging spanning from internal security to the drug war. Stylistically, they are signs of their times, spanning typography, colors and layouts one might expect to find on book covers, movie adverts or
- [Pickup Truck Gardens: Japanese Contest Celebrates Mobile Greenery](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/11/pickup-truck-gardens-japanese-contest-celebrates-mobile-greenery/) - Set within the beds of small white Japanese pickup trucks known as 'kei,' these gardens are so lush and complex, they look like they've been established for many years. In reality, each one had been in place for just a few hours before these photographs were taken. The miniature gardens were created for the annual
- [Rainbow Road: Light Painting Blazes a Trail Through Forests, Cities & the Sea](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/08/rainbow-road-light-painting-blazes-a-trail-through-forests-cities-the-sea/) - Surreal and at times a bit eerie, a rainbow road made of pure light winds through muted landscapes as if illuminating a path to another world. As it makes its way through snowy forests, across rocky creeks and along the seashore before pausing within an abandoned shed, it almost seems alive. For filmmaker and photographer
- [Cast-in-Place Innovation: The World's First 3D-Printed Concrete Houses](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/07/cast-in-place-innovation-the-worlds-first-3d-printed-concrete-houses/) - A series of elaborately curved houses designed for Eindhoven will rest like large boulders in the Dutch landscape, illustrating the complex forms made possible by new and evolving 3D-printing technologies. The first single-story house will be around 1,000 square feet and allow for process refinements for the multi-story units to follow - research and innovation are part of
- [Innovation & Collaboration: 13 Cool Office Designs Spark Creativity](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/06/innovation-collaboration-13-cool-office-designs-spark-creativity/) - Wouldn't you rather work in a lush jungle, a surrealist space that transforms before your eyes, a space that looks like the set of a sci-fi movie or an office with a speakeasy hidden under the stairs? These 13 ultra-creative modern office designs are tailored to the identities, preferences and missions of the individual companies,
- [Operable Facade: Front Wall & Windows Conceal Hidden Garage Door & Lift](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/05/operable-facade-front-wall-windows-conceal-hidden-garage-door-lift/) - New Zealand architect Jonathan Smith worked with a cabinetmaker to carefully deconstruct part of this 1890s home in Auckland, then assembled a set of automatic doors as well as a moving fence to conceal a brand new garage space, all expertly retrofit into the historic structure. The result is a high-level work of camouflage, preserving
- [Tales of Hidden Tunnels: Read About the Secrets of Underground Spaces](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/04/tales-of-hidden-tunnels-read-about-the-secrets-of-underground-spaces/) - In centuries past, people would dig tunnels for all sorts of purposes - escaping war, transporting bootleg goods, running other kinds of illegal operations, secretly expanding their homes under the surface or just mining chalk and flint. Some were naturally created, some accidentally as cities like Chattanooga raised the grade of their streets to avoid
- [Woven Like a Nest, This Digitally Created Pavilion is Made of Recyclable Plastic](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/01/woven-like-a-nest-this-digitally-created-pavilion-is-made-of-recyclable-plastic/) - Looking like an oversized bird’s nest, this cozy pavilion is not quite as organic as it seems, its flowing walls made out of strands of 100% recyclable high-density polyethylene (HDPE.) Designed by Dutch architect Ben van Berkel of UNStudio for the pavilion series Revolution Precrafted, the ‘Ellipsicoon’ features a sinuous design created using 3D modeling
- [Open Sesame: Wheelchair-Friendly Elevator Entrance Hiding Under the Stairs](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/30/open-sesame-wheelchair-friendly-elevator-entrance-hiding-under-the-stairs/) - Stoops across the UK and Europe are hiding a secret: the ability to zoom right into the front door on wheels even though it’s located several steps above the sidewalk. And it’s about time. At this point in human history, with all the technology at our fingertips, there’s no excuse for failing to build accessibility
- [Musical Fonts: Handwriting of Cobain, Lennon & Bowie Turned into Free Typefaces](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/30/musical-fonts-handwriting-of-cobain-lennon-bowie-turned-into-free-typefaces/) - Resurrecting the signature writing styles of famous musicians and songwriters, this series of downloadable typefaces puts the unique scrawls of performers passed in the palm of your hand(-held device). Designers Nicolas Damiens and Julien Sens drew from handwritten notes by David Bowie, Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, Leonard Cohen and Serge Gainsbourg to create these free
- [Ribbon Maps: Pocket-Sized Mississippi Riverboat Scrolls Unroll to 11 Feet](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/24/ribbon-maps-pocket-sized-mississippi-riverboat-scrolls-unroll-to-11-feet/) - Designed for 19th-century travelers trekking up and down the mighty Mississippi on riverboats, these scrolled parchments unspooled to reveal major cities and points of interest worthy of note along the way. The Ribbon Map of the Father of Waters in particular had an impressive reach, spanning from Minnesota down to the Gulf of Mexico, just three
- [Shopping Block: 19 Deservedly Abandoned British Stores](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/17/shopping-block-20-deservedly-abandoned-british-stores/) - These charming British shops and boutiques just couldn't compete with big box stores but that's not the only reason they've bitten the biscuit.
- [Invader Returns to Los Angeles with a New Series of Fun Pixelated Mosaics](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/28/invader-returns-to-los-angeles-with-a-new-series-of-fun-pixelated-mosaics/) - A French street artist known only as 'Invader' just got done dropping over a dozen new mosaic tile installations all over Los Angeles while in town for the group show Beyond the Streets. The best one might just be a portrait of The Dude himself, the eponymous figure from the cult film The Big Lebowski,
- [Future War: 8 Terrifying Coming Advancements in Military Technology](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/28/future-war-8-terrifying-coming-advancements-in-military-technology/) - The kind of military technology only imagined in sci-fi movies like Iron Man and Star Wars could be coming to an international conflict near you sometime in the very near future. As if missiles and nuclear bombs weren't enough, militaries around the world are currently developing a terrifying range of deadly weapons as well as
- [Das Bus: 15 Quirky & Kitschy German Bus Shelters](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/27/das-bus-15-quirky-kitschy-german-bus-shelters/) - These 15 bus shelters from Germany express a distinctive design aesthetic that reflects the tension between stolid practicality and startling creativity.
- [Destination Kawaii: Hello Kitty Bullet Train Coming to Japan This Summer](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/25/destination-kawaii-hello-kitty-bullet-train-coming-to-japan-this-summer/) - Japan’s most beloved cartoon cat will take over a bullet train in her country of origin this summer, luring in locals and tourists alike with pink and white interiors and prime selfie opportunities. West Japan Railway Co. is teaming up with Sanrio to produce the Hello Kitty Shinkansen, a white bullet train wrapped in a
- [20+ Reasons to Love Resin: These Artistic Home Furnishings are Clearly Cool](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/23/20-reasons-to-love-resin-these-artistic-home-furnishings-are-clearly-cool/) - Clear resin is tinted with pigments, glitter or glow-in-the-dark powder, mixed with crystals and poured into the crevices of natural stone and wood to create one-of-a-kind home furnishings resembling geodes, galaxies or flyover views of the Caribbean. It's also gorgeous on its own, blended into a rainbow of colors and poured into abstract compositions. These
- [Data as Decor: Custom Map Wallpaper Designed to Suit Any Home Interior](https://weburbanist.com/2018/06/02/data-as-decor-custom-map-wallpaper-designed-to-suit-any-home-interior/) - Mounting maps on walls is nothing new, but getting floor-to-ceiling wallpaper designed to fit in a wide variety of individual spaces and existing color schemes allows a lot of fresh possibilities. Point Two Design has a collection of maps spanning 30 major global cities (and more on demand), including Seattle, London, Amsterdam, Manhattan, Tokyo and others.
- [Prairie Style Subway Maps: Chicago Rail Routes Rendered ala Frank Lloyd Wright](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/31/prairie-style-subway-maps-chicago-rail-routes-rendered-ala-frank-lloyd-wright/) - America's most famous architect trained his way to greatness in Chicago, and made his mark across the Midwest (and the world), expressing a special love for this city along the way. Inspired by his legacy, British cartographer Max roberts challenged himself to illustrate the routes of the Windy City's 'L' system in the style of
- [Back-Alley Bookends: Narrow Tokyo City Scenes Bracket Books & Tell Stories](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/29/back-alley-bookends-narrow-tokyo-city-scenes-bracket-books-tell-stories/) - Inspired by the winding, cyberpunk-worthy passageways of modern-day Tokyo, these bookends invert expectations, shaped themselves like books but carved out to reveal city-based stories. Most sculptural book-bracketing devices stand out as different from the volumes between them, but these read like novels set at either end of a shelf. Within the voids, detailed solids populate
- [New Banksy Gift Shop: Souvenirs from the Walled-Off Art Hotel in Palestine](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/22/new-banksy-gift-shop-souvenirs-from-the-walled-off-art-hotel-in-palestine/) - Located just a few hundred meters from the checkpoint to Jerusalem and a mile from the centre of Bethlehem, the Walled-Off Hotel (a play on Waldorf) project features works of art and artistically designed rooms -- it serves as a habitable way to raise funds and awareness, too. Now, the hotel has released a set
- [In Japan, A Vibrant Community Springs to Life Beneath a Disused Overpass](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/21/in-japan-a-vibrant-community-springs-to-life-beneath-a-disused-overpass/) - A notorious red light district and black market before it was swept and shut down by authorities in 2005, the cavernous space beneath an overpass in Yokohama sat empty for years until a social redevelopment project gave it a new lease on life. The Koganecho Centre is a complex of cultural spaces tucked between the
- [Zero Waste Land: 13 Design Projects Making Smart Use of Reclaimed Materials](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/21/zero-waste-land-13-design-projects-making-smart-use-of-reclaimed-materials/) - There's already more than enough plastic, glass and other materials in the world for all of our manufacturing needs - we just have to reclaim and recycle it instead of trying to bury it. For some designers, finding a way to spin trash into treasure is simply the only way forward as our natural environment
- [Going Going Gone: 12 Closed & Abandoned Travel Agents](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/20/going-going-gone-12-closed-abandoned-travel-agents/) - Online trip planning has decimated storefront travel agents and these closed & abandoned travel agencies show the loss goes beyond just tour three.
- [Altered Realities: Abstract 3D Murals by Peeta Pop Off the Wall](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/18/altered-realities-abstract-3d-murals-by-peeta-pop-off-the-wall/) - A wall could look as flat as flat gets until street artist Peeta gets his hands on it with a can of spray paint, distorting its surface, confusing its perspective with three-dimensional illusions. Sometimes, the effect is so convincing, you can’t tell which windows are real and which ones are painted, or whether some elements
- [Bye Bye Boring Workspace: 12 Office Arrangements That Feel Fresh & Fun](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/16/bye-bye-boring-workspace-12-office-arrangements-that-feel-fresh-fun/) - Fun workspace features like slides and outlandishly creative office design schemes get a lot of attention, but ultimately, the individual workspaces where employees carry out most of their daily tasks are more germane to both happiness and productivity. Should they be private, or prioritize openness and collaboration? Should they be serious, or a little quirky
- [Missed Fortune: 15 Closed & Abandoned Psychic Shops](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/13/missed-fortune-15-closed-abandoned-psychic-shops/) - Psychic reader shops and palmist kiosks advertise the promise of a happier, more successful future yet somehow never foresee their own unfortunate demise.
- [Future Organic: Guggenheim Gallery in Tulum Combines Vines & Cement](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/14/future-organic-stunning-guggenheim-gallery-in-tulum-combines-vines-cement/) - What if the architecture of the future was fluid, organic and infused with an enhanced connection to the Earth? IK LAB, a new open-air art gallery in Tulum, Mexico, gives us a glimpse of what that could look like. Founded by Santiago Rumney Guggenheim and designed by Jorge Eduardo Neira Serkel, IK LAB is envisioned
- [Welcome to the Future: 6 Creepy Advances in Potentially Dystopian Technology](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/14/welcome-to-the-future-6-creepy-advances-in-potentially-dystopian-technology/) - All we wanted was flying cars and machines that clean up after us, and all we’ve gotten is a nightmare of dystopian privacy-shattering technology set against a hellscape of irreversible climate change. Welcome to the future! Humanoid robots can run and do backflips, you can’t tell the difference between an android and a human on
- [Star Man Underground: David Bowie Takes Over Manhattan Subway Station](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/11/star-man-goes-underground-david-bowie-takes-over-manhattan-subway-station/) - David Bowie lives on in many ways and in many places, but at the moment, his presence feels particularly acute while passing through the Broadway-Lafayette Station of New York City's subway system. The music legend has completely taken over, from lenticular portraits looming over the heads of commuters to posters replacing the typical advertisements and
- [New Hope for Brutalist Wonder: IKEA May Turn Pirelli Tire Building into a Hotel](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/09/ikea-may-turn-historic-brutalist-pirelli-tire-building-in-connecticut-into-a-hotel/) - The controversial Brutalist Pirelli Tire Building in New Haven, Connecticut was saved from demolition by a compromise with IKEA back in 2002, and now the Swedish retailer is reportedly considering a new use for the structure. Designed by Marcel Breuer, a master of Modernism whose monumental concrete creations remain divisive to this day, it’s one
- [Art Everywhere: 12 Projects Transform Public Spaces into Guerrilla Galleries](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/09/art-everywhere-12-projects-transform-public-spaces-into-guerrilla-galleries/) - Street artists turn entire cities into open-air galleries, but there are countless ways to carry out urban art interventions, and they're at their most fun when they subvert existing structures. Virtually anything can be transformed into a surface or medium for art: billboards, phone booths, construction walls, street signs and even furniture discarded on the
- [Floating Whales & Other Unlikely Creatures Invade Cities in Murals by Nevercrew](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/07/floating-whales-other-unlikely-creatures-invade-cities-in-murals-by-nevercrew/) - Swiss street art duo NEVERCREW recently completed 'Sensing Machine No.3,' a mural outside the historic Paris institution of street art known as Le M.U.R., depicting a whale reflecting the city. The eye-catching piece is the latest in a series of thoughtful large-scale works of art examining the interplay between nature and our built environments, often
- [Cool Concrete: 10 Structures Taking a Refreshing Approach to This Raw Material](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/07/cool-concrete-10-structures-taking-a-refreshing-approach-to-this-raw-material/) - Brutalism may be concrete architecture's highest historic form, but the material is as versatile as we make it, and it's got a lot more tricks up its sleeves. Though we may think of it as cold, heavy and solid, these 10 projects ranging from rocky pavilions and airy sculptural memorials to museums that look like
- [Canned Heat: 12 Folk Art Painted Residential Propane Tanks](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/06/canned-heat-12-folk-art-painted-residential-propane-tanks/) - Those popular home propane tanks that look like colossal cold capsules or dry-docked mini subs can be unusual showcases for unique folk art creations.
- [Bad Ass Miniatures: An Exhibition of Tiny Sculpted Objects by 30+ Artists](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/04/bad-ass-miniatures-exhibition-of-tiny-sculpted-objects/) - Tiny bongs, dirty dishes, grimy public restrooms, chaotic bodegas and Barbies gone wild are among the fun and subversive works of art found in an exhibition called ‘Bad Ass Miniatures’ opening this weekend in New York. Curated by D. Thomas Fine Miniatures and Kate Ünver, founder of The Daily Mini, the show definitely isn’t your
- [Graphic Design on Steroids: MurOne's Murals Splash the Streets with Color](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/02/graphic-design-on-steroids-massive-murals-splash-the-streets-with-vivid-colors/) - Whenever street artist MurOne comes to town, you know your city is about to get a whole lot brighter. Vivid, graphic and often surreal, his murals are an “acid mix of pop and design elements,” as he describes them himself, and often cover the facades of multi-story buildings for a dramatic effect. Most recently, he
- [Future Housing: 6 Forward-Thinking Visions Make Dense Cities More Livable](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/02/future-housing-6-forward-thinking-visions-make-dense-cities-more-livable/) - As much as 40% of the urban housing needed by the year 2030 hasn’t been built yet, meaning the equivalent of New York City has to be constructed somewhere in the world every single month until then to met demand. We're going to have to get a lot more creative with high-density housing solutions. Wouldn't
- [Rest Areas for the Weary: 13 Thoughtful Travel Facilities Enhance the Journey](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/30/rest-areas-for-the-weary-13-thoughtful-travel-facilities-enhance-the-journey/) - What happens to the world around us when designers and architects treat even the most humble structures with the same care they’d give to more prestigious buildings? Rest areas are certainly utilitarian, providing much-needed facilities in places like bus stations, highways and stunning scenic routes, but that doesn’t mean they have to be architectural afterthoughts.
- [Urine for a View: Modular Window Image Tiles Reframe Restroom Experience](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/19/urine-for-a-view-modular-window-image-tiles-reframe-restroom-experience/) - Stepping into a lockable bathroom stall, one expects a degree of privacy, but for those with shy bladders, this interior tiling strategy may prove problematic. Designed by Gyva Grafika in Lithuania, the tyles tap into a well-known aesthetic of conventional mass-housing modules -- graying buildings where individual differences emerge in the details of habitation rather than the architecture.
- [Drifting to Sleep: Snooze on Water in the World's First Floating Tent](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/17/drifting-to-sleep-snooze-on-water-in-the-worlds-first-floating-tent/) - "The world is your waterbed" according to SmithFly, the creators of the floating Shoal Tent, an inflatable sleeping craft that lets you drift off while drifting out on the water. The base is inflatable as is the tent structure, obviating the need for poles. Waterproof and wind resistant, it features a thick drop-stitched floor that
- [Hyper-Realistic Embroidery: Everyday Domestic Scenes Recreated in Thread](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/15/hyper-realistic-embroidery-everyday-domestic-scenes-recreated-in-thread/) - Woven into this remarkable works of fabric sculpture are incredible details, from metallic sheen and scratches on a recreated pay phone to grime and fish skeletons on dirty dishes (complete with fabric "water" pouring into the sink). Working out of Beijing, China, Mongolian artist Gao Rong sews scenes from her own history, drawing on time spent in
- [Totally Tubular: Industrial Furniture Engineered from Ventilation Ducts](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/12/totally-tubular-industrial-furniture-engineered-from-ventilation-ducts/) - A series of industrial steel ventilation pipes and copper sheet stripped from a scrapyard come together in this industrial-style furniture design dubbed "Tubular." Typically used for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, these standard-sized duct sections are surprisingly ideal for this kind of adaptive reused, designed to slot neatly into one another. Their modular nature
- [Shape-Shifting Chinese Smart Home Uses Open-Source Building Technology](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/10/shape-shifting-chinese-smart-home-uses-open-source-building-technology/) - Set in a traditional Beijing hutong, this cozy futuristic house has a shape-changing layout and employs construction techniques available for download on WikiHouse, an open-source architecture platform. Dot Architects developed the Baitasi House to accommodate the changing roles of living spaces, which many now also use as home offices, as well as the spatial limitations of urban housing. Per
- [Tiny Trains: Neat Narrow-Gauge Rail Connects German Island to Mainland](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/08/tiny-trains-neat-narrow-gauge-rail-connects-german-island-to-mainland/) - The island of Nordstrandischmoor is connected to mainland Germany by a tiny narrow gauge railway, on which residents (at least those 15 years of age and older and holding a moped license) can drive private trains back and forth to and from Lüttmoorsiel. Each island house has its own wagon -- some used to be
- [Neo-Rustic Concrete Retreat: Coastal Cottage Blends Brutalism & Minimalism](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/05/neo-rustic-concrete-retreat-coastal-cottage-blends-brutalism-minimalism/) - The simple and linear form of this remote vacation home juts out from a cliff over a sea-lion reserve in Chile; crafted to look aged and monolithic, it appears almost like a modern ruin in the natural landscape. Designed by architects Mauricio Pezo and Sofia von Ellrichshausen, based in nearby Concepción, the Loba House juts out
- [Deciphering Logos: Graphic Designer Swaps Brand Names for Fonts Used](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/03/deciphering-logos-graphic-designer-swaps-brand-names-for-fonts-used/) - Pop quiz: can you identify these iconic companies by their typefaces alone? Italian graphic designer Emanuele Abrate decided to run an experiment of sorts and trade names for fonts. In his renderings, iconic (non-text) elements sometimes give the brand away, but even without those the color scheme and type can provide clues. Called simply Logofonts, it
- [Stitches in Space: Giant-Sized Doilies Domesticate a Wild Array of Places](https://weburbanist.com/2018/05/01/stitches-in-space-giant-sized-doilies-domesticate-a-wild-array-of-places/) - Spanning interiors, wrapping trees and adorning facades, these big bright red doilies are somehow both conventional and ominous, somewhere between knit holiday sweaters and huge spider webs. Created by Ashley V Blalock, this Keeping Up Appearances series was started over a half-decade ago and has made its way into various public spaces and museum galleries. They can
- [Eye Powered: 12 Artistic German Transformer Stations](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/29/eye-powered-12-artistic-german-transformer-stations/) - These visually stunning German transformer stations display artistic paint jobs that beautify their surroundings while discouraging graffiti artists.
- [Requiem for Pianos: Dilapidated Instruments Photographed Among Ruins](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/27/requiem-for-pianos-dilapidated-musical-instruments-photographed-among-ruins/) - Once standing as symbols of prosperity within the luxurious interiors of grand European villas, these broken pianos have played their last tunes, now rotting among ruins. Photographer Romain Thiery traveled throughout France, Belgium, Italy, Germany and Poland to find abandoned mansions and other buildings where a forgotten piano might still stand, looking forlorn and forgotten
- [Imploded: 8 Burned Out & Abandoned Fireworks Factories](https://weburbanist.com/2015/06/28/imploded-8-burned-out-abandoned-fireworks-factories/) - Skyrockets red glare and bombs bursting in air were once sweet music to these abandoned fireworks factories, many of which ended with a bang, not a whimper.
- [Trash Bot Game & Professor Water Wheel: Gadgets Devour Floating Plastic Waste](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/25/trash-bot-game-professor-water-wheel-gadgets-devour-floating-plastic-waste/) - Plastic pollution is worse than ever, with scientists recently announcing horrific levels of micro plastics found in Arctic sea ice, but innovative new ways of cleaning it up may give us a sliver of hope in this fight. A familiar googly-eyed sight in Baltimore for years now, floating plastic-cleaning devices known as ‘Mr. Trash Wheel’
- [Art That Breathes: 17 Living Creations Made with Plants, Bacteria & Insects](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/25/art-that-breathes-17-living-creations-made-of-plants-fungus-bacteria/) - Alternately beautiful and disgusting but nearly always fascinating, works of art that use nature in place of more traditional media raise questions about the power and responsibility of human dominance over our natural surroundings and the other species living on Earth. These living, breathing works of art might be innocently pretty, like modified flower petals
- [Architectural Anomalies: The Crooked Witch-Proofed Windows of Vermont](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/23/architectural-anomalies-the-crooked-witch-proofed-windows-of-vermont/) - Why do so many houses in Vermont have these strange crooked windows tucked under their eaves? The fact that they’re called ‘witch windows’ should tell you a little something about their origins. The site of only one witch trial in its day, Vermont wasn’t an epicenter of witchcraft hysteria like Massachusetts, but fears of supernatural
- [Drag and Drop Housing: 12 Fast-Deploying Prefab Designs with Modern Style](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/23/drag-and-drop-housing-12-prefab-designs-with-chic-modern-style/) - You could receive delivery of your brand new home on the back of a truck, watch as they plop it down on the building site, press a button and allow it to self-deploy within minutes. That kind of instantaneous residential building process is now a reality thanks to a recent proliferation of pop-up prefab housing, built off-site
- [New Phantom Architecture by Eduardo Tresoldi Haunts the Grounds at Coachella](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/20/new-phantom-architecture-by-eduardo-tresoldi-haunts-the-grounds-at-coachella/) - Full-scale neoclassical and baroque buildings made of wire mesh loom over festival-goers at Coachella this week, representing artist Eduardo Tresoldi's largest works yet. The Italian sculptor is known for his eerie installations of translucent architecture, previously seen in a stunning indoor installation in Abu Dhabi, a ghostly ship sailing across Italy’s Bay of Sapri and
- [A-Hole Design: Subreddit Highlights Intentionally Frustrating Products & Ads](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/18/a-hole-design-subreddit-highlights-intentionally-frustrating-products-ads/) - There’s design that’s just plain crappy, and then there’s design that’s maliciously terrible because the creator just wanted you to suffer. They’re related, yet distinct, which explains the existence of two separate subreddits collecting all the worst design the internet has to offer, r/crappydesign and its highly specific offshoot, r/assholedesign. Whether we’re talking about user
- [Building Blocks of Innovation: 11 Cutting Edge Materials Set to Shape the Future](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/18/building-blocks-of-innovation-11-cutting-edge-materials/) - Architecture has looked much the same since early humans first began constructing their own shelter, but that could change soon with the introduction of new materials and technologies producing almost alien-like forms. Woven carbon fiber, ultra-strong but amazingly thin concrete, transparent wood and 3D-printed sandstone are among the innovations that could break free of the
- [Tree-ness House: An Urban Jumble of Concrete Volumes & Terraces](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/16/tree-ness-house-an-urban-jumble-of-concrete-volumes-terraces/) - A maze-like tower of voids and projections looms above the streets of Tokyo, offering residents cascading outdoor spaces all along the building’s roof and facade. ‘Tree-ness House’ by Japanese architect Akihisa Hirata takes inspiration from nature for this unusual design of stacked concrete boxes full of inward-facing private rooms as well as outward-facing terraces. It
- [Blown-Out Pipes: Artist Expands Everyday Plastic Tubes to Create Vases](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/28/blown-out-pipes-artist-expands-everyday-plastic-tubes-to-create-vases/) - Plastic piping original mass-produced to carry water from place to place has found a likewise liquid-related second life in the form of flower-holding vessels, blown out like glass into fresh new shapes. [vimeo=263618592] Adapting traditional glass-blowing techniques, Japanese artist Kodai Iwamoto has created a series of signature vases that still show elements of their past lives,
- [Cat VR: Feline Virtual Reality Technology Aims to Amuse Animal Companions](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/26/cat-vr-feline-virtual-reality-technology-aims-to-amuse-animal-companions/) - A new PVRR (Pet Virtual Reality Research) technical brief targets the hundreds of millions of global kitties who might enjoy a romp through a virtual playscape. For starters, be sure to watch the compelling promotional pitch below: [youtube=WwjYNdaGMu4] Isobar, the brainchild of this operation, boasts their brain-monitoring and emotion-measuring capabilities. Thee brief reports that they have partnered with
- [Rolling Out the Green Carpet: Grass Circle Transforms Madrid Public Square](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/24/rolling-out-the-green-carpet-grass-circle-transforms-madrid-public-square/) - Marking the 400th anniversary of the Plaza Mayor in Madrid, a grassy circle measuring over 35,000 square feet was rolled out to create seating space for over 100,000 visitors across a four-day celebration. The famous European square is framed by historic rectilinear architecture, beautiful in itself, but by adding a fresh layer of greenery, artist
- [684 Miles of Wire: Robots Complete World's First 3D-Printed Steel Bridge](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/21/684-miles-of-wire-robots-complete-worlds-first-3d-printed-steel-bridge/) - Weighing close to 10,000 pounds, the complex shape and curvy form of this stainless steel bridge reflects the multi-axis printers that made it, line by molten line, and help highlight the potential of metal-printing technologies. [youtube=STAHy6hTP14] The MX3D Bridge was designed by Joris Laarman Lab (with engineering help from Arup and other partners) and spans just
- [Vespa Revamp: Classic Scooter Brought up to Speed with Electric Redesign](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/19/vespa-revamp-classic-scooter-brought-up-to-speed-with-electric-redesign/) - The Vespampère is slim, light and stylish, recalling a vintage classic from 1948 with an electric motor and other contemporary technological tweaks to bring it in tune with the modern era. Among other neat twists, a mobile phone becomes an integrated component, effectively serving as the vehicle's dashboard. Italian designer Giulio Iacchetti's fresh model draws
- [Final Estate: Beloved Architect Zaha Hadid's Only House Design is Complete](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/17/final-estate-beloved-architect-zaha-hadids-only-house-design-is-complete/) - Known for designing dynamically curved structures in cities, Zaha Hadid's only single-family residential project is certainly aligned with her signature style but also reacts to a very different and much more remote, natural and green context. At the pinnacle sits the master suite, rising above the Russian forest canopy over 60 feet above the ground.
- [GIFs That Keep on Giving: 20+ Captivating Animated Illustrations](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/16/gifs-that-keep-on-giving-20-awesome-animated-illustrations/) - Maybe you can't hang a poster of a GIF on your wall (yet) but these fun animated images are definitely frame-able, ranging from classic art brought alive by subtle moving elements to hypnotic abstract digital creations. You don't need psychedelic drugs to enjoy the mesmerizing effects, but hey, it probably wouldn't hurt. Necessary Disorder: Gifs
- [Riffin' Large: MST3K Graffiti, Stickers & Stencils](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/15/riffin-large-mst3k-graffiti-stickers-stencils/) - Mystery Science Theater 3000 (or MST3K for short) was a Nineties pop culture TV phenomenon that endures through graffiti, stickers, stencils and street art.
- [Brutal Destruction: Photo Series Documents Demolition of Midcentury Buildings](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/13/brutal-destruction-photo-series-documents-demolition-of-midcentury-buildings/) - Sure, Brutalist architecture is divisive, but does that mean we should be wiping it all off the face of the planet? It’s true that these structures are rarely beloved by the residents of their locales; they’re often derided as ‘monstrosities’ with their blocky proportions and large swaths of concrete surfaces. That makes them a major
- [A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: Street Artist Breathes Life Into Urban Facades](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/11/a-tree-grows-in-brooklyn-street-artist-pejac-modifies-urban-facades/) - The streets of Brooklyn are a little brighter these days with the addition of two new pieces by Spanish street artist Pejac, including one that appears to be chiseled out of a brick facade. Both reflect on the impact of cities on nature; one comments on conspicuously absent greenery while the other illustrates Jeff Goldblum’s
- [It’s All in Your Head: 17 Optical Illusions Prove You Can’t Trust Your Brain](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/11/its-all-in-your-head-17-optical-illusions-prove-you-cant-trust-your-brain/) - If there's one thing all these illusions can show you, it's that you can't trust your own brain. It'll blot out peripheral colors right before your eyes to help you focus on a fixed point, turn static images into animations and completely fool you about the colors and shapes you're looking at. Troxler’s Effect: Colors
- [D.C. Metro Rolls Out Color-Coded Escalator Rails to Guide Passengers](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/10/d-c-metro-rolls-out-color-coded-escalator-rails-to-guide-passengers/) - The Washington Metro Transit Authority has quietly rolled out a simple but ingenious wayfinding solution: colored escalator railings to guide passengers to their trains. Graphic designer Jen Scharl spotted the new colored rails Fort Totten. There's no word yet on other stations -- for now this is a test, but it is relatively cost-neutral so it might
- [Augmented IKEA: Assembly App Shows Full-Scale 3D Building Instructions](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/14/augmented-ikea-assembly-app-shows-full-scale-3d-building-instructions/) - Putting IKEA manuals into augmented reality, this phone app lets buyers scan their product's barcode, then swipe to follow steps in realtime against the actual backdrop of the room being used for furniture construction. Developed by Toronto designer Adam Pickard, AssembleAR uses 3D modelling coupled with post-production editing to recreate the building experience. Pickard was inspired by
- [Sketched Sculptures: Architectural Models Look Like Physical Drawings in 3D](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/12/sketched-sculptures-architectural-models-look-like-physical-drawings-in-3d/) - Looking at one of his sculptures from a single perspective, it would be easy to mistake them for 2D drawings on a flat surface. After all, architects have a tendency to layer lines as they solve design problems in realtime, resulting in a sketchy quality in their "working" drawings. They often also sketch buildings with overlapping
- [Stay High: 3-Story Container Apartment Built into a Crane in Amsterdam](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/09/stay-high-3-story-container-apartment-built-into-a-crane-in-amsterdam/) - Transformed into a compact three-story apartment, a decommissioned 1957 crane overlooking Amsterdam’s IJ River from a former industrial harbor now offers tourists a highly unusual vantage point of the city. It’s the lone survivor of a mass demolition of old cranes that once stood on KNSM Island, and hasn’t been in active use since 1979,
- [Constructing the Future: 13 Recent Advances in Robotic Building Technology](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/09/constructing-the-future-13-recent-advances-in-robotic-building-technology/) - The buildings and infrastructure of the not-so-distant future might look like they were dropped here from an alien planet thanks to the complex geometries and curvaceous surfaces robotic building technologies are able to produce. 3D printing in metal and concrete are among the biggest breakthroughs, but robots can also set building materials like bricks into place
- [Down The Tubes: 10 Closed & Abandoned TV Factories](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/08/down-the-tubes-10-closed-abandoned-tv-factories/) - TV factories once churned out countless cathode ray tube television sets but when the Golden Age of Television faded to black, the TV factories followed.
- [Paseo Bandera: Newly Pedestrianized Street in Chile is One Big Work of Art](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/06/paseo-bandera-newly-pedestrianized-street-in-chile-is-one-big-work-of-art/) - One of Santiago, Chile's most congested streets became a colorful pedestrian promenade full of urban art after a 30-day transformation led by artist Dasic Fernández. Now, the city is fighting to keep it. The 400-yard stretch of road adjacent to Santiago’s government palace and main square was never meant to be a permanent pedestrian zone;
- [The Darkest Building on Earth: An Olympic Pavilion Coated in Vantablack](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/04/the-darkest-building-on-earth-an-olympic-pavilion-coated-in-vantablack/) - There are mysterious and maybe slightly creepy black buildings, and then there are the blackest of black buildings made from the light-absorbing pigment known as Vantablack. Architect Asif Khan designed a pavilion for the PyeongChang 2018 Opening Ceremony coated in the highly coveted pigment, which consists of carbon nanotubes that absorb 99% of light, making
- [High Feline Design: 10 Modern Homes with Built-In Cat Friendly Features](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/04/high-feline-design-10-modern-homes-with-built-in-cat-friendly-features/) - The owners of these feline-focused houses understand that humans don't own cats - it's the other way around. They commissioned interior designers and architects to build cat walkways, window nooks, climbing shelves and chic glass lounges right into the design of their homes, whether to boldly put their cats front-and-center or subtly take advantage of
- [Touchable Typeface: Ingenious Fonts Combine Visual & Braille Characters](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/05/touchable-typeface-ingenious-fonts-combine-visual-braille-characters/) - Braille type is often included as alongside conventional letters, but "Braille Neue" typesets blend both visible and tangible characters in the same space, creating hybrid alphabets that anyone can read. Developed by designer Kosuke Takahashi, the solution is simple and elegant, giving equal priority to both sighted and visually impaired people. The trick, essentially, is to use
- [Construction Brew: Rugged Coffee Maker Runs on Power Tool Batteries](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/07/construction-brew-rugged-coffee-maker-runs-on-power-tool-batteries/) - Made by power tool-maker Makita, this is the ultimate coffee machine to energize construction workers, charged by the same batteries already in use on work sites. The CM501D is designed to derive energy from plug-in, rechargeable, lithium-ion power sources that drive cordless screws, drills, saws and other standard equipment. For those unfamiliar with them: these
- [Reconstructing Ruins: Gifs Reanimate 7 Ancient Architectural Wonders](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/03/reconstructing-ruins-gifs-reanimate-7-ancient-architectural-wonders/) - To visitors, architectural ruins are simply a modern reality, and their imagined reconstruction is left to descriptive plaques, statics images and the human imagination, but this series of renderings dynamically recreates each of seven different famous sites, brick by brick and column by column. The collection includes the Temple of Luxor in Egypt, The Temple
- [Just Your Type: These 15 Typographic Projects Have Lots of Character](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/02/just-your-type-these-15-typographic-projects-have-lots-of-character/) - Typefaces get the graphic treatment with art and design projects that infuse lettering with fun and functionality alike, from 'Braille Neue' to specific typefaces rendered as dog breeds. What makes a German shepherd Helvetica? How can you sculpt your facial hair into every letter of the alphabet? Which letters make the best miniature golf courses?
- [You're Fired: 10 Famed Flamed Statues & Monuments](https://weburbanist.com/2018/04/01/youre-fired-10-famed-flamed-statues-monuments/) - Gone up in flames and burned down to the ground – these 10 well-known statues, monuments and large-scale advertisements all fell to fire, if not fury.
- [Vanishing Infrastructure: Flat-Folding Urban Bicycle Rack Pops Up on Demand](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/31/vanishing-infrastructure-flat-folding-urban-bicycle-rack-pops-up-on-demand/) - It sounds like a great design solution: a pop-up bike rack that disappears below the pavement when not in use, but the problem it aims to solve really an issue, and (if so) would it ultimately work as intended? On the surface, this idea by Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Milou Bergs looks fairly compelling -- bike-stabilizing
- [Trashpresso: Solar-Powered Mobile Recycling Plant Turns Trash into Tiles](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/30/trashpresso-solar-powered-mobile-recycling-plant-turns-trash-into-tiles/) - You know how China stopped taking our plastic recycling waste because Americans can’t seem to figure out how which items are actually recyclable and which ones clog up the machines and contaminate the resulting materials? Now that China’s ban on imported plastics has gone into effect, we have a whole lot of unwanted stuff to
- [500 Lids: World' Largest Collection of Disposable Hot Beverage Covers](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/29/500-lids-world-largest-collection-of-disposable-hot-beverage-covers/) - We know they come in a few shapes and sizes, but rarely do we stop to look at (let alone think to start collecting) the myriad unique covers that accompany our favorite hot morning beverages. [youtube=Uz1aRBmLVrY] Louise Harpman works in the realms of architecture and urban design, and has developed a taste for this unsung type of
- [Morpeth Arms: Historic London Bar with a Haunted Basement & Spying Room](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/28/morpeth-arms-historic-london-bar-with-a-haunted-basement-spying-room/) - Not every pub in London has a spying room complete with binoculars so patrons can gaze into the windows of the British Intelligence Service across the street - nor does just any old pub have a historic basement so creepy and rife with strange activity that the owners have set up a CCTV system just
- [Fuller House: 15 Geodesic Dome Creations Pay Tribute to Bucky’s Classic](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/28/fuller-house-15-geodesic-dome-creations-pay-tribute-to-buckys-classic/) - Architect, engineer and inventor Buckminster Fuller developed the world’s most infamous dome structure while searching for the most efficient housing solution possible during the 1940s. The dome structure finds the shortest paths between two points on a sphere, and its structure is modular by nature and practically infinitely scalable. That makes it an ideal basis
- [Beyond the Centerline: Fantastical Urban Schemes Reimagine Road Medians](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/27/beyond-the-centerline-fantastical-urban-schemes-reimagine-road-medians/) - Central yet unused, the central median of New York City's Park Avenue is the subject of a series of spectacular and speculative redesigns -- from rock-climbing walls and waterfalls to kayak commuter lanes -- thanks to a creative ideas competition. Participating architects, designers and planners were given free reign to re-imagine this major thoroughfare spanning
- [Life Sprouts from Eyesores in This Mexico City Pothole Gardening Project](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/26/life-sprouts-from-eyesores-in-this-mexico-city-pothole-gardening-project/) - Drawing inspiration from a similar project in London, the bloggers known as ‘Mensajeros Urbanos’ (‘urban messengers’) have taken to the streets of Mexico City filling potholes with living plants. Each crack in the pavement gets a little bit of soil and a colorful arrangement of tulips and ferns, calling attention to areas of the street
- [Destination Design: 14 Stylish Hotels Infused with the Character of their Settings](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/26/destination-design-14-stylish-hotels-infused-with-the-character-of-their-settings/) - While many hotels are so lacking in personality, they could be located pretty much anywhere, these 14 thoughtfully designed tourist accommodations are infused in the character of their respective settings, taking cues from vernacular architecture or distilling the essence of their particular surroundings. You could stay in a fairytale treehouse village in Thailand, a Game
- [Beetle Mania: 10 Groovy Volkswagen Bug Art Cars](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/25/beetle-mania-10-groovy-volkswagen-bug-art-cars/) - The Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle, one of the 20th century's most iconic vehicles, also served as a rolling car canvas for artists just itching to bug society.
- [Art on Fire: Giant Sculpture by Okuda San Miguel Set Ablaze for Fallas 2018](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/23/art-on-fire-100-foot-sculpture-by-okuda-san-miguel-set-ablaze-for-fallas-2018/) - Best known for his vivid geometric murals full of fantastical animals, which brighten up everything from derelict churches to fleets of freighters, street artist Okuda San Miguel has crafted a massive 3D sculptural centerpiece for the annual Fallas celebration in Valencia, Spain. The 100-foot-tall cardboard sculpture stood for just four days before it was ritualistically
- [The Modern Cabin: 14 Moody Wilderness Getaways Go Beyond the Rustic](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/21/the-modern-cabin-14-compact-rural-homes-go-beyond-the-rustic/) - A cabin is defined both by a remote location and a certain rusticity, whether it's a wilderness hut for hikers or a family retreat, but that doesn't mean it has to be a basic wooden shack. Modern cabin design shakes up this typology depending on the setting and the user's needs - it could be
- [Small Packages: Spacious Pop-Up Camper Self-Inflates in Just 90 Seconds](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/25/small-packages-spacious-pop-up-camper-self-inflates-in-just-90-seconds/) - The Air Opus Camper packs down into a surprisingly tiny trailer box easily towed behind a vehicle, but deploys automatically in less than two minutes (then folds back up in just 30 seconds). Using what the company calls "Air Pole Technology," the pre-inflation process is pretty straightforward: the top panels are flipped outward and a quick-release
- [Modular Parkipelago: Floating Island Parklets Harbor Boaters & Swimmers](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/24/modular-parkipelago-floating-island-parklets-harbor-boaters-swimmers/) - Built at and launched from a local boatyard, this mobile park prototype (or: "parkipelago") is the first of a series of floating platforms designed to provide recreational space for kayakers, swimmers, sunbathers and event space for small gatherings and public lectures. Created Australian architect Marshall Blecher and Danish designer Magnus Maarbjerg, the first wooden platform in
- [Shirt Swap: 10 Endangered Animal Species Replace Iconic Alligator Logo](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/22/shirt-swap-10-endangered-animal-species-replace-iconic-alligator-logo/) - One of the most recognizable brand marks in the world -- the curled alligator on Lacoste shirts -- stepped out of the spotlight temporarily to make way for a series of endangered species, helping to raise awareness and fund their protection. The French label selected the following animals, representing an array of kingdoms from around the
- [Night Lights: Aerial Drones Illuminate Uncanny Long-Exposure Landscapes](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/20/night-lights-aerial-drones-illuminate-uncanny-long-exposure-landscapes/) - Circling drones cast soft light on landscapes below (and create UFO-style patterns in the skies over) gorgeous natural settings in this series of surreal nature images by photographer Reuben Wu. Dubbed LUX NOCTIS II, this series follows up on a previous set of ground-illuminated works created in a similar vein. But in this case, the use of drone
- [Cabin of Curiosities: 3D-Printed Building Covered in Tiny Succulent Planters](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/19/cabin-of-curiosities-3d-printed-building-covered-in-tiny-succulent-planters/) - 4,500 3D-printed ceramic tiles cover the facade of the ‘Cabin of Curiosities’ in Oakland, an experimental structure showing off how beautiful additive manufacturing can be. The facade consists of two different types of tiles by independent 3D printing studio Emerging Objects: the ‘Planter Tile’ and the ‘Seed Stitch Tile.’ Consisting of sawdust, Portland cement, corn-based
- [A Balm for Boring Contemporary Cars: 14 Fun & Stylish Modern Vehicle Designs](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/19/a-balm-for-boring-contemporary-cars-14-fun-stylish-modern-vehicle-designs/) - Why do most of our brand new cars still look like they were released in the 1990s? Judging by most of the concept designs released over the last few years, it seems like we’re destined to slide from the clunky, boring silhouettes of the late 20th century right into dorky, bulbous autonomous vehicles with absolutely
- [Funky Farm: More Creatively Painted Fuel Storage Tanks](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/18/funky-farm-more-creatively-painted-fuel-storage-tanks/) - Fuel me once, shame on you, fuel me twice and you'll have to paint these huge storage tanks. You can bet the farm these creative tanks will fuel everybody.
- [The Heron’s Tree: The World’s Largest Hanging Garden Since Ancient Babylon](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/16/the-herons-tree-the-worlds-largest-hanging-garden-since-ancient-babylon/) - An island in France populated by ‘living machines’ that seem to be torn straight from the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, Les Machines de L’ile has delighted visitors since 2007, and now they’re embarking on a quest to complete the largest hanging garden since ancient Babylon. The unusual artistic and cultural project is set within
- [Urban Explorers Scuba Dive Through an Abandoned Submerged Soviet Prison Camp](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/14/urban-explorers-scuba-dive-through-an-abandoned-submerged-soviet-prison-camp/) - How eerie must it be to swim past submerged lamp posts, barbed wire and other remnants of an old Soviet prison while scuba diving in a former quarry? The setting is dangerous; visitors might brush up against sharp objects, and some have even died in diving accidents, but for avid explorers of abandoned places, the
- [Plaza Play: 13 Artistic Installations Make Public Squares A Lot More Fun](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/14/plaza-play-13-artistic-installations-make-public-squares-a-lot-more-fun/) - An infusion of art revives a cold, gray public square like a healing draught, drawing people in and encouraging them to stay a while, interact with each other and see their city from a new point of view. Every day we pass through these public spaces in a rush to get to our destinations, hardly
- [Seconds to Years: 2 Scales of Time-Lapse Photography](https://weburbanist.com/2013/04/23/seconds-to-years-3-scales-of-time-lapse-photography/) - With the rise of digital technologies, photographers are finding increasingly fascinating ways to capture minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and even entire years.
- [Pissjar Sans: Hardcore Punk Bank Releases Free Urination-Based Typeface](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/13/pissjar-sans-hardcore-punk-bank-releases-free-urination-based-typeface/) - What started as a project to create a few letters for an album cover morphed into an entire alphabet derived from the collective contributions of this Swedish punk band. Bassist Anton Bolin was working on the new record's graphic design and "wanted to do something that suits the dirty hardcore punk we play. So I started
- [Who Needs Walls? 13 Split Level Interior Layouts Maximize Small Spaces](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/12/who-needs-walls-13-split-level-interior-layouts-maximize-small-spaces/) - Tall, narrow volumes and awkward stepped sites are no problem when you arrange your interior spaces in a continuous flow of open platforms without walls. These unusual split-level home designs feel bright, airy and spacious thanks to imaginative floor plans that make the most of the available space. Seven Stories on Two Floors by Tato
- [Sensei-tion: Kyoto U's Much-Defaced Orita Bust](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/11/sensei-tion-kyoto-us-much-defaced-orita-bust/) - A bronze bust of the late educator Hikoichi Orita was vandalized so often, Kyoto University administrators put it into storage – still, the students persisted.
- [Vernacular Void: Wood Walls Warm Negative Space in Gray Brick Home](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/10/vernacular-void-wood-walls-warm-negative-space-in-gray-brick-home/) - In a stark play of contrasts, a rich wooden passageway tunnels through this otherwise modern residence made up of small colorless masonry blocks, slicing like a house-shaped cookie cutter through the contemporary structure. The open space inside this Korean domicile looks like a cast of a traditional home, or a child's drawing set vertical and extruded
- [I’m Sorry Dave, I’m Afraid I Can’t Do That: ‘Flying Brain’ Will Assist Astronauts](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/09/im-sorry-dave-im-afraid-i-cant-do-that-flying-brain-will-assist-astronauts/) - What would Stanley Kubrick think? With its nonthreatening, simplistic stick figure face set in a spheroid plastic housing, CIMON the ‘flying brain’ is probably more analogous to GERTY, the emoji face AI assistant in the movie ‘Moon,’ than Kubrick’s famous antagonist HAL 9000 from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’ But the fact that astronauts will have
- [Animate Objects: Urban Artist Breathes Life into Everyday Street Scenes](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/08/animate-objects-urban-artist-breathes-life-into-everyday-street-scenes/) - Looking at everyday built environments with an eye toward artistic adaptation, Oakoak turns exhaust pipes into elephant trunks, wild shrubs into micro-farms and more. Pablo Picasso's famous Don Quixote drawing, for instance, pops off the drawing board, wielding an antenna and prepared to tilt at chimneys on top of an old building. Oakoak has a knack
- [Luminous Alien Landscapes: Light Art Photography Made with Drones](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/07/luminous-alien-landscapes-light-art-photography-made-with-drones/) - Take some of the most alien landscapes on our planet, illuminate them in unnatural ways with the help of drones and the resulting images look like they can’t possibly be real. You can gaze at photo after photo in Rueben Wu’s ‘Lux Noctis’ series with a skeptical eye, certain that there’s digital trickery involved, but
- [All Aboard! 15 Modern Houseboats, Boatels & More Floating Architecture](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/07/all-aboard-15-modern-houseboats-boatels-more-floating-architecture/) - Often designed with potential climate-change-induced flooding in mind, these houseboats, floating hotels and other water-based structures prove you don't need land to live a life of luxury. The projects include a boat acting as a camera obscura, a structure that turns seasonal flooding into an opportunity for fun, an apartment complex on the waters of
- [Synchronicity in the Streets: Photo Series Captures Uncanny Coincidences](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/05/synchronicity-in-the-streets-photo-series-captures-uncanny-coincidences/) - An almost superhuman sense of alertness, a lightning-fast trigger finger and the world’s luckiest timing come together in one photographer to produce amazing coincidental images that couldn’t be faked if you tried. Born in Barcelona and currently based in Oslo, Pau Buscató has a keen eye for his environment, watching and waiting until people, animals
- [Stairs As Light as Air: 13 Floating Designs That’ll Raise Your Heart Rate](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/05/stairs-as-light-as-air-13-floating-designs-thatll-raise-your-heart-rate/) - Staircase mishaps cause a surprising number of accidental deaths every year (second only to car crashes), but the sleekness of these floating designs might make you want to live dangerously all the same. Who needs handrails? (Okay, a lot of us need handrails. But still.) Helical Stone Staircase by Webb Yates Developed for a private
- [Redesign on the Fly: 5 Fresh Zippers Improve Upon Traditional Fasteners](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/06/redesign-on-the-fly-5-fresh-zippers-improve-upon-traditional-fasteners/) - Designers are always trying to reinvent the chair or improve the shoe, but zippers have stayed largely the same for a long time, which begs the question: is there room to innovate on this simple fastener? Nendo has designed a series of alternatives titled Zippppper for manufacturer YKK. Their work challenges the notion that a
- [War Games: 12 Kid-Friendly Park & Playground Tanks](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/04/war-games-12-kid-friendly-park-playground-tanks/) - Why scrap a decommissioned tank or self-propelled gun when it can easily be re-purposed as playground equipment, asked nobody ever. ALMOST nobody, that is.
- [Flat-Pack Cat Cities: Modular Feline Architecture Inspired by Origami & Lego](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/01/flat-pack-cat-cities-modular-feline-architecture-inspired-by-origami-lego/) - Product-tested by a husband-and-wife team of architects in their own abode, 'A Cat Thing' was developed to let pet owners construct an endless array of feline crawling, hiding and resting spaces for their furry friends. The design consists of four modules -- room, living room, balcony and ramp -- that can be endlessly stacked, joined
- [Visual Poetry: Street Artist Paints Site-Specific Traditional Lace Patterns](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/02/visual-poetry-street-artist-paints-site-specific-traditional-lace-patterns-on-facades/) - Delicate patterns of lace adorn the facades of buildings, magnified many times larger than life, echoing the particular motifs of the region’s traditions. The Polish street artist known as NeSpoon travels from one nation to the next, alternately spray-painting or weaving these patterns on public surfaces for events like Sweden’s NO LIMIT festival and Berlin’s
- [Sticks & Stones: Land Artist Shapes Natural Objects into Organic Architecture](https://weburbanist.com/2018/03/03/sticks-stones-land-artist-shapes-natural-objects-into-organic-architecture/) - Color, shape, texture and structure form the basis for these cairns, mandalas, spiral and hexagons, set against scenic backdrops where the materials were found. In a tradition often traced back to Andy Goldsworthy, artist James Brunt makes "creates elaborate ephemeral artworks using the natural materials he finds in forests, parks, and beaches near his home
- [Cigarette Advertising: A Vintage Look at Smoking Adverts](https://weburbanist.com/2010/08/05/cigarette-advertising-a-vintage-look/) - moking wasn't always unhealthy, at least, in the public eye. In light of societal changes, here are some of the most interesting vintage cigarette ads:
- [Slide on Down! Double Helix Installation Zooms Visitors Through a Renaissance Palace](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/28/slide-on-down-double-helix-installation-zooms-visitors-through-a-renaissance-palace/) - You’ve never experienced Italian Renaissance architecture quite like this. German artist Carsten Höller, known for his playful interactive installations, will be installing a pair of slides in a double helix formation within the famed Palazzo Strozzi of Florence, spiraling visitors nearly 66 feet from the second floor terrace to the courtyard below. Newly released renderings
- [The Force is Strong in These 10 Immersive Star Wars Themed Interiors](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/28/the-force-is-strong-in-these-10-immersive-star-wars-themed-interiors/) - If your abiding love for the Star Wars franchise extends to collecting figurines but not to custom-building your own themed rooms quite yet, these projects might just kick you into that higher echelon of fandom. From parents who have built Millennium Falcon cockpit pods as beds for their kids to entire family homes filled with references
- [Days after Gucci's Severed Head Stunt, Drones Model Handbags at Milan Fashion Week](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/26/days-after-guccis-severed-heads-stunt-drones-model-handbags-at-milan-fashion-week/) - Robots: they took'r jerbs! Or at least, drones stood in for live models at Dolce & Gabbana’s runway during Milan fashion week, floating handbags above the heads of awed onlookers. The series of seven bags, entitled ‘Devotion,’ debuted during the ‘Secrets & Diamonds’ evening wear event. The drones looked like tiny helicopters topped by dim
- [Wood You Believe It: 10 Ultra-Tall Timber Towers Compete for World Records](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/26/wood-you-believe-it-10-ultra-tall-timber-towers-compete-for-world-records/) - As studies proving the strength and fire-resistance of timber construction loosen building codes around the globe, a new class of towers emerges, each of them angling to set records for the world's tallest wooden buildings. In fact, so many towering timber creations are planned, there's no telling which ones will actually manage to score the
- [Squeeze Play: 9 Weird & Bizarre Stress Relief Balls](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/25/squeeze-play-9-weird-bizarre-stress-relief-balls/) - Life's stressful enough without our stress relief balls freaking us out yet the more we squeeze these creepy stress aids, the more anxious we get.
- [Svart by Snøhetta: A Futuristic Circular Hotel Glows Under the Aurora Borealis](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/23/svart-by-snohetta-a-futuristic-circular-hotel-glows-under-the-aurora-borealis/) - Redefining what it means to be a hotel on the water, Svart by architectural firm Snøhetta is an energy-positive circular structure hovering above the frigid fjord at the foot of Norway’s Svartisen glacier. Unusual in both its shape and positioning, the new hotel will be the world’s first ‘Powerhouse’ hotel in the Arctic circle, producing
- [Photographic Memory: Artist Covers Family Home in Pics Prior to Demolition](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/21/photographic-memory-artist-covers-family-home-in-pics-prior-to-demolition/) - To celebrate 70 years of family memories, artist Gary Sweeney plastered his family home in Manhattan Beach with old photographs, an installation that lasted until the building was demolished. The photos, shot by his late father, were printed out in large formats and turned into a kind of exterior wallpaper documenting the artist's childhood. At
- [Prints in Time: Ancient Pet Animals Accidentally Immortalized in Artifacts](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/25/prints-in-time-ancient-pet-animals-accidentally-immortalized-in-artifacts/) - When we think of ancient persons carefully laying the foundations of stone monuments, or hard at work writing out historical tomes, it's a bit hard to imagine them brushing away an interrupting cat or dog in frustration, much as we still do today. But PhD researcher Paul Cooper became fascinated with these everyday moments, frozen
- [Modular Mood Rings: 3D-Printed Gem Blocks Make 'Lego' Jewelry a Snap](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/24/modular-mood-rings-3d-printed-gem-blocks-make-lego-jewelry-a-snap/) - Instead of swapping between rings and earrings for different occasions, why not keep the framework and trade out the colorful key element: the featured jewel. Inspired by Lego and designed by Hintlab, these interchangeable creations feature all different kinds of options, from simple translucent and opaque blocks to growing crystal shapes and stamped message surfaces.
- [Uplifting Design: Site's Native Greenery Transplanted onto New Architecture](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/22/uplifting-design-sites-native-greenery-transplanted-onto-new-architecture/) - A lot of architectural schemes start from scratch with the assumption that everything on the building site will be razed or removed, but for this office structure, the designers saved and raised up the robust greenery already occupying the lot. In Da Nang, Vietnam's fourth-largest city, Ho Khue Architects saw the resilient native plants as an opportunity
- [Take it From a Tiny House: 12 Smart Small Space Tricks That Really Work](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/21/take-it-from-a-tiny-house-12-smart-small-space-tricks-that-really-work/) - You don’t have to drastically shrink your whole life to fit into a 200-square-foot space in order to learn a space-saving trick or two from the tiny house movement. Builders and carpenters see working with such a compact living space like a puzzle, and they've come up with some pretty cool solutions that translate well
- [Dramatas Urbanae: Photographer's 10-Year Study of a Single Public Bench](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/20/dramatas-urbanae-photographers-10-year-study-of-a-single-public-bench/) - A lone Ukrainian park bench has become the unlikely star of a decade-long drama, much more by chance than by design, thanks to a photographer's unplanned project to document the lives of those who use it. Yevgeniy Kotenko never meant On the Bench to be a series or body of work. He simply began to take pictures of people on
- [Temporary Street Art: Mobile Projector Paints Hong Kong with Modern Chinese Zodiac](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/19/temporary-street-art-mobile-projector-paints-hong-kong-with-modern-chinese-zodiac/) - Three years after decorating Paris with smartly-dressed animals, street artist Julien Nonnon is back with a project that temporarily adorns the streets of Hong Kong with his own modern version of the Chinese Zodiac. Founding member of creative studio Le3, Nonnon walks the streets of cities around the world with a mobile projector for a
- [Whole Lotta Lush: 10 Verdant Offices That Feel Like They’re Outdoors](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/19/whole-lotta-lush-10-verdant-offices-that-feel-like-theyre-outdoors/) - Not every office environment can be a multi-billion-dollar geodesic conservatory filled with tens of thousands of tropical plants, but there are lots of different ways to make boring workspaces more livable with the power of vegetation. These office interiors go way beyond bringing in a few houseplants to improve the air quality, incorporating planters into
- [Toy Boxed: 10 Closed & Abandoned Toys R Us Stores](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/18/toy-boxed-10-closed-abandoned-toys-r-us-stores/) - It took 60 years for Toys 'R' Us to rise to a Category Killer corporation... and fall victim to bankruptcy when economics tod it to put the toys away.
- [The Empire Has Collapsed: Miniature Scenes Illustrate the Post-Apocalypse](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/16/the-empire-has-collapsed-miniature-scenes-illustrate-the-post-apocalypse/) - Nature begins to take back New York City after all the humans are gone in this series of artfully photographed post-apocalypse miniatures. A collaboration between artists Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber, ‘Empire’ is the duo’s second series on this theme, the first focusing on interiors while the latest depicts exterior scenes. Living in New York
- [Graffiti Artists Awarded $6.7M from Landlord Who Destroyed Their Work](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/14/graffiti-artists-awarded-6-7-million-from-landlord-who-destroyed-their-work/) - Prior to 2013, a warehouse in Queens known as 5Pointz was a graffiti mecca packed with murals and other work by hundreds of artists, many of whom rented space inside the building. That is, until owner Gerald Wolkoff suddenly and without warning whitewashed the entire facade under a messy coat of paint. Wolkoff had been
- [Meta-Footwear: Sneaker Protectors, So You Can Have Shoes for Your Shoes](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/18/meta-footwear-sneaker-protectors-so-you-can-have-shoes-for-your-shoes/) - These new Shoes for Shoes combine sandals, galoshes, and, well, shoes, to create a hybrid fashion phenomenon making its way from the runways of Men's Fashion Week in Paris to a store near you. Apparently, they heard you like shoes, so they designed some shoes for your shoes so you can put shoes on your shoes. "They're transformable
- [Algorithmic Art: Dynamic Display 'Paints' Surreal Scenes & Melting Cityscapes](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/17/algorithmic-art-dynamic-display-paints-surreal-scenes-melting-cityscapes/) - Abstracting views of the city, this huge installation uses computer algorithms to deform local everyday footage on a massive 14-by-23-foot display canvas. Ordinary wall art can get old, especially when one passes it every day. In this case, hours of film can become thousands of unique compositions, slowly deconstructed into impressionist-worthy pieces on the screen.
- [Architecture with a Twist: Installation Artist Knots Columns & Flips Facades](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/15/architecture-with-a-twist-installation-artist-knots-columns-flips-facades/) - In his latest work dubbed Birth, Death and Midlife Crisis, artist Alex Chinneck is back at it again, exploring the limits of seemingly solid structures (and observer imaginations). This latest work in Germany deforms a structural column, calling its conventional neighbors into question. "The columns are the prominent feature in the 450-year-old museum and this intervention took
- [It’s in the Bag: 13 Ultra-Functional Backpacks for Busy Urban Lifestyles](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/14/its-in-the-bag-13-ultra-functional-backpacks-totes-for-busy-urban-lifestyles/) - A bag is definitely not just a bag when you're commuting in all weather conditions, biking to work, carrying a lot of expensive gear and trying to look professional and stay organized all the while. These next-level backpacks, tote bags, duffels and briefcases are full of all kinds of cool features, like built-in solar chargers,
- [From Chaos to Creative Compositions: The Anamorphic Art of Bernard Pras](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/12/from-chaos-to-creative-compositions-the-anamorphic-art-of-bernard-pras/) - It takes a special kind of creative brain to sort a pile of random junk into an anamorphic arrangement that looks like complete chaos from most angles, but comes together into a work of art from the right perspective. These compositions are like visual puzzles, requiring the artist to select objects of just the right
- [Raised in a Barn & Proud: 15 Farm Buildings Converted to Modern Homes](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/12/raised-in-a-barn-proud-15-farm-buildings-converted-to-modern-homes-more/) - They could be so dilapidated they're practically ruins, but old barns have both historical value and rural charm, and when architects dramatically rescue them, they become incredible modern homes, offices, galleries and artist studios. Even an old potato barn, or goat barn, or teeny-tiny barn, or ugly barn that got an unfortunate 1980s makeover. Not
- [Creature Comforts: 12 More Animal-Shaped Buildings](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/11/creature-comforts-12-more-animal-shaped-buildings/) - See the creature, be the creature... live in the creature? These animal-shaped buildings take the concept of surreal estate to a newer, wetter-nosed level.
- [Link Rot: 'Social Decay' Renders Tech Media Giants as Urban Abandonments](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/10/link-rot-social-decay-renders-tech-media-giants-as-urban-abandonments/) - Physical businesses that fall on hard times often leave signs in the built environment, like the distinctive facades of deserted or adapted Pizza Huts, but what might social media sites look like in a post-apocalyptic, non-digital world? For that matter, many giants, from Yahoo! to MySpace, have already crumbled and been replaced. But in this
- [Tired of Looking At Your Coworkers? Try the FocusCap, a Horse Blinder for People](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/09/tired-of-looking-at-your-coworkers-try-the-focuscap-a-horse-blinder-for-people/) - At the outset, the idea of wearing what equates to a pair of horse blinders so you can focus feels a little ridiculous. The rise of open-plan offices where employees have little to no peace, privacy or space from each other has resulted in a slew of workarounds, from giant helmets to special view-blocking, soundproof
- [Portrait Photography: 12 Creative Portraiture Photographers](https://weburbanist.com/2009/09/30/portrait-photography-12-creative-portraiture-photographers/) - Ephemeral, always changing, portraits are about capturing a person in a precise moment of time. Here are 13 creative portraits and 12 portraiture photographers.
- [Could the Useless Gas Stations of the Future be Used as Gyms Instead?](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/07/could-the-useless-gas-stations-of-the-future-be-used-as-gyms-instead/) - The electric vehicle revolution is accelerating faster than anyone expected, with many experts predicting at least 100 million electric cars hitting the roads by 2035 - making up 85% of new car sales. That’s less than two decades away. Cheaper battery costs are set to make these cars far more affordable for the average person,
- [Space-Saving Inspiration: 14 Gorgeous Lofts, Nooks and Smart Layouts](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/07/space-saving-inspiration-14-gorgeous-lofts-nooks-and-smart-layouts/) - You never know how someone else's creative custom solution for their tiny space could influence your own projects, or just help you organize your home a little more efficiently. Get lots of space-saving inspiration from this collection of well-executed lofts, transforming built-ins, custom shelving, storage platforms, swiss army kitchen islands and more. Combo Office, Entertainment
- [Brutalist Style Lightens Up with Lots of Glass at Japan’s Oriel Window House](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/05/brutalist-style-lightens-up-with-lots-of-glass-at-japans-oriel-window-house/) - Brutalist buildings are known for their heft, often described as 'monstrosities,' demonized for their apparently intrinsic inability to relate to us on a human scale. They’re blocky and oversized, nearly always made of concrete, and almost mythical in their iconic simplicity whether you love them or hate them. The Oriel Window House in Yokohama, Japan
- [Bloat Couture: 11 High Fashion Designs that Look Like Actual Garbage](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/05/bloat-couture-11-high-fashion-designs-that-look-like-actual-garbage/) - Do you have $850 burning a hole in your pocket that you'd like to spend on some bedazzled platform Crocs that look like a three-year-old's art project? Perhaps you'd prefer to shell out thousands for the honor of sticking your arms through a plastic dry cleaning bag and calling it a dress. Yes, high fashion
- [Going In Style: Cute Creative Public Restrooms Of Okinawa](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/04/going-in-style-cute-creative-public-restrooms-of-okinawa/) - We all want to be smiling when we go but if you're going at one of Okinawa's cute and creative public restrooms, grinning comes with the territory.
- [Occasion of Gravity: 400-Foot-High Wedding on Netting Over Moab Canyon](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/01/occasion-of-gravity-400-foot-high-wedding-on-netting-over-moab-canyon/) - There wasn't much room for cold feet in this high-flying marriage ceremony, vows for which were exchanged over a gaping void (complete with BASE-jumping flower girls). Ryan Jenks and Kimberly Weglin were first engaged on a similar space net in the same place, then decided to keep up the tradition with the wedding. The brave
- [ORIGIN Tree House: Modern Wooden Hotel Room in a French Forest Canopy](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/02/origin-tree-house-modern-wooden-hotel-room-in-a-french-forest-canopy/) - Encircling a 100-year-old oak - the tallest tree on the Château de Raray hotel property in France - the ORIGIN tree house by Atelier Lavit is envisioned as a tailored wooden ‘dress’ to make the oak stand out even more. This modern timber pod functions as a tree house hotel room, providing surprisingly spacious and
- [Freaky Florida: 12 of a Weird State’s Weirdest Attractions](https://weburbanist.com/2015/10/14/freaky-florida-12-of-a-weird-states-weirdest-attractions/) - There’s a lot more to America’s southernmost state than the headline-worthy misadventures of Florida Man and Florida Woman. Culturally distinct from the rest of the South, Florida has been heavily influenced by its Spanish and Caribbean roots, not to mention whatever mysterious set of circumstances a la the Bermuda Triangle make the state such a
- [Jobs that Don’t Exist Yet: Art Based on World Economic Forum Predictions](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/31/jobs-that-dont-exist-yet-art-based-on-world-economic-forum-predictions/) - The automation of many of our jobs - even those that have long seemed safe - is fully inevitable at this point. One study predicts that about 38 percent of American jobs will be at high risk of automation by the early 2030s, which is not that far away. We’re asked to trust that future
- [Architects Broke a Sweat Designing These 13 Striking Gyms & Fitness Facilities](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/31/beautiful-modern-gyms-and-fitness-facilities/) - Your sweaty neighborhood gym has nothing on these beautifully designed fitness facilities full of multi-story climbing walls, skybridge pools, dramatic boxing rings, nightclub-style lighting and cool typographic murals. It looks like the architects and designers had as much fun dreaming up these beautiful modern fitness centers as clients get to have using them. Do yoga
- [Built-in Bonanza: 13 Mega Apartment Makeovers Packed with Custom Features](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/29/built-in-bonanza-13-mega-apartment-makeovers-packed-with-custom-features/) - Even the smallest, ugliest and most awkward space can become a comfortable apartment when creative custom built-ins are integrated into a brilliant renovation by a truly talented architect. Undeniably the most effective way to save space and reorganize interiors without cutting them off from each other, bespoke built-in elements like storage staircases, bookcases full of
- [Deserted Dollhouse: Street Artist Crafts Eerie Miniature Abandoned Home](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/11/deserted-dollhouse-street-artist-crafts-eerie-miniature-abandoned-home/) - Created over the course of six months, this 1:10 scale model of a rundown home may be the most creepy and depressing dollhouse ever created, softened somewhat with miniaturized graffiti murals by its maker. Alice Pasquini is an Italian street artist who, with this model (dubbed The Unchanging World), aimed to capture the mixed reality
- [Egalitarian Gallery: New York Curators Combat Elitism, Exhibit Everything](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/08/egalitarian-gallery-new-york-curators-combat-elitism-exhibit-everything/) - The art world tends to be exclusive by design, but a gallery founder and a curator in NYC decided to team up and do the most inclusive thing they could think of by offering to display any work sent their way in the ultimate "open call" for artists. The exhibition, dubbed Et Tu, Art Brute? specified
- [Hamlet Writ Large: 100 Huge Fiberglass Skulls Haunt Melbourne Museum](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/06/hamlet-writ-large-100-huge-fiberglass-skulls-haunt-melbourne-museum/) - A curious curatorial decision marked the inaugural National Gallery of Victoria Triennel, featuring 100 artists from 32 countries, including an installation of 100 massive skulls (note: not those of the participating artists). Amidst other artists, designers, technologists, animators and architects, Australian sculptor Ron Mueck's largest ever work to date still stands out, providing a chilling ambient
- [Love Your Work: Patterned Hammerhead Leaves Heart-Shaped Impressions](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/04/love-your-work-patterned-hammerhead-leaves-heart-shaped-impressions/) - We all want to make a good first impression then leave a mark when we're done, particularly when it comes to a labor of love, and what better way than with this custom-designed hammer? This device turned an off-the-shelf hammer into a lovely gift for that special someone by "using the industrial mold-making technique of
- [Tankless Tetra: Portable Dishwasher for Small Homes Saves Time & Water](https://weburbanist.com/2018/02/03/tankless-tetra-portable-dishwasher-for-small-homes-saves-time-water/) - A dish-washing machine is often the first thing to go when space needs saving in a tiny home, small condo or studio apartment, but this little invention aims to provide a better option for more average-sized households. Developed by Heatworks, Tetra is a tankless washer aimed at one-to-two-person homes that can help save 1,500 gallons of water
- [Playing for Keeps: Robust Putty Binds Found Objects into Colorful Furniture](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/30/playing-for-keeps-robust-putty-binds-found-objects-into-colorful-furniture/) - Colorful but powerful, this strong synthetic dough (dubbed PLAY) looks like modeling clay made for kids, but can hold together all kinds of materials including wood, metal, glass and marble. The idea, in part, is to facilitate creative freedom, allowing anyone to become a designer. Developed by London designer Stephen Johnson started with Play Doh and
- [Knitted Camouflage: Handmade Outfits for Hiding in Built Environments](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/28/knitted-camouflage-handmade-outfits-for-hiding-in-built-environments/) - From tiled walls and wallpaper to shrubs and graffiti, this array of custom outfits helps conceal wearers within very specific urban contexts. Photographer Joseph Ford worked with knitter Nina Dodd to make these fashion non-statements, primarily: sweaters that mimic surrounding colors and patterns. And while they only work to partially conceal the person wearing them, and even
- [Urban Camo: Bus & Train Fabrics Turned into Wearable Textiles](https://weburbanist.com/2016/08/14/urban-camo-bus-train-fabrics-turned-into-wearable-textiles/) - Transportation system patterns, right down to seat cloth details, are designed to last and look good even when stained by dirt and spilled drinks over time, making them an oddly suitable choice to turn into apparel. Of course, what looks best under those strained conditions can also look downright strange when turned into suits for human wearers,
- [Ultimate DIY RV: High-Tech Caravan Made for a 4-Year-Old](https://weburbanist.com/2014/04/29/ultimate-diy-rv-high-tech-caravan-made-for-a-4-year-old/) - Named after its creator's progeny, the Kirivan may be the most impressive mobile home ever made, using cutting-edge technologies to blend the best elements of a luxury motorhome, zombie apocalypse vehicle and high-tech hideout. Inspired by the birth of his daughter, innovator and inventor Bran Ferren began this incredible multi-year project in anticipation of future
- [Oversized Down Under: Australia's 10 Oddest Big Things](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/28/oversized-down-under-australias-10-oddest-big-things/) - Unlike Australia's wildlife, the weird and wondrous Big Things scattered across the Land Down Under aren't deadly... unless one falls on you.
- [Self-Parking Slippers: Nissan Surprises Hotel Guests with Unexpected Tech](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/26/self-parking-slippers-nissan-surprises-hotel-guests-with-unexpected-tech/) - Guests at a Japanese inn in Hakone were shocked when they removed their hotel-provided slippers only to watch them roll away and self-park in a neat row. Later, taking a seat at the traditional low tables known as chabudai, floor cushions wheel themselves into place automatically to the surprise and delight of onlookers. It’s all
- [Full Steam Ahead: Japanese Capsule Hotel Offers Saunas, Showers & Sleep](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/24/full-steam-ahead-japanese-capsule-hotel-offers-saunas-showers-sleep/) - Pronounced ‘do-shi,’ the °C Sauna + Sleep Ebisu capsule hotel in Tokyo might be light on sleeping space, but it’s heavy on steam, offering intimate enclosed sauna rooms shared with other guests or single sauna stalls with customized temperatures. Inspired by Finnish sauna culture - where access to these sweat-inducing facilities is considered a necessity
- [Tied Up in Knots: 13 Truly Twisted Towers, Buildings & Staircases](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/24/tied-up-in-knots-13-truly-twisted-towers-buildings-staircases/) - Bridges, buildings, staircases and pavilions twist and turn around themselves, forming into neat knots or chaotic tangles in these 13 wildly weaving creations. There's often a method to this madness, however, with the knots creating strategic nooks, pathways or climbable structures, taking inspiration from sailor's ropes, woven palm fronds and pretzels. Sous Le Ciel by
- [Self-Healing Infrastructure: Eco-Friendly Fungus Grows to Fill Concrete Cracks](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/27/self-healing-infrastructure-eco-friendly-fungus-grows-to-fill-concrete-cracks/) - Concrete problems tend to start small, with micro-cracks expanding and exposing rebar to corrosive water, oxygen, carbon dioxide and chlorides that compromise structural integrity -- but what if those cracks could be caught early, before they spread, then filled automatically by a dormant fungus? Congrui Jin has been working the problem for years, and recently published “Interactions of fungi with
- [Omoshiro Blocks: Excavate Hidden Architecture from Laser-Cut Paper Notepads](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/25/omoshiro-blocks-excavate-hidden-architecture-from-laser-cut-paper-notepads/) - These ordinary looking stacks of square paper notes hold hidden surprises inside: each removed sheet reveals more and more of a secret Japanese structure, completely visible once all the pages are pulled. The Omoshiro (roughly: "fun") Block uses laser-cutting tech to craft the initial deck with its internal architecture. It is made by Triad, a firm in
- [Needle, Thread and Flesh: Artist Hand-Sews Scenes Right Into His Palm](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/22/needle-thread-and-flesh-artist-hand-sews-scenes-right-into-his-palm/) - With his own skin as his canvas and needles as his tools, artist David Cata demands a pound of flesh from himself in return for his creative expression. That is to say, each individual piece takes a toll that may require a healing period before he can begin another - something that can’t be said
- [3D Fashion Illustrations: Organic Textures Bring Runway Drawings to Life](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/23/3d-fashion-illustrations-organic-textures-bring-runway-drawings-to-life/) - Rivaling even the most surreal runway shows, these pencil-drawn, object-animated fashion illustrations use food and other found objects into cutting-edge apparel. Amenian illustrator Edgar Artis starts with something simple: an illustrated figure that acts as an underlay. But things get strange quickly from there, as he drizzles on spaghetti and meatballs, sprinkles pencil shavings, or carefully
- [The Modern Colossal: 7 Lesser-Known Monumental Wonders of the World](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/22/the-modern-colossal-7-lesser-known-monumental-wonders-of-the-world/) - Everyone knows about the Statue of Liberty, the Easter Island Moai heads, Mount Rushmore and the Sphinxes of Ancient Egypt, but not all monstrous monuments were built in centuries past. Colossal statues of even larger proportions are still built all over the world in modern times, from the many massive Buddhas of Asia to mythological
- [What A Dump: 15 Out Standing Porta-Potties](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/21/what-a-dump-15-out-standing-porta-potties/) - Most port-a-potties hide in plain sight at construction projects, public events and music festivals but these outdoor loos stick out like sore bums, er thumbs.
- [Airless Puncture-Proof Revolve Wheel Packs Down Smaller Than Ever](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/19/airless-puncture-proof-revolve-wheel-packs-down-smaller-than-ever/) - Airless, puncture-proof and compacting down to a 9-inch-wide package, the Revolve wheel makes it way easier to transport and store both bicycles and wheelchairs than ever before. Aiming to be the world’s first modular wheel, this design enables you to open and close the wheel in a single motion, lock and unlock its position, and
- [Mercedes-Benz Encased in Resin Gives a New Meaning to 'Fossil Fuels'](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/17/mercedes-benz-encased-in-resin-gives-a-new-meaning-to-fossil-fuels/) - Millions of years from now, will aliens visiting an earth free of humans (or future humans, on the off chance we survive that long) find a puzzling ‘amber’ fossil of a 1979 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen? Of all the cars that could have been chosen to preserve as a time capsule, most people probably wouldn’t have chosen
- [Portable Walk-In Closets & 14 Other Ways to Make a Studio Feel Like a Mansion](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/17/portable-walk-in-closets-14-other-ways-to-make-a-studio-feel-like-a-mansion/) - A lot of the most impressive space-saving ideas really only work for wealthier urbanite apartment owners who can simply hire a contractor to design a bunch of customized built-ins. The results - like beds that lower from the ceiling at the push of a button - are often undeniably cool and effective, but not exactly
- [Guerrilla Gardening: Shotgun Shells Filled with Flower Seeds](https://weburbanist.com/2013/12/19/guerrilla-gardening-shotgun-shells-filled-with-flower-seeds/) - Seed bombs have long been a (non-violent) weapon of choice for guerrilla gardeners, but Flower Shells now aim to make your 12-gauge shotgun a key part of your go-green arsenal. Perhaps these will redefine 'flower power' for a new generation of eco-warriors, though a bad misfire might instead give new meaning to 'pushing up daisies'.
- [Fractal Chapel: Tree-Inspired Columns Branch Out to Open Up Interior Space](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/21/fractal-chapel-tree-inspired-columns-branch-out-to-open-up-interior-space/) - A series of stacked tree-like supports seem to abstract the nature in this Japanese chapel, bringing a small geometric forest inside this otherwise minimalist space to serve a contemporary congregation. Designed by architects of Momoeda Yo, the square pillars were made using traditional Japanese woodworking methods. They stack on top of each other, forming different forest layers
- [Crowbars: Vending Machines Reward Crows for Cleaning Up Cigarette Butts](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/20/crowbars-vending-machines-reward-crows-for-cleaning-up-cigarette-butts/) - Each year, trillions of cigarette butts are thrown on the streets of cities worldwide, but what if a highly intelligent urban creature could be trained to pick them up, and even be automatically given a treat for their troubles? Crows are adept learners, able to use tools and think outside the box. Notably, they have already
- [Planetary Textiles: Carpeting Rooms with Organic 'Sea Floor' Landscapes](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/18/planetary-textiles-carpeting-rooms-with-organic-sea-floor-landscapes/) - These designs convey all of the diverse wonder of coral reefs without having to walk along an actual sea floor (and presumably slice open a foot in the process. Porto-based Portuguese textile artist Vanessa Barragão crochets, weaves and latch-hooks her textiles with inspiration from coral, algae and fungi, often from exotic, remote and underwater environments. Her
- [Dynamic Apparel: Flexible Charity-Designed Shoes Can Grow Up to 5 Sizes](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/16/dynamic-apparel-flexible-charity-designed-shoes-can-grow-up-to-5-sizes/) - In countries where walking barefoot is the norm, these durable shoes that grow with a child's feet can improve health, confidence, even school attendance, according to The Shoe That Grows project from Because International. [youtube=z2FxT6XeL_U] Fast-growing feet have always been a problem for children, and is even more challenging in places where families can't afford frequently purchasing
- [Urine for a Surprise: IKEA Invites You to Pee on an Ad to Get a Discount](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/15/urine-for-a-surprise-ikea-invites-you-to-pee-on-an-ad-to-get-a-discount/) - “Peeing on this ad may change your life,” reads the text at the top of a new IKEA advertisement in a women’s magazine. That text alone, devoid of context, might understandably make you question whether the Swedish retail giant has gone a little too far in the hope of grabbing the attention of a fickle
- [Artists in Residence: 18 Stunning Studios Designed for Cultivating Creativity](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/15/artists-in-residence-18-stunning-studios-designed-for-cultivating-creativity/) - Shouldn't the settings of temporary artist residencies be just as creative as the art produced there? These structures include communal houses, remote huts, mobile studios, inhabitable billboards, rooftop apartments and entire inns full of creatives from various disciplines, providing an inspirational setting, lots of daylight and an optimal place to work. In effect, they're like
- [Tread Setters: 15 Wheely Cool Spare Tire Covers](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/14/tread-setters-15-wheely-cool-spare-tire-covers/) - Circular spare tire covers mounted on SUVs and Jeeps double as convenient creative canvases for drivers eager to take their particular passions on the road.
- [Mirrored Minimalism: Glass Retreat Reflects Surrounding Forest Landscape](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/14/mirrored-minimalism-glass-retreat-reflects-surrounding-forest-landscape/) - Cozy on the inside and virtually invisible on the outside, this Modernist home has a reflective facade allowing it to blend in with the natural environment. Meanwhile, residents can enjoy views out thanks to the one-way mirrored panels. Designed by Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao (images by Rory Gardiner), the vacation complex in Monterrey has been dubbed Los Terrenos
- [(W)Ego House: Tetris-Like Hotel Reveals Clashing Dreams of City Residents](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/12/wego-house-tetris-like-hotel-reveals-clashing-dreams-of-city-residents/) - One person’s ego-centric vision of how cities should adapt to their own particular individual needs encroaches upon the dreams of another, as revealed by MVRDV’s Tetris-like open-walled ‘(W)Ego House.’ The design is part art installation, part futuristic vision, part warning against architecture that’s one-size-fits-all. Originally created in 2015 and displayed at Dutch Design Week
- [Nomadic Futures: 12 Home Design Solutions for Changing Urban Lifestyles](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/10/nomadic-futures-12-home-design-solutions-for-changing-urban-lifestyles/) - Work, school, rapidly changing cities and declining home ownership rates have us moving more often than ever, so the kinds of heavy antique furniture favored by older generations aren't exactly practical in the modern world. In fact, we might become even more mobile in the future, our sense of 'home' tied more to a handful
- [Japanese Waiter Exhibits 8,000 Chopstick Sleeves Left as Restaurant "Tips"](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/09/japanese-waiter-exhibits-8000-chopstick-sleeves-left-as-restaurant-tips/) - In a culture without tipping, one Japanese waiter began to realize that customers were expressing their gratitude in a subtle (and in some cases even unintentional) way, by folding the sleeves in which their chopsticks came wrapped. In 2012, Yuki Tatsumi began to collect these into a set he would come to display and call
- [Psychedelic Waves: Step Into a Swirling Vortex Inside an Infinity Room](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/08/psychedelic-waves-step-into-a-swirling-vortex-inside-a-mirrored-infinity-room/) - Create a visible ripple effect as you move within this dazzling interactive infinity room by Japanese collective teamLab, producing your own unique wave patterns influenced by your gestures, movements and speed. For their new installation at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, entitled ‘Moving Creates Vortices and Vortices Create Movement,’ teamLab took inspiration
- [Parking Hack: Every Car Lot & Garage Should Have Vertical Guidelines](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/13/parking-hack-every-car-lot-garage-should-have-vertical-guidelines/) - If you have ever opened a side door to see the lines of a parking space, or asked a passenger to get out and guide you in, you may be wondering where this simple solution has been for all your years of urban driving. In some cases, like parallel street parking, it would be hard to implement.
- [Fluid Dynamics: How a Wall of Lava Lamps Helps Encrypt 10% of the Internet](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/11/fluid-dynamics-how-a-wall-of-lava-lamps-helps-encrypt-10-of-the-internet/) - Computers have a real problem when it comes generating truly random numbers, which has led one web-critical cybersecurity firm to reference an array of lava lamps to create unique and unpredictable code. The lamps are recorded on video in Cloudflare's San Francisco headquarters, then translate those movements to create encryption keys for the web. The results
- [Bolder Brewers: 14 Coffee Makers That Are Way Cooler Than Your Keurig](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/08/bolder-brewers-14-coffee-makers-that-are-way-cooler-than-your-keurig/) - Sure, a Keurig can make you a cup of coffee pretty much instantly, but where's the art? Where's the romance, the portability, the control over the brewing process? These modern coffee and espresso makers aim to take bean brewing to the next level with features designed to appeal to a wide array of coffee connoisseurs,
- [Toynbee Too: Cryptic 'House Of Hades' Street Tiles](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/07/toynbee-too-cryptic-house-of-hades-street-tiles/) - Cryptic 'House of Hades' linoleum tiles inspired by mysterious and anonymous Toynbee Tiles are cropping up on The Big Apple's paved streets.
- [Steely Look: Weathering Metal Forest Retreat Uses Mesh to Foster Greenery](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/23/steely-look-weathering-metal-forest-retreat-uses-mesh-to-foster-greenery/) - Reddish-brown corten steel compliments surrounding dark browns and lush greens in this Ukrainian forest retreat, its horizontal planes pushing the building out to meet the surrounding trees. Known for their use of weathering steel, Sergey Makhno Architects wrapped their latest work with a combination of corten and mesh, the latter to foster the growth of
- [Next-Level Backyard Office: ‘Butterfly Studio’ is Like a Giant Lawn Ornament](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/05/next-level-backyard-office-butterfly-studio-is-like-a-giant-lawn-ornament/) - Inspired by the shape of a butterfly when it closes its wings, Valerie Schweitzer Architects’ ‘Butterfly Studio’ is a sculptural detached office full of cleverly placed windows that target views toward the yard rather than the main house for a sense of privacy and seclusion. Set in the backyard of a home in Westport, Connecticut,
- [Oops! Apple’s Fancy New Foster + Partners Store Isn’t Up to Chicago Winters](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/03/oops-apples-fancy-new-foster-partners-store-isnt-up-to-chicago-winters/) - That MacBook Air-shaped roof on Apple's new Foster + Partners-designed store may look cool, but it's also apparently pretty dangerous in the face of Chicago's brutal winters. Most of the store’s outdoor space has been roped off in the aftermath of extreme cold this week, with large icicles dangling from the roof’s edges and signs reading
- [Hostile Urbanism: 22 Intentionally Inhospitable Examples of Defensive Design](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/01/hostile-urbanism-22-intentionally-inhospitable-examples-of-defensive-design/) - It’s not just you - that bench in your city is designed to be uncomfortable on purpose. Armed with a loose definition of what it means to ‘loiter,’ intentionally hostile and sometimes downright sadistic urban design prioritizes separating ‘undesirables’ from city residents deemed more deserving. But these designs aren’t just inhumane - they have a
- [Architecture as the Phoenix: 13 Modern Structures Borne from Rot and Ruin](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/03/architecture-as-the-phoenix-13-modern-structures-borne-from-rot-and-ruin/) - There's something really special about an architectural restoration project that takes the ruins of an old historic structure and visibly preserves them by integrating them into a more modern building - if it's done right. But where's the line between the ones that pull this off with subtlety and respect, and the ones that get
- [Has Bins : 15 More Street Artistic Trash Dumpsters](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/31/has-bins-15-more-street-artistic-trash-dumpsters/) - Down in the dumps? These dozen decorated dumpsters are sure to turn your mood from crappy to happy thanks to their distinctively un-trashy artistic makeovers.
- [Cellograffiti: Street Art Moves from Cities into the Woods on Plastic Wrap](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/29/cellograffiti-street-art-moves-from-cities-into-the-woods-on-plastic-wrap/) - Street art leaves the city and goes out into the woods in search of a new context without defacing nature thanks to a few massive rolls of clear engineering film. With Moscow-based artist Evgeny Ches’s ‘cellograffiti,’ animals and text loom large between the trunks of trees in temporary installations with a ghostly effect. The residents
- [Miniature Calendar Photo Project: Tiny Scenes for Each Day of the Year](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/27/miniature-calendar-photo-project-tiny-scenes-for-each-day-of-the-year/) - No object is too ordinary or random to end up being used as a stand-in for a full-scale building, boat, landscape or prop in art director and photographer Tatsuya Tanaka’s imaginative miniature landscapes, released each and every day on an online calendar. There’s a donut island, a record player as a lake, a literal sushi train,
- [Modern Elder Care: 15 Architectural & Tech Solutions for Aging Communities](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/27/modern-elder-care-15-architectural-tech-solutions-for-aging-communities/) - With millions of discerning Baby Boomers approaching elderhood, the need for a variety of personalized approaches to senior care is more pressing than ever. Let’s be real - none of us really want to end up in a nursing home, so what are the alternatives? It’s now possible to ‘age in place’ in our own
- [Tikku: Three-Story Minimalist Micro Apartment Fits in a Single Parking Space](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/25/tikku-three-story-micro-apartment-fits-in-a-single-parking-space/) - Proponents of our supposed driverless car-sharing future say the system could lead to a dramatic drop in the number of vehicles in our cities, so does that mean we’ll be able to fill our sudden abundance of parking spaces with micro houses like this one? The Tikku by Marco Casagrande is a three-story structure with
- [High-Design Pie: Complex Edible Works of Art You’d Actually Want to Eat](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/25/high-design-pie-complex-edible-works-of-art-youd-actually-want-to-eat/) - Instagram might have made it famous, but the fine art of crafting a delicious pie so intricate you’re almost loathe to cut into its crust is much older than the modern ‘food art’ trend. Centuries ago, the richest and most flamboyant members of high society sought out talented head cooks who could present a sufficiently
- [All Fall Down: 2017's Biggest Building Implosions](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/24/all-fall-down-2017s-biggest-building-implosions/) - Our infrastructure may be falling apart but sometimes it falls faster AND according to plan thanks to building implosions – aka, controlled demolition.
- [Rollercoaster Railway: World’s Steepest Funicular Zooms Through the Swiss Snow](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/22/rollercoaster-railway-worlds-steepest-funicular-zooms-through-the-swiss-snow/) - What if the entire journey on a rollercoaster consisted solely of the part where you’re slowly inching your way to a peak, holding your breath, waiting for the drop and speed that never comes? As a passenger on the world’s steepest funicular, located in Switzerland, you aren’t exactly in for a dramatic and adventurous ride;
- [Sunken City of Sin: Submerged Ruins of a Roman Playground for the Rich](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/20/sunken-city-of-sin-submerged-ruins-of-a-roman-playground-for-the-rich/) - Hidden at the bottom of Gulf of Naples in Italy for 1,700 years, the ancient Roman city of Baiae has been revealed to the world after divers were permitted to explore and photograph the site. Historians call Baiae “the ancient Roman version of Las Vegas,” a getaway for the rich and famous where hedonism ran
- [Faith Lift: 14 Modern Churches Reinvent Religious Architecture](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/17/faith-lift-14-modern-churches-reinvent-religious-architecture/) - The classic silhouette of a church may be iconic and instantly recognizable, but modern-day religious architecture proves itself to be adaptive after all, evolving into a broad variety of dramatic shapes that frame views of the natural world and prioritize a sense of community. These 14 modern church designs run the gamut from small, modest chapels
- [Stairs to Nowhere: 25 Architectural Relics That No Longer Make Sense](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/20/stairs-to-nowhere-25-architectural-relics-that-no-longer-make-sense/) - Useless, defunct and more than a little surreal, 'thomassons' are the remnants of architecture and infrastructure left behind during demolition to leave behind a ghostly imprint of the past. These architectural relics are like scars: evidence of damage that never fully healed. Some passersby never even notice the stairs that end in a brick wall,
- [Stoned in Scotland: Modern Home Shrouded in 17th Century Ruins](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/18/stoned-in-scotland-modern-home-shrouded-in-17th-century-ruins/) - Without touching a single stone in the ruins of a 17th century farmhouse in Scotland, two architects managed to incorporate it exactly as it is into a modern, ultra-efficient, solar-powered family home. Lily Jencks Studio and Nathanael Dorent Architecture collaborated on a project that literally builds upon history, opting to adapt the ruins for a
- [Fine Dining Design: 14 Modern Restaurant Interiors with Amazing Ambiance](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/18/fine-dining-design-14-modern-restaurant-interiors-with-amazing-ambiance/) - Dine underwater in Norway, beneath a ceiling of butterflies in Bangkok, amidst kinetic planetary spheres in Bulgaria or immersed in virtual reality nature in Tokyo with the most stunning modern restaurant designs of 2017. Some people say ambiance is just as integral to the overall enjoyment of a meal as the food itself, and these
- [Satan Claus: 10 More Scary & Creepy Santa Statues](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/17/satan-claus-10-more-scary-creepy-santa-statues/) - Santa Claus is coming to town... consider yourself warned! These creepy Santa statues hail not from the North Pole but somewhere much, MUCH further south.
- [All Bets Are Off: 10 Crapped-Out Abandoned Casinos](https://weburbanist.com/2013/04/14/all-bets-are-off-10-crapped-out-abandoned-casinos/) - At these 10 abandoned casinos, the high rollers are laying low, the cards are all jokers, the wheel's stopped spinning and the dice have all thrown snake eyes.
- [15 of the Biggest & Most Bizarre Parties in the World](https://weburbanist.com/2009/08/02/15-of-the-biggest-most-bizarre-parties-in-the-world/) - Every year, millions of people convene in cities around the world to celebrate everything from turkey testicles to Spam.
- [Brutal Torture: 16 Twisted Techniques & Historic Devices](https://weburbanist.com/2009/11/09/brutal-torture-16-twisted-techniques/) - Here's an exploration of 16 of the most cringe-worthy torture techniques and devices to ever come out of the haunted halls of human history.
- [Architecture in Motion: Gothic Cathedral Gets its Own Two-Minute Music Video](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/06/architecture-in-motion-gothic-cathedral-gets-its-own-two-minute-music-video/) - We tend to experience buildings as static or slow-moving objects relative to our own points of view, but this simple work of creative adaptation turns an ordinary perspective into a dynamic animation. [vimeo=239282032] The facade of the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway is wonderfully ornate, rich in architectural details with rows of hand-carved sculptures, all of which whizzes
- [Stretch Goals: Smooth Shape-Shifting 'Friction Table' Deforms on Demand](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/04/stretch-goals-smooth-shape-shifting-friction-table-deforms-on-demand/) - Compact and round for board games and intimate conversations, this flexible table gracefully stretches to become a long dining or boardroom surface without adding pieces or moving parts. Paper set in resin creates a kind of lattice structure that enables Friction to adapt to different needs, stable in either extreme form or anywhere in between. Stretched
- [Parked Bench: Yellow Lane Lines Morph into Improbable Urban Seating](https://weburbanist.com/2018/01/02/parked-bench-yellow-lane-lines-morph-into-improbable-urban-seating/) - Green space, installation art and public amenity are all distorted into something fresh and provocative with this strange creation, crashing together at the intersection of amusement and apocalypse. Developed as part of the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in London by The Edible Bus Stop, a landscape firm that clearly has a sense of humor, the resulting
- [Graceful Degradation: Flashlight Designed to Operate Despite Missing Batteries](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/30/graceful-degradation-flashlight-designed-to-operate-despite-missing-batteries/) - There's nothing quite so annoying as having a battery-powered device with one too few batteries, which in many cases would render it useless. In a common-sense twist on typical designs, MUJI's portable LED torch has space for four batteries (two AA and two AAA) but, ingeniously, will function on as few as one. It's a kind
- [Buttsy: Banksy-Style Street Artist Crafts Cigarette Butt-Based Assemblages](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/28/buttsy-banksy-style-street-artist-crafts-cigarette-butt-based-assemblages/) - Working to raise awareness of litter, Buttsy builds sculptural collages out of found objects, with a strong emphasis on some of the most toxic offenders: cigarette butts. Like Banksy, he works quietly and invisibly in the night. They may seem small, but butts create over one and a half billion pounds of trash per year. And
- [Cutting Loose: Crafty Paper Silhouettes Animate Architectural Landmarks](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/26/cutting-loose-crafty-paper-silhouettes-animate-architectural-landmarks/) - The built environment becomes the backdrop from all kinds of imaginative (if improbable) scenes when this London photographer adds a single layer to each of his images: a black piece of cut paper. Rich McCor, also known as "paperboyo," transforms landmark architecture and urban design elements, sometimes turning them into other structures (like roller coasters) or
- [We Live Here: Light Art Helps Sydney Tower Residents Protest Gentrification](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/21/we-live-here-light-art-helps-sydney-tower-residents-protest-gentrification/) - Residents of Waterloo Estate towers in Sydney, Australia, were given a uniquely visible voice this year amidst city plans to change the neighborhood. The #WeLiveHere2017 project gave 500 residents in two 60-story towers 'mood lights' so they could express their views on the proposed future of their home. [youtube=qFVtQIUGWYU] "#WeLiveHere2017 celebrates the community of Waterloo
- [Interloop: Vintage Wood Escalators Twisted into Works of Architectural Art](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/19/interloop-vintage-wood-escalators-twisted-into-works-of-architectural-art/) - When famous buildings are demolished, like famous Louis Sullivan structures in Chicago, there's a scramble to collect all of the ornamental bits and pieces for preservation -- yet fewer people stop to notice (or try to collect) when it comes to more functional components of these structures. But when a set of old timber escalators were
- [Adaptive Architecture: Curved House Wraps Old Well, Reuses Stone Cistern](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/17/adaptive-architecture-curved-house-wraps-old-well-reuses-stone-cistern/) - A contemporary home in Spain was designed to wrap a surface well and sits on the associated subterranean cistern, creatively converting it into the solid foundation and habitable basement of this new living space. The so-called Casa Aljibe (Cistern House) by architect Alejandro Valdivieso (images by David Frutos) is located in Alpedrete on the site of an
- [Facades Minus Architecture: Subtractive Photos Flatten Built Environments](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/16/facades-minus-architecture-subtractive-photos-flatten-built-environments/) - In Facades 3, the latest in a series of such sets, French photographer Zacharie Gaudrillot-Roy ones again visits flatland, imagining the world constructed like a stage set from virtually two-dimensional building fronts (or sides). In architecture schools and firms, students and designer often draw or photograph (or these days: turn to Google maps) to capture the street-
- [Ultra-High Resolution: Epic 600-Megapixel Composite Photo of Manhattan](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/14/ultra-high-resolution-epic-600-megapixel-composite-photo-of-manhattan/) - A remarkable composite with an incredible amount of detail, this photograph was assembled from nearly 200 different images of NYC representing 10,000 megapixels of data, all put together over the course of a year. Photographer, engineer, and entrepreneur Dan Piech decided to capture his stunning shot of Manhattan (from a rooftop in Queens), titled A
- [Urban Birdhouses: Danish Designer Builds 3,500+ Homes for Avian Occupants](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/12/urban-birdhouses-danish-designer-builds-3500-homes-for-avian-occupants/) - Some sit individually in trees while are clustered in sets, branching out like leaves on a building facade or hung like ivy off the sides of structures, but all of these diverse birdhouses share something in common: a single creative mind that has been working on them for years. Street artist and designer Thomas Dambo's Happy
- [42 Buried Buses Form North America's Largest Underground Nuclear Fallout Bunker](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/10/42-buried-buses-form-americas-largest-underground-nuclear-fallout-bunker/) - Composed of dozens of school buses surrounded with concrete, there may not be room for two of every Earthly animal in this "Ark Two" but there is space for around 500 humans (kids and adults) to cohabitate through a moderate apocalypse. Located in Horning's Mills (in case you need to get there in an emergency)
- [Petroleum Pets: Coalinga's Vanishing Iron Zoo](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/10/petroleum-pets-coalingas-vanishing-iron-zoo/) - Painted pump jacks with plenty of personality put the “pet” into petroleum at the venerable and vanishing Iron Zoo in and around Coalinga, California.
- [Lost Architecture is Remembered with Sculptures of the Ivy That Once Covered It](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/13/lost-architecture-is-remembered-with-sculptures-of-the-ivy-that-once-covered-it/) - What if, after the demolition of a neglected building, all that was left behind was the leafy exoskeleton of ivy that once grew up its outer walls? As shanty towns all along the Yuan River in the Hunan province of China are dismantled, a piece of them remains behind, paying tribute to their historical value
- [Secretive Urbanism: 13 Exclusive Speakeasies & Shops with Hidden Entrances](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/13/secretive-urbanism-13-exclusive-speakeasies-shops-with-hidden-entrances/) - The bodega on the corner, your laundromat, the pawn shop down the street or the innocuous law firm entrance you pass on your way to work could be harboring secrets behind unmarked doors or bookcases. America's modern speakeasies exist more for the thrill of discovery than hiding illicit activities, but you have to admit, it's
- [As We Are: Giant 3D LED Screen Head Takes Selfies to the Next Level](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/08/as-we-are-guests-at-the-columbus-convention-center-enlarged-onto-a-giant-3d-head/) - Seeing what your face looks like 14 feet tall and enlarged hundreds of times in a public forum might sound like a nightmare to some people, but to others, it’s a fun way to interact with other visitors at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. ‘As We Are’ is a permanent sculptural installation
- [It’s All a Sham! 21 Urban Structures & Facades That Aren’t What They Seem](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/11/its-all-a-sham-21-urban-structures-facades-that-arent-what-they-seem/) - The cities of the world have a lot to hide, and while some of those things might be top secret government operations, others are as unremarkable as an ugly ventilation shaft, an electrical substation, a failing and vacant downtown area or just a sad, blank wall that needs some fake windows to improve its looks.
- [New Network of Ice Age Caves Found Beneath the Streets of Montreal](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/06/new-network-of-ice-age-caves-found-beneath-the-streets-of-montreal/) - Manually chipping away at rock for hours, two cave explorers have discovered a massive, previously unknown system of prehistoric caves beneath the streets of Montreal. Estimated to be around 15,000 years old, the Ice Age cave network was found about 30 feet beneath the city’s Pie-XII Park adjacent to the St. Léonard cave already popular
- [Step Into a Pop-Up Book: 11 Furnishings, Rooms & Houses That Fold Up Flat](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/06/step-into-a-pop-up-book-11-furnishings-rooms-houses-that-fold-up-flat/) - Does the same childlike awe and sense of infinite possibility you felt when looking at pop-up books as a kid translate to adult-sized versions of pop-up furniture, rooms and even entire houses today? These transforming objects dramatically expand from a flat package just by pulling on one end, revealing themselves to be surprisingly strong and
- [Natural-Edge Glassware: Curvy Vases Blown into Organic Wood Forms](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/09/natural-edge-glassware-curvy-vases-blown-into-organic-wood-forms/) - Resin is often used creatively to fill in the gaps wooden shapes, but these vases take the opposite approach and employ sliced logs with waned edges as a framing device rather than making it the primary focus of the work. Los Angeles artist Scott Slagerman worked with Jim Fishman on this Wood & Glass collection, in which each vase is
- [Underwater Castle: 3,000-Year-Old Ruin Discovered in Turkey's Largest Lake](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/07/underwater-castle-3000-year-old-ruin-discovered-in-turkeys-largest-lake/) - Deep in Turkey's biggest body of water, Lake Van, a secret fortress lay dormant for thousands of years, discovered recently by a team of university archaeologists following local rumors of a submerged structure. [youtube=QgUSPlsdA7w] Headed by Tahsin Ceylan, a group from Van Yüzüncü Yil University discovered this Iron Age marvel spanning over a half-mile deep below the surface,
- [Fractal Cities: Drawings of Urban Architecture Seem to Go On & On Forever](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/11/fractal-cities-drawings-of-urban-architecture-seem-to-go-on-on-forever/) - The deeper you look into the incredibly detailed drawings of artist Benjamin Sack, the more the cities depicted seem to multiply, as if you could travel through his fractal cities forever and ever without stopping. Drawn in a classical style in black and white, his works play with the topography of architecture that has run
- [Lean & Learn: Oblique Earthquake-Proof Bookshelf Doubles as a Climbing Wall](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/04/lean-learn-oblique-earthquake-proof-bookshelf-doubles-as-a-climbing-wall/) - No ladders are required to get all the way to the top of this floor-to-ceiling bookshelf in a Japanese home, built into a specially designed oblique exterior wall for both easy access and earthquake resistance. Shinsuke Fujii Architects rose to the challenge of a tight lot with a smart design that uses a high ceiling,
- [Rollout: 10 More Abandoned Roller Skating Rinks](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/03/rollout-10-more-abandoned-roller-skating-rinks/) - Roller skating may not have been as “cool” as ice skating but it was one hot recreational activity back in the days before inline was superseded by online.
- [Starchitect Spotlight: Olson Kundig’s Crystalline Modern Sensibilities](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/04/starchitect-spotlight-olson-kundigs-crystalline-modern-sensibilities/) - Each one of architectural firm Olson Kundig’s creations is in open dialogue with its environment, often integrating oversized glass doors that open wide to the outside world or sliding steel panels to close them up and make them feel safe and secure. The Washington state-based firm, consisting of architects Tom Kundig and Jim Olson, feels
- [Paper Signals: DIY Sculptural Objects You Can Control With Your Voice](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/01/paper-signals-diy-sculptural-objects-you-can-control-with-your-voice/) - If you could build an origami-like paper object that can visualize information at your voice command, what would you ask it to tell you? Google’s new ‘Paper Signals’ project is a fun way to play with information, technology and DIY crafts, offering templates for paper sculptures containing simple parts like a micro servo, an Adafruit
- [Out of Focus: Classic Works of Art Reimagined in Abstract Pixelated Form](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/29/out-of-focus-classic-works-of-art-reimagined-in-abstract-pixelated-form/) - Some centuries-old works of art are so imprinted upon the collective consciousness, our brains recognize them even when they’re blurred, disguised, abstracted or otherwise remixed. You could break them down into their simplest elements and somehow, you’d still be able to identify them as the Mona Lisa, Michelangelo’s statue of David, American Gothic or Nighthawks
- [Cats! Cats! Cats! 20+ Fun Feline-Focused Works of Art & Design](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/29/cats-cats-cats-20-fun-feline-focused-works-of-art-design/) - In ancient times, after their domestication by the Egyptians, cats may have saved many humans from starvation and disease, which might help explain why we still worship them to this day. Or maybe it's because they're the perfect combination of haughty, mischievous, playful, mysterious and affectionate. Or maybe it's because they're actually controlling us through
- [Book Boxes: Vintage-Style Dollhouses Made of Hollowed-Out Tomes](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/27/book-boxes-charming-vintage-style-dollhouses-made-of-hollowed-out-tomes/) - If you’ve ever wished you could shrink yourself to live inside a book, these incredibly charming miniature houses made of hollowed-out books will only encourage further fantasizing. Florida-based artist Shannon Moore has been crafting these truly tiny houses since the 1970s, and you’re going to want to take a closer look, because those aren’t just
- [It’s Getting Steamy in Here: 14 Modern Sauna Designs Heat Up](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/27/its-getting-steamy-in-here-14-modern-sauna-designs-heat-up/) - When it's cold and dreary outside, the relaxing ritual of steaming oneself in a cozy sauna is more tempting than ever. In some places, like Finland, there are almost as many saunas as there are residents, while in others, the tradition is disappearing in the bustle of modern life. These modern interpretations of the classic
- [Dire Straights: 10 More Tilted Leaning Towers](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/26/dire-straights-10-more-tilted-leaning-towers/) - Towers gonna tower, at least for a while. Just like rust, however, gravity never sleeps and these ten tipsy towers will sooner or later have a rude awakening.
- [7 Students, 1 Tiny Apartment: Ultra-Compact Co-Living Design by Fabrica](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/24/7-students-1-tiny-apartment-ultra-compact-co-living-design-by-fabrica/) - Space and privacy are increasingly valuable commodities in cities, and many people on tight budgets find themselves in living situations that feel more than a little cramped. The average student in a city like New York or San Francisco can’t afford to live alone, and many more have difficulty accessing shared housing with just a
- [Fancy a Pint? London's Pubs & Landmarks Preserved as Tiny Cut-Out Drawings](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/22/fancy-a-pint-londons-pubs-landmarks-preserved-as-tiny-cut-out-drawings/) - Cities can change so rapidly, leaving behind barely-recognizable versions of the streets we once knew and loved, adapting and transforming along with the rest of the world. It may be a fact of life, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn't try to preserve what we can of the history that’s meaningful to us - even
- [Real Underground Art: Secret Sculptural Installations Below Paris](https://weburbanist.com/2016/05/13/real-underground-art-secret-sculptural-installations-below-paris/) - There’s a good chance that no one, other than an errant worker, will ever even see these highly symbolic (not to mention illegal) installations hidden far beneath the streets of Paris. Tucked into tunnels that have been disused for decades, an artist we'll call EZ (who asked us to remain anonymous), has has created sculptural wonders with
- [Underground Art: 11 Subterranean Galleries & Installations Delve Deep](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/09/underground-art-11-subterranean-galleries-installations-delve-deep/) - Often mysterious, somber and a little otherworldly, subterranean spaces add a sense of depth (no pun intended) to the art installations and performances held within them. Abandoned subway platforms, tunnels beneath old psychiatric hospitals, cisterns, ice wells, bunkers and even manholes invite us to descend beneath the surface of the earth to experience art on
- [Scary Seas: 21 Terrifying Real-Life Deep Ocean Creatures](https://weburbanist.com/2012/08/03/21-terrifying-deep-ocean-creatures/) - Any expedition to the deep ocean depths is incredibly expensive, and returns with a host of strange and terrifying new species.
- [3D Print the World: 12 Ways This Technology Will Soon Flourish in Cities](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/22/3d-print-the-world-12-ways-this-technology-will-soon-flourish-in-cities/) - Ready or not, the 3D-printed future is coming, and the first examples are already arriving in cities around the world in the form of office buildings, small houses, public furniture, public art and self-driving buses. Restaurants that squirt your meals into intricate shapes through a 3D printer will likely proliferate, and before long, this tech
- [Art of Parenting: Father Frames Six-Year-Old's Uncommissioned Wall Drawing](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/26/art-of-parenting-father-frames-six-year-olds-uncommissioned-wall-drawing/) - Kids will be kids, and sometimes they will surprise you by doing things like drawing on the walls, leaving parents with an array of options for how to respond. Dr. Eric Masicotte is a neurosurgeon, associate professor, and medical director of the mTBI/Concussion Program at the University of Toronto, and a pretty tolerant parent, if his
- [Living Lights: Grid-Free Lamps to Illuminate Cities Using Plant Photosynthesis](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/25/living-lights-grid-free-lamps-to-illuminate-cities-using-plant-photosynthesis/) - Microorganisms in this Living Light project convert chemical energy from photosynthetic processes into electric current, making these lamps perfect for off-grid and other green, cost-reducing applications. [vimeo=173542338] Dutch designer Ermi van Oers envisions this approach working at scale and used to power smart cities, starting with things like street lamps but eventually providing energy for other
- [Shipping Shapes: Perspective Drawing Lines Form Containerized Landscapes](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/05/shipping-shapes-perspective-drawing-lines-form-containerized-landscapes/) - Anyone who has seen stacks of shipping containers and the huge cranes that move them at big ports knows they can make for a marvelous sight, but what happens when you overlay those rigid geometries on other landscapes? Artist Mary Iverson, who lives near one such port in Seattle, combines paint and photographs to explore the results of
- [Layers of New York City: 232,000-Picture Urban Time Lapse Remixes Day & Night](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/03/layers-of-new-york-city-232000-picture-urban-time-lapse-remixes-day-night/) - New York City never sleeps, they say, and this animation shows just how active the city is by day and at night, combining elements of both in one film that represents "22 Trips to New York, 352 Hours of filming, $1,430 paid in Parking Fees, 9988 Miles Driven, and 232,000 Pictures Taken." The result is
- [Speedway Core Sample: Cylindrical Specimen Shows 108 Years of Repaved Racetrack](https://weburbanist.com/2017/12/02/speedway-core-sample-cylindrical-specimen-shows-108-years-of-repaved-racetrack/) - Core samples let geologists examine layers of the Earth, graffiti fans peel back decades of art, or in this case: allow race watchers to see what a century or so of repaved track looks like. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of America's favorite and most famous racetracks, and it has changed a lot over the centuries
- [Mies Makeover: Artists Cover Barcelona Pavilion's Marble Walls with White](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/30/mies-makeover-artists-cover-barcelona-pavilions-marble-walls-with-white/) - A minimalist icon by Mies van der Rohe is becoming even more minimal thanks to a series of vinyl screens installed over its ornate marble walls, making the full-size building look like a blown-up miniature model. [youtube=z0Yx-8prfyQ] Spanish architects and artists Anna and Eugeni Bach are behind this temporary Mies Missing Materiality installation at the Barcelona
- [Museum Matches: Candid Photos Capture Patrons Who Look Like Artworks](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/28/museum-matches-candid-photos-capture-patrons-who-look-like-artworks/) - Candid captures require patience, particularly when a photographer like Stefan Draschan decides to wait for a perfect aesthetic coincidence between a work of art and one of its passing observers. He traveled around Europe to assemble this series of People Matching Artworks, finding strange instances when colors, shapes, patterns and sizes align to snap a great shot.
- [Architects for Animals: 13 Designer Cat Houses Auctioned for Feline Charity](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/23/architects-for-animals-13-designer-cat-houses-auctioned-for-feline-charity/) - Giant balls of twine, complex tunnel systems and integrated scratching posts are some of the features on offer in this series of deluxe architect-designed cat houses created by Los Angeles architects for a charitable auction. Architects for Animals, a local charity, uses the Giving Shelter fundraiser to collect donations and support services for help feral,
- [Inside Blade Runner 2049: Miniature Sets of Los Angeles by Weta Workshop](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/20/inside-blade-runner-2049-miniature-sets-of-los-angeles-by-weta-workshop/) - When catching a contemporary Hollywood movie like ‘Blade Runner 2049’ at the theater, it’s easy to assume nearly everything we see is CGI, but a new video from the famed Weta Workshop gives us an inside look at the incredible miniature world they created for the film. They bring Philip K. Dick’s dystopian sci-fi vision
- [Secret Spaces: 12 Architectural Easter Eggs Hidden Under Our Noses](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/20/secret-spaces-12-architectural-easter-eggs-hidden-under-our-noses/) - By now, most of us are aware of the abandoned, once-forgotten subway stations and other underground wonders hidden beneath the streets of cities around the world. There are even entire cities beneath cities, like Seattle’s Underground. But what about the more obscure secret spaces right under our noses, that we may pass every day as
- [Health Careless: 12 Decrepit Abandoned Nursing Homes](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/19/health-careless-12-decrepit-abandoned-nursing-homes/) - These abandoned nursing homes illustrate the contrast between the rising need for senior care facilities and the costs of keeping older nursing homes open.
- [Honeycomb Housing for the Homeless: 3D Printed Micro Neighborhoods](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/17/honeycomb-housing-for-the-homeless-3d-printed-micro-neighborhoods/) - With homelessness in many cities reaching its highest levels since the Great Depression, some designers and architects are getting more creative with solutions, like this honeycomb-shaped 3D-printed ‘micro neighborhood’ designed to cling to existing buildings. In New York City in particular, homelessness has grown steadily over the past two decades, and architecture firm Framlab believes
- [Forget Mocktails: High-Tech Glass Makes Water Taste Like Anything You Want](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/15/forget-mocktails-high-tech-glass-makes-water-taste-like-anything-you-want/) - If you’re sober, pregnant or otherwise unable or unwilling to consume alcohol, you can still enjoy whatever cocktails you crave with a high-tech drinking glass that simulates three layers of senses to trick you into tasting flavors that aren’t really there. Invented by Nimesha Ranasinghe, the ‘Vocktail’ or ‘virtual cocktail’ glass can either augment the
- [Self-Driving Mobile Living Rooms: 10 Car Concepts for the Next 50 Years](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/15/self-driving-mobile-living-rooms-10-car-concepts-for-the-next-50-years/) - A couple decades from now, we’ll be able to summon autonomous shared vehicles both from our smartphones and from privately owned steering wheels that double as AI companions in the home, clicking into place when the car arrives. In this imagined future, ride sharing and car sharing makes higher quality vehicles more accessible to a
- [It’s On Like Donkey Kong at Berlin’s Mount Mitte Urban Climbing Park](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/13/its-on-like-donkey-kong-at-berlins-mount-mitte-climbing-park/) - In the words of venerable modern philosopher Ice Cube, ‘it’s on like Donkey Kong’ - literally - at Berlin’s Mount Center climbing park, which features elevated platforms that look an awful lot like those seen in the classic video game. Located in Mitte, the city’s hip central borough, the park offers a massive parkour course
- [A Standing Ovation for Great Animation: 13 Arresting Works of Art in Motion](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/13/beautiful-animated-short-films/) - There's something about creating art that's not quite reflective of our physical reality and then giving it life through motion that can be alternately beautiful and unnerving. The slight jerkiness of stop-motion animation only adds to the effect, while digital animation can take the surreality to a whole new level with mesmerizing movements. These recent
- [Storage Worse: 10 Abandoned Self-Storage Facilities](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/12/storage-worse-10-abandoned-self-storage-facilities/) - Abandoned self-storage locker units (and those who bid for them) have spawned a popular TV series but what happens when entire facilities go belly-up?
- [Religious Conversion: Modern Office Inserted Into a Historic Belgium Chapel](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/10/religious-conversion-modern-office-inserted-into-a-historic-belgium-chapel/) - A cubic white volume juts out of the exterior wall of a historic church in Belgium, looking a bit like it a dramatic incident of some sort landed it there. But the parasitic appearance of this outer volume belies a larger transformation inside the aging building, in which a series of private offices occupy the
- [Not Just Science Fiction: Incredible Futuristic Tianjin Binhai Library by MVRDV](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/08/not-just-science-fiction-incredible-futuristic-tianjin-binhai-library-by-mvrdv/) - Looking like something out of a Kubrick film, the new Tianjin Binhai Library by MVRDV and local firm TUPDI features cascading floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that double as benches centered around a luminous sphere. From outside, the library has the appearance of a mysterious eye, with the layered interior elements acting as louvres for the facade. Gaze
- [Sheep View: Faroe Islands Captured for Google by Four-Legged Crew](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/06/sheep-view-remote-faroe-islands-captured-for-google-by-four-legged-crew/) - There may be many paths along the remote, windswept Faroe Islands that Google’s street view vehicles can’t traverse, but that’s where the archipelago’s many four-legged residents come in. Last year, the Danish territory petitioned Google to bring its Street View feature to its shores. They felt a little left out, considering that Street View has
- [That's a Wrap: Critics Pan Leather Skirt that Looks Like a Car Floor Mat](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/09/thats-a-wrap-critics-pan-leather-skirt-that-looks-like-a-car-carpet-protector/) - It's easy to pan high fashion for being expensive, impractical and out of touch with reality, and all the more so when a fashion item resembles an upcycled everyday item like a car's floor mat. Balenciaga, an upscale fashion house, is under fire from frugal bloggers and social media critics for a $2,200 skirt that someone could
- [Darkroom Magic: How a Master Surrealist Shapes Scenes from Real Photos](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/21/darkroom-magic-how-a-master-surrealist-shapes-scenes-from-real-photos/) - His photographic manipulations are uncanny, creating bizarre effects and optical illusions, all while remaining highly realistic and (perhaps most impressively) quite true to the original real-life source material. By working from actual photographs, Erik Johansson manages to capture but subvert everyday built environments. Take Under the Corner, for instance, a photo montage he worked on for months."I shot
- [Beyond the Grid: Clever New Mapping Strategy Prioritizes Time Over Space](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/18/beyond-the-grid-clever-new-mapping-strategy-prioritizes-time-over-space/) - Historically, most maps use grid systems with latitude and longitude and distance measurements to guide users, but what if the emphasis was on time rather than space? Peter Liu of Mapbox has a new way of getting people from Point A to Point B based on the amount of time it would take someone to travel
- [Arcaketecture: Algorithms & 3D-Printing Shape Deliciously Structural Cakes](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/16/arcaketecture-algorithms-3d-printing-shape-deliciously-structural-cakes/) - Ukrainian pastry chef Dnara Kasko is at it again, this time with an algorithmically-modeled desert made up of 81 distinctly shaped pieces. Kakso drew inspiration from artists and engineers and used Grasshopper, a digital program, to create a fresh take on a traditional pyramid cake. [vimeo=238616844] Inside: each slice features mousse, ganache, and meringue of
- [Toniture: Kit-of-Parts Construction Toy Set Lets Kids Design & Build Furniture](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/14/toniture-kit-of-parts-construction-toy-set-lets-kids-design-build-furniture/) - At the intersection of toys and furniture, TONITURE borrows from classic construction sets with a critical twist: the do-it-yourself objects kids design and build with these pieces are functional as well as fun. The Korean design studio G280 were inspired by Meccano, a kit-based building toy now almost a century old (that long predated LEGO and
- [Urban Miniatures: Graffiti-Tagged Architectural Model Features Gritty Detail](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/11/urban-miniatures-graffiti-tagged-architectural-model-features-gritty-detail/) - In a world of pristine and perfect model architecture, this replica of a locksmith in Taiwan boasts dirt, grime, graffiti and rickety structural details. Crafted by Joshua Smith (images by Ben Neal), this 1:18 scale micro-structure lights up at night and takes on a particularly compelling realism in the relative dark. Ballpoint pen plastic is
- [Repurposed Pub: Scrappy Upcycled Micro-Brewery in Japan's 'Zero Waste' Town](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/07/repurposed-pub-scrappy-upcycled-micro-brewery-in-japans-zero-waste-town/) - A new pub and brewery building has been constructed from recycled materials in Kamikatsu, a Japanese town famous for its advanced recycling program that sorts waste in 34 categories for optimal reuse. Designed by Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP, the structure embodies the waste-reducing principles of the community, which manages to remarkable 80% recycling rate. Prominently,
- [Variations of a Classic: 13 Different Spins on the Volkswagen Bus](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/06/variations-of-a-classic-13-different-spins-on-the-volkswagen-bus/) - An enduring classic, the VW van might just be one of the most converted and renovated vehicles of all time, transforming into solar campers, bars, food trucks, shops, tanks, snowmobiles and even a Back to the Future-inspired mini movie theater with gull wings and a 'working' flux capacitor. Though most of these re-imaginations have been
- [No Respite: 10 More Houses Built Out of Spite](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/05/no-respite-10-more-houses-built-out-of-spite/) - Despite the old maxim that living well is the best revenge, these homeowners have chosen to creatively spite busybody neighbors and inflexible authorities.
- [Steel Mesh Kraken Sunk Off British Virgin Islands to Create Artificial Reef](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/20/steel-mesh-kraken-sunken-off-british-virgin-islands-to-create-an-artificial-reef/) - Perched atop the Kodiak Queen, a former WW2-era Navy fuel barge, this 80-foot ‘Kraken’ now serves as the base of an artificial reef and marine research station on the ocean floor near the British Virgin Islands. The project, entitled BVI Art Reef, accomplishes a range of goals all at once: saving a decorated ship from
- [Not Quite Mothra, But Close: Multi-Story Butterfly Shadowbox Murals](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/03/massive-multi-story-butterfly-shadowbox-murals-by-france-based-artist-mantra/) - Throughout the last year, dozens of terrifying monstrous butterflies as big as pterodactyls have begun landing on the facades of buildings throughout France, Austria and other European countries. Many of them appeared in Spain during September 2017 during the Festival Asalto, an international urban art festival showcasing mural artists. But, don’t worry, Mothra isn’t on
- [Mid-Century Modern America: 10 Classic Houses for the Ages](https://weburbanist.com/2016/04/11/mid-century-modern-america-10-classic-houses-for-the-ages/) - Icons of midcentury modern design by the likes of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Eero Saarinen and Marcel Breuer still stand across America, showing off the simplicity, clean lines and extensive use of glass the style is known for. Many are so perfectly preserved they've become actual museum exhibits, while others have
- [Tech Typography: An Entire Alphabet of Electronics Shaped Like Letters](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/01/tech-typography-an-entire-alphabet-of-electronics-shaped-like-letters/) - Can you think of an iconic electronic object for every letter of the alphabet? A for Apple, B for Bose, C for Canon, D for Dell and so on, all the way to Z? Graphic designer Vinicius Araujo found the most obvious (and satisfying) answer for all 26 letters and crafted them into renderings of
- [LightHotel: Mobile Shipping Container Room Fits Underutilized Urban Spaces](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/28/lighthotel-mobile-shipping-container-room-fits-underutilized-urban-spaces/) - Designed for year-round use in the hot humid summers and icy cold winters of Minnesota's Twin Cities, the LightHotel represents an innovative and eco-friendly approach to on-demand accommodations. Moving from site to site, the creators say the "the city itself is its lobby" of this 8-by-20-foot container space. Triple-glazed windows, solar-powered HVAC and hydronic in-floor
- [Terraced Balconies & Double Helix Bridges: Spotlight on Penda Architecture](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/01/terraced-balconies-double-helix-bridges-spotlight-on-penda-architecture/) - Kinetic architecture, verdant cascading balconies, timber-frame skyscrapers and double-helix bridges: Beijing- and Salzburg-based multidisciplinary firm Penda brings all sorts of refreshing ideas to the worlds of architecture, landscape and interior design. Founded by Chris Precht and Dayong Sun, the youthful firm subverts norms and commands attention with its surprising solutions, and we'll likely see a
- [Imposing Architecture: Modern Loft Tower Looks Like a Ghost Ship](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/30/imposing-architecture-modern-loft-tower-looks-like-a-ghost-ship/) - Looming above an industrial parcel near an abandoned railway terminal in Beirut, seven balconies jut out into the air like the hulls of stacked skeletal ships. ‘Plot #1282’ by DW5 Architects is one of the first major architectural projects to be erected in a depressed area beside military barracks, fallow agricultural land and a 100-foot-wide
- [Immerse Yourself in Horror: 10 Art Installations That'll Make Your Skin Crawl](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/30/creepy-art-installations/) - Whether you're haunted by a fear of ghosts, gripped by night terrors involving oversized insects, or find horror in more realistically pressing matters like nuclear meltdowns and the looming environmental apocalypse, there's something to be scared about among these extraordinarily creepy art installations. Monster House by Christine McConnell Artist, photographer and baker Christine McConnell, who’s
- [Robot Who 'Wants to Destroy Humans’ Granted Citizenship by Saudi Arabia](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/27/robot-who-said-i-want-to-destroy-humans-granted-citizenship-by-saudi-arabia/) - Sophia, a semi-realistic humanoid robot with a range of uncanny facial expressions, has been granted citizenship by Saudi Arabia in a global first. Created by Hong Kong-based firm Hanson Robotics, Sophia debuted in March 2016 and has been interviewed around the world since then, from the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to the Future Investment
- [Russia to Activists: Stop Repainting Soviet Monuments into American Icons](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/04/russia-to-activists-stop-repainting-soviet-monuments-into-american-icons/) - The Russian embassy has taken a hard line in Bulgaria where Soviet monuments have been spray-painted to become iconic American fictional characters from Superman and the Joker to Santa Claus and Ronald McDonald. According to the Moscow Times, Russia has continued to demand that measures be stepped up to clean and protect the statues. They also want Bulgarian
- [Organized by Accuracy: 10 Famous Company Logos Drawn From Memory](https://weburbanist.com/2017/11/02/organized-by-accuracy-10-famous-company-logos-drawn-from-memory/) - Aside from outliers like Adidas, which acquired its logo for a few thousand dollars and two bottles of booze, big brands often spend millions (or more) on logo design, but how memorable are the results? "The logos of global corporations like Apple, Starbucks, and Foot Locker are designed to create instant brand associations in the
- [Roadside Lights: The Quiet Beauty of Japanese Vending Machines at Night](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/31/roadside-lights-the-quiet-beauty-of-japanese-vending-machines-at-night/) - It started on a cold and snowy night when a wandering Japanese photographer became fascinated by the way the white flakes were piling up on an ordinary vending machine on the side of a road. Eiji Ohashi began to document these machines, set against the rural backdrops and natural landscapes of Japan, a country with the
- [Optical Illusion Crosswalk Aims to Slow Down Speedy Iceland Drivers](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/24/optical-illusion-crosswalk-aims-to-slow-down-speedy-iceland-drivers/) - If you were zooming down a familiar street and suddenly saw a bunch of concrete steps floating in the street in front of you, would you hit the brakes? The strange sight would likely be enough to slow you down a bit, especially as your ‘driving brain’ perceives an obstacle and instinctively reacts. Officials in
- [Try to Contain Yourself: 12 Shipping Container Projects Play with Modularity](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/25/try-to-contain-yourself-12-shipping-container-projects-play-with-modularity/) - Taking advantage of the affordability, accessibility and modularity of shipping containers, these architectural projects envision radical new ways to expand houses, elevate slums off the streets, occupy disused industrial sites or just make it easy to insert both a hot tub and swimming pool into your backyard with minimal effort. Sliced Shipping Container Home by
- [KISS & Mark Up: 10 Bizarre KISS Branded Products](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/15/kiss-mark-up-10-bizarre-kiss-branded-products/) - KISS and its hustling frontman Gene Simmons continue to raise the rock music merchandising bar, licensing thousands of products ranging from banal to bizarre.
- [Unboxing Buildings: Dull Modern Facades Removed to Reveal Historic Decor](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/23/architecture-unboxed-dull-modern-facade-removed-to-reveal-historic-decor/) - Modernist architects rejected brick, stone and iron ornament in favor of clean metal and brutalist concrete, and in some extreme cases went so far as to cover up old facades with more contemporary cladding. But what was originally an act of erasure can also turn into an unintentional act of preservation, as in the case of this
- [Applied LEGO: Design Graduate Sends Miniature Figures of Himself as Resumes](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/21/applied-lego-design-graduate-sends-miniature-figures-of-himself-as-resumes/) - Design and architecture firms are used to getting creative resumes in the mail that unfold into portfolios or assemble into paper models, but this LEGO figurine may be the most creative variant yet. A designer and artist, Andy Morris decided to make a miniature of himself as a way to stand out to potential employers
- [Work Smarter: 12 Modern Desks Reinvent the Standard Office Surface](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/23/work-smarter-12-modern-desks-reinvent-the-standard-surface/) - The typical desk design has remained the same for centuries, but we need these surfaces to do more - like incorporate our gadgets, offer privacy in loud offices, fit into our homes, fold up to take on the go or offer proper space for our cat overlords. Maybe even all of these things at once.
- [This Copy of the Book ‘Fahrenheit 451’ Can Only Be Read When Heated](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/18/this-copy-of-the-book-fahrenheit-451-can-only-be-read-when-heated/) - Science, art and dystopian fiction come together in a fascinating new project that puts a highly appropriate heat-sensitive twist on Ray Bradbury’s classic novel, Fahrenheit 451. Charles Nypels Laboratory, which is part of Holland’s Jan van Eyck Academie, an institute for fine art and design, collaborated with graphic design collective Super Terrain to create a
- [Preserving Architectural Gems: 8 Beijing Hutong Plug-Ins Update Historic Shells](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/18/preserving-architectural-gems-8-beijing-hutong-plug-ins-update-historic-shells/) - Passing through historic Beijing neighborhoods, seeing only the preserved street-facing facade, you’d never know that surprisingly modern structures contrast with aging surfaces within the courtyards just out of sight. Instead of just demolishing the ‘hutong’ courtyard houses found only in this Chinese city, architects are adapting them to modern life, slotting houses, hostels, museums, tea
- [Floating Tent: Pole-Free Inflatable Structure Pops Up in Minutes](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/16/floating-tent-pole-free-inflatable-structure-pops-up-in-minutes/) - Camping season may be just about over for the casual fair-weather enthusiast, but in any case, here’s a fun piece of gear to add to your Christmas wishlist. Have you ever gone paddle boarding or kayaking, and wished you could just sleep out on the water? Or maybe you’ve fantasized about living in a houseboat,
- [Nice Slice: 30+ Sculptures & Illustrations Created with Cut Paper](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/16/nice-slice-30-sculptures-illustrations-created-with-cut-paper/) - Hand most people some paper and an X-acto knife and ask them to make art, and at best, they'll produce some cartoonish shapes spattered with blood. But these twelve artists are producing some of the world's most impressive papercut art, whether by laboring over astonishingly intricate tapestries for months at a time or making use
- [Interactive Crossings: Dynamic Street LEDs Respond to Traffic Demands](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/26/interactive-crossings-dynamic-street-leds-respond-to-traffic-demands/) - Designed to appear and disappear in response to the needs of pedestrians, cyclists and drivers, this pedestrian crossing solution aims to make people safer through dynamic activation. The interactive surface sits below high-impact plastic panels with lights triggered by monitoring cameras using smart technologies. The cameras identify crossing needs and adjust accordingly, lighting up zebra
- [Cutting Corners: LOT-EK's 21-Box Sliced Shipping Container Home in NYC](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/19/cutting-corners-lot-eks-21-box-sliced-shipping-container-home-in-nyc/) - Rising up from its corner lot like a ship on a wave, this shipping container home in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is a stunning private residence made from sliced, diced and strategically reassembled cargo boxes. The cut containers were flipped and reassembled to avoid waste, reusing various angled sections generated through diagonal slicing (images by Danny Bright).
- [LURVIG for Pets: IKEA Debuts its First Line of Animal Furniture & Accessories](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/17/lurvig-for-pets-ikea-debuts-its-first-line-of-animal-furniture-accessories/) - Made to be compatible with other IKEA furnishings and fixtures, this new first-of-its kind pet collection has something for all your favorite furry friends. The 62-piece collection was designed by Inma Bermudéz and aims to fill a market gap with quality, aesthetically pleasing but affordable pet products. Some of the objects extend existing uses, helping customers save money and
- [Trippy Tiles: Optical Illusion Installation Will Mess with Your Brain](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/13/trippy-tiles-optical-illusion-installation-will-mess-with-your-brain/) - Looking at this picture, it seems pretty obvious that something is seriously wrong with the floor… right? And yet, as we should all know by now, things aren’t always as they seem, no matter how hard our brains try to reconcile the fact that a flat surface can look so believably sunken on one side.
- [Picnic at the Border: Artist JR Hosts Bi-National Meal at a Giant Table](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/11/picnic-at-the-border-artist-jr-hosts-bi-national-meal-at-a-giant-table/) - At one small point on the United States-Mexico border, where two towns named Tecate are separated by a fence, residents of both countries sat down to the same picnic at a gigantic table printed with ‘The Eyes of the Dreamer.’ This new event, held on October 8th, comes just weeks after the artist rolled out
- [Not Your Dive Bar’s Pool Table: 13 Modern Game Furniture Designs](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/11/not-your-dive-bars-pool-table-13-modern-game-furniture-designs/) - Most game furniture looks like it belongs in a musty basement smelling of spilled beer and body odor, but high end tables for billiards, foosball, ping pong, shuffleboard and other popular indoor games are made to fit right into luxury environments, sometimes even complete with plated gold details. Some are even works of art in
- [Doing Our Dirty Work: Crows Trained to Clean Up Cigarette Butts](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/09/doing-our-dirty-work-crows-trained-to-clean-up-cigarette-butts/) - Should we really be training ultra-smart birds to do our dirty work for us, picking up cigarette butts all over our cities in exchange for treats? One Dutch start-up hopes their clever ‘Crowbar’ will be an easy and mutually beneficial way to deal with the ongoing problem of this specific kind of urban litter, making
- [Inflatable Luggage: Air-Framed 'Zippelin' Bags Made of Old Tarps & Bike Tubes](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/05/inflatable-luggage-air-framed-zippelin-bags-made-of-old-tarps-bike-tubes/) - Lightweight, durable and compact, this new recycled Zippelin bag series features wheels for rolling like any good luggage. But instead of metal or plastic frames, these bags employ bicycle tire inner tubes that can be inflated instead. This strategy also allows the bags to pack into tiny space for storage when not in use. [vimeo=234320566]
- [Rail to Trail: 12 U.S. Park Projects Reclaiming Urban Infrastructure](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/09/rail-to-trail-12-u-s-park-projects-reclaiming-urban-infrastructure/) - A whole lot of valuable land in America's densest urban centers is occupied by the disused and often toxic remnants of neglected infrastructure, industrial complexes and other blight that could be green space instead. Taking inspiration from New York City's High Line, an elevated linear park along a former New York Central Railroad spur, many
- [Huge Color-Coded 'LEGO House' Designed by BIG Now Open in Denmark](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/10/huge-color-coded-lego-house-designed-by-big-now-open-in-denmark/) - Designed by architects from BIG, the new LEGO House is itself huge: a 130,000-square-foot 'experience center' welcoming people of all ages to play with and appreciate this ubiquitous toy. “It has been a dream for me for many years to create a place that will give our visitors the ultimate LEGO experience," said former president
- [Outta Sight: 15 Closed & Abandoned Opticians](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/08/outta-sight-15-closed-abandoned-opticians/) - The optics are all wrong when it comes to these closed and abandoned opticians, optometrists and ophthalmologist shops as anyone can clearly see.
- [Slinky Chairs: Accordion-Style Transforming Furniture Stretches & Bends](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/06/slinky-chairs-accordion-style-transforming-furniture-stretches-bends/) - What starts as a flat, stackable, highly portable package expands more than ten times its original size when you pull on either end, bending and curling to become a sofa for a group. The Flexible Love Sofa and Chair are made from 100% recycled paper, yet they’re surprisingly strong, with the longer sofa holding up
- [Pop-Up Parking Garage & Rooftop Green Space Rises Higher When it Rains](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/04/pop-up-parking-garage-rooftop-green-space-rises-higher-when-it-rains/) - Stormwater flooding, too few places to park and a lack of green space are three of the main issues plaguing every major city, and this strange but kind of brilliant building concept attempts to solve all three at once. ‘POP-UP’ by Danish architecture firm THIRD NATURE places a five-level parking garage topped with a public
- [It’s Alive! 14 Algae-Powered Inventions for Food, Light, Energy & Oxygen](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/04/its-alive-14-algae-powered-inventions-for-food-light-energy-oxygen/) - If we could just get beyond pesky hiccups like catastrophic climate change and wanting to obliterate each other with nuclear weapons, we humans could learn from our mistakes and create a future that’s actually cooler and more sustainable than anything we dreamed up during the 20th century. Making the most of microalgae, one of the
- [Houses to Human Hearts: 13 Recent Breakthroughs in 3D-Printed Designs](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/02/houses-to-human-hearts-13-recent-breakthroughs-in-3d-printed-designs/) - When 3D printers are widely accessible and affordable, will we see another industrial revolution, enabling us to manufacture just about everything we need on demand? Progress made in 3D printing thus far looks promising. Designers, engineers, architects and even novices are printing everything from fully functional human hearts and custom biodegradable shoes to full-scale architecture
- [Prefab Plyscraper: World's Tallest Timber Building Tops Out at 173 Feet](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/26/prefab-plyscraper-worlds-tallest-timber-building-tops-out-at-173-feet/) - On the University of British Columbia's campus in Vancouver, a new record-setting wood structures highlights the many advantages of a growing trend: vertical timber construction. Brock Commons Tallwood House is the highest of its kind to date, providing housing for over 400 students. The Canadian firm behind its construction, Acton Ostry Architects Inc, says that using wood
- [Star Crossed: 10 More Abandoned Observatories](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/01/star-crossed-10-more-abandoned-observatories/) - These closed and abandoned astronomical observatories once gazed skyward into a star-spangled universe, revealing hidden wonders of time and space. Once.
- [Elegant Energy-Free Air Conditioner Can Drop Temperatures by 26 Degrees](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/28/elegant-energy-free-air-conditioner-can-drop-temperatures-by-26-degrees/) - At a glance, the honeycomb structure of terracotta tubes looks more like large-scale work of handmade sculpture than a highly designed air conditioner. Developed for an electronics factory in New Delhi, this evaporative cooling device requires no power to lower interior temperatures by as much as 26 degrees Fahrenheit. Designed by Ant Studio for DEKI Electronics in
- [Spiky Shipping Container Home Blooms Like a Flower in the Joshua Tree Desert](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/29/spiky-shipping-container-home-blooms-like-a-flower-in-the-joshua-tree-desert/) - Since shipping containers are made to be stacked, that’s how they’re usually arranged when reclaimed for architectural projects. It just makes sense, right? They fit together in a certain way. But architecture firm Whitaker Studio just smashed that convention in spectacular fashion with one of the most bonkers shipping container projects we’ve ever seen, and
- [Blooms: Hypnotizing 3D Printed Sculptures Come Alive Under Strobe Lights](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/27/blooms-hypnotizing-3d-printed-sculptures-come-alive-under-strobe-lights/) - It’s really easy to lose a chunk of your day getting lost in the hypnotizing effects of these trippy 3D-printed sculpture animations by artist John Edmark. Drawing from spiral patterns and numerical sequences often found in natural objects like pine cones, cacti, sunflowers and seashells, the objects seem to shift and change before your eyes
- [Starchitect Spotlight: 9 Wooden Wonders by Kengo Kuma & Associates](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/27/starchitect-spotlight-9-wooden-wonders-by-kengo-kuma-associates/) - Acclaimed Japanese architect Kengo Kuma brings traditional Japanese building techniques and aesthetics into the 21st century with dynamic structures making creative use of wooden elements. Known for his gridded installations and unusual ways of stacking and assembling small pieces of wood, the architect often works with joinery techniques that negate the need for any metal
- [MAD Architects Redesign Turns Ugly Paris Tower into Giant City-Scale Mirror](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/03/mad-architects-redesign-turns-ugly-paris-tower-into-giant-city-scale-mirror/) - Tall, dark and brooding, the infamous Maine-Montparnasse Tower is an unexciting skyscraper, especially by Parisian standards, but that could all change if MAD Architects converts it into a city-scale mirror. Their renovation proposal employs clever optical tricks to reflect and invert the surrounding cityscape. [youtube=kFIReJ9_fl8] When it was built, Montparnasse was the tallest building in France and
- [A New Spin: 125-Year-Old Windmill Turned into a Towering Guest House](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/14/a-new-spin-125-year-old-windmill-turned-into-a-towering-guest-house/) - From barns and sheds to windmills, rural farm structures have a habit of falling into disrepair when they cease to serve their old functions. In Suffolk, England, one such old structure has found new life as a guest house. Beech Architects saw the stump of an old windmill on the site as an opportunity to expand
- [Playful Kirigami: Touch-Activated Paper Animals Pop into Action](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/12/playful-kirigami-touch-activated-paper-animals-pop-into-action/) - Acting out scenes from storybooks or animating real activities, these deceptively simple-looking, folded-paper toys leap, bounce, roll and hatch into action when played with. Japanese designer Haruki Nakamura was inspired by the ancient art of kirigami, a variation on origami that involves cuts as well as folds, but takes it to the next level with
- [Sea Wall: Dark Multi-Story Mural Shows Stormy Waters on City Streets](https://weburbanist.com/2017/10/07/sea-wall-dark-multi-story-mural-shows-stormy-waters-on-city-streets/) - Lapping up the side of a three-story building in Kiev, Ukraine, this dark mural mixes blue and gray hues to capture dark waters and skies of the Black Sea. Originally from London and based in Cape Town, South Africa, artist Jake Aikman enjoys working on extreme and dramatic landscapes, from dark blue oceans to dark green forests and
- [Art of Deception: Pencil Drawings Look Like Colorful 3D Splashes of Paint](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/30/art-of-deception-pencil-drawings-look-like-colorful-3d-splashes-of-paint/) - Seeming to rise up off the canvass, a viewer would be impressed to discover these swaths of paint to be two-dimensional in nature, but then further shocked to realize the material isn't paint at all but pencil. Australian artist Cj Hendry has an eye for hyper-realism, but in this series: instead of using it to
- [Edgy Art: Fore-Edge Paintings Hidden in Historical Books](https://weburbanist.com/2013/10/08/edgy-art-fore-edge-paintings-hidden-in-historical-books/) - Invisible at a glance, artists have long hidden fore-edge artwork in plain sight, resulting in works that are sometimes first spotted decades or even centuries after their creation. What looks like a plain gold-gilt surface on the shelf can unfold to reveal a rich and colorful surprise. The four examples directly below come from Colleen
- [SYMBIOZ: Renault’s Autonomous Car Integrates Into a Matching Residence](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/25/symbioz-renaults-autonomous-car-integrates-into-a-matching-residence/) - In the future, will our autonomous vehicles simply sit within our homes like a part of the living space, eliminating the need for garages and parking spots? Probably not. At least, not for most of us. Concepts like the new SYMBIOZ car and house combo are clearly made for the richest among us, and it’s
- [Lush Life: 12 Verdant Architecture Projects Making Plants a Main Priority](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/25/lush-life-12-verdant-architecture-projects-making-plants-a-main-priority/) - Not all architecture incorporating lots of living greenery is doomed to remain an unrealistic rendering, depicting buildings that can't structurally support the weight of all the soil and water needed to keep full-sized trees alive. Architect Thomas Heatherwick built ultra-strong concrete pillars into his 1000 Trees design, for example. Other buildings take a subtler approach,
- [Bar The Rays: 15 Closed & Abandoned Tanning Salons](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/24/bar-the-rays-15-closed-abandoned-tanning-salons/) - These closed and abandoned tanning salons, spas and studios made hay while the sun didn't shine but sooner or later they (and their clients) felt the burn.
- [Mobile E-Home: Solar-Powered Electric Motorhome Recharges on the Road](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/21/mobile-e-home-solar-powered-electric-motorhome-recharges-on-the-road/) - Electric vehicles are often limited by recharge options, a design problem this Dethleffs camper tackles with solar panels and German engineering. Their E.Home concept vehicle has a maximum range of over 170 miles but can potentially run indefinitely (at least by day) thanks to over 300 square feet of thin solar film covering most the
- [Incredible Grain Silo Transformation: Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/22/incredible-grain-silo-transformation-museum-of-contemporary-art-africa/) - 106 vertical concrete tubes making up a massive disused grain silo in Cape Town, South Africa are sliced and carved from the inside out to produce cathedral-like spaces in this incredible transformation. Architect Thomas Heatherwick and his firm contrasted the cold, aging industrial appearance of the complex with faceted glass and organic shapes for a
- [Mobile Micro-Lending: 17th-Century Book-Shaped Library Hides 50 Tiny Books](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/09/mobile-micro-lending-17th-century-book-shaped-library-hides-50-tiny-books/) - Back in the 1600s, long before science fiction authors dreamed up digital e-readers, this Jacobean traveling library was making the rounds, housing dozens of small books in a larger book-shaped case. Bound in leather like a large folio volume, it is thought to be one of the first of its kind. The handcrafted wooden shell
- [Zero-Carbon, All Bamboo Sports Hall Features Organic 50-Foot Trusses](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/19/zero-carbon-all-bamboo-sports-hall-features-organic-50-foot-trusses/) - A new sports hall in Thailand highlights the aesthetic power and physical strength of bamboo, a flexible and fast-growing natural material. In total, more carbon is captured in the bamboo than was used to treat, transport and use it for construction, rendering its carbon footprint neutral. Located at the Panyaden International School in the Chiang Mai
- [3D-Printed Muscle Straight Out of ‘Westworld’ Makes Robots More Realistic](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/20/3d-printed-muscle-straight-out-of-westworld-makes-robots-more-realistic/) - If you watched HBO’s ‘Westworld’ earlier this year, you probably remember the scenes where the nascent humanoid robots were strung up on circular frames like Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Vitruvian Man,’ with machines printing white muscle fibers onto their skeletons. While the process of constructing androids doesn’t quite resemble this sci-fi vision just yet, it’s surprisingly
- [Concrete Like You’ve Never Seen It:  15 Unexpected Furniture & Object Designs](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/20/concrete-like-youve-never-seen-it-15-unexpected-furniture-object-designs/) - Concrete might typically be cold, hard, impersonal and impermeable, but treat it right and it'll soften right up into surprisingly comfortable, accessible and usable everyday items, from pens and iPhone skins to rocking chairs and squishy-looking seating. Cast it from pillowy molds, 3D-print it in squiggles, brush it onto highly detailed objects, impregnate it into
- [Like a Music Festival, Minus the Dirt: Social Hostel Offers Indoor Camping](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/18/like-a-music-festival-minus-the-dirt-social-hostel-offers-indoor-camping/) - If you love the sense of community at multi-day outdoor music festivals like Glastonbury, Coachella and Bonnaroo but hate the mud, dust, noise and filthy porta-potties, this hostel was designed just for you. Cao Pu Studio designed ‘Together Hostel’ as an indoor camping experience, with guests staying in translucent individual ‘tents’ under a common roof.
- [Pop-Up Pavilions: 15 Playful Temporary Architecture Installations](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/18/pop-up-pavilions-15-playful-temporary-architecture-installations/) - Pavilions are like playgrounds for architects and designers, allowing them to show off what they can do when they really set their imaginations free. Unfettered by the typical limitations of a permanent structure, they can experiment with new materials and processes, potentially producing innovations they can apply to other structures. These pavilions are often subversive
- [Ford Disguised a Person as a Seat to Test How We React to Driverless Cars](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/15/ford-disguised-a-person-as-a-seat-to-test-how-we-react-to-driverless-cars/) - A Ford van zooming around the Washington D.C. area last month, seemingly without a human in the driver’s seat, wasn’t self-driving after all: it was a man in a ‘seat suit.’ A fake driverless car might seem like a weird experiment, especially considering the fact that there’s an entire fake town for testing self-driving vehicles
- [Greek Gods Graffiti: Classically Styled Street Art by Spanish Duo PichiAvo](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/13/greek-gods-graffiti-classically-styled-street-art-by-spanish-duo-pichiavo/) - Greek gods and other figures from antiquity tower over a very different world from the one in which they were born, entwined with contemporary graffiti on building facades and other urban surfaces across the globe. The style of PichiAvo, a Spanish street art duo composed of individuals nicknamed Pichi and Avo, is undeniably distinctive, taking
- [For the Love of STEM: 20+ Edible Creations Inspired by Math & Science](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/13/for-the-love-of-stem-20-edible-creations-inspired-by-math-science/) - Science, technology, engineering and mathematics rarely get more delicious than this, illustrated and replicated in the form of solid chocolate, sugar crystals, fondant icing, pancakes and even bagels. Wouldn't you want to take a bite out of an anatomically correct life-sized human skull, a 3D representation of kinetic movement, a Rubik's cube, a Hubble Telescope
- [Moving Performances: 50 Outdoor Mini-Plays Staged for Passing Trains](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/12/moving-performances-50-outdoor-mini-plays-staged-for-passing-trains/) - Turning the local landscape into an outdoor theater set, hundreds of volunteers in Germany's Saale Valley staged a series of live performances for the viewing pleasure of train passengers zipping by. Spanning nearly 20 miles, the Bewegtes Land (or "Moving Land") project featured a series of fast-moving vignette pieces designed to entertain and amuse, featuring
- [Swiss Army Bed: The Ultimate Modular & Multifunctional Furniture Design](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/16/swiss-army-bed-the-ultimate-modular-multifunctional-furniture-design/) - It's hard to imagine a more flexible and functional piece of furniture to spend a third of your life in than this one from Singapore, featuring an array of creature comforts and high-tech customizations. USB ports and plugs tie into charging and speaker systems for lounging around with tunes and devices, while an optional massage chair
- [Cooling Cities: L.A. is Painting Streets White to Combat Heat Island Effects](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/14/cooling-cities-l-a-is-painting-streets-white-to-combat-heat-island-effects/) - Thanks in part to heat-absorbing materials and colors, cities tend to be warmer than their natural surroundings, and in hot places with lots of dark roads like Los Angeles that can prove a serious public health hazard.The mayor has pledged to reduce temperatures in the city by 3 degrees over the next 20 years, in
- [A Toddler Peers Over the US-Mexico Border Fence for JR’s Latest Installation](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/11/a-toddler-peers-over-the-us-mexico-border-wall-for-jrs-latest-installation/) - Set on scaffolding just across the rust-red fence marking the border between Tecate, California and Mexico, street artist JR’s latest installation is a towering statement on immigration issues in the United States. A one-year-old boy named Kikito peers over to the other side with all the innocence and naiveté of childhood, just days after the
- [A Few Steps Higher: 14 Unusually Artistic Modern Staircase Designs](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/11/a-few-steps-higher-14-unusually-artistic-modern-staircase-designs/) - Stairs are inherently utilitarian, but some architects choose to really step up their interiors with highly sculptural designs that make you want to walk up and down a bunch of times. Cantilevered creations, floating stairs, spirals made of stone and zig-zagging graphic designs add both literal and figurative movement to these apartments, museums, offices and
- [Book Box Bonanza : 12 Freaky Little Free Libraries](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/10/book-box-bonanza-12-freaky-little-free-libraries/) - Since 2009 over 50,000 Little Free Library book exchange boxes have sprung up on lawns worldwide, though some are worthy of a surprised second glance.
- [Lego’s Largest and Most Expensive Kit Ever is an $800 Millennium Falcon](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/08/legos-largest-and-most-expensive-kit-ever-is-an-800-millennium-falcon/) - You don’t get a sense of just how large and complex Lego’s latest kit really is until you see it someone’s arms, or taking up the entire table surface in front of them. A gift for true enthusiasts of both the toy brick company and Star Wars, the Ultimate Collectors Series Millennium Falcon is the
- [Pencil Art: 50+ Sculptures Explore the Hidden Beauty of Utilitarian Objects](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/04/pencil-art-50-sculptures-explore-the-hidden-beauty-of-this-utilitarian-object/) - A pencil is usually a tool, but what happens when artists subvert its common usage, transforming it into a medium for sculpting instead? Extraordinary sculpting skills paired with a steady hand and a magnifying glass make it possible to carve amazingly tiny figures out of the pencil's lead. Some artists see flowers or portraits in
- [You’ll Never Want to Leave This All-in-One Bed Full of Gadgets & Storage](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/06/youll-never-want-to-leave-this-all-in-one-bed-full-of-gadgets-storage/) - Blow-up dolls and boyfriend-shaped body pillows may make you feel a little less lonely, but they can’t give you a massage - unlike this multifunctional bed that performs so many functions, you half-expect it to cook you breakfast in the morning. Sold by a variety of Asian retailers for roughly $600 USD, including SG Shop
- [Somewhere Outside of Time: 13 Classic Retro-Futuristic Architectural Visions](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/06/somewhere-outside-of-time-13-classic-retro-futuristic-architectural-visions/) - Retro-futuristic architecture seems to exist outside of time, perhaps in parallel universes where the versions of the future envisioned by their creators actually became reality. They combine design elements from the decades in which they were built with futuristic elements as the architects imagined them, recalling the science fiction of their respective eras, often seeming
- [Sending Summer Off With a Bang: 55-Foot-Tall Sand Castle Snags World Record](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/04/sending-summer-off-with-a-bang-55-foot-tall-sand-castle-snags-world-record/) - It’s virtually impossible to get a sense of just how large this world-record-smashing sand castle really is until you see a shot that includes crowds of tiny humans gathered around its base. The German city of Duisburg may be landlocked, but that hasn’t stopped it from hosting an enormous sandcastle building effort two summers in
- [Grand Slammed: Closed & Abandoned Denny's Restaurants](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/03/grand-slammed-closed-abandoned-dennys-restaurants/) - Denny's has been a powerhouse of fast-casual family dining for over 60 years with over 1,600 restaurants but even Denny's has to close some time.
- [While Waiting for Hyperloop, Sleep Through Long Drives on Cabin Buses](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/01/while-waiting-for-hyperloop-sleep-through-long-drives-on-cabin-buses/) - Someday, we’ll supposedly be able to zoom from one city to the next in no time flat thanks to the Hyperloop, but that day is not today. Elon Musk’s high-speed transit system Hyperloop One has been successfully tested, and promises to cut the 400-mile trip between Los Angeles and San Francisco down to just 30
- [No Windows, No Problem: These 12 Houses Are Bright, Beautiful & Private](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/30/no-windows-no-problem-these-12-houses-are-bright-beautiful-private/) - Windowless houses might sound dark and depressing, but the careful control of apertures in a building’s facade can actually be a brilliant technique for enhancing privacy, making views more pleasant and creating the feel of a secluded sanctuary. Fortress-like from the outside, they're surprisingly bright and airy inside, often thanks to courtyards, terraces and rear
- [Secrets in the Shadows: Urban Objects Transformed with Sidewalk Paint](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/28/secrets-in-the-shadows-urban-objects-transformed-with-sidewalk-paint/) - You might not even notice there’s anything unusual about these shadows until you’re right up on them, wondering why in the world a mailbox looks like a grinning monster, fearing that somebody slipped you a psychedelic drug. There’s nothing wrong with your perception of the world. You’re just lucky enough to spot one of Damon
- [Starchitect Spotlight: 10 Iconic Architectural Projects by Herzog & de Meuron](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/28/starchitect-spotlight-10-iconic-architectural-projects-by-herzog-de-meuron/) - Based in Basel, Switzerland, the architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron is known for dramatic, monumental Modernist structures free of frivolity, expanding over the years from simple geometric silhouettes to more complex and dynamic shapes. Each of their buildings is almost like an oversized sculpture, some rising high above street level or cantilevering at striking
- [Advertising Giants: America's Amazing Muffler Men](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/27/advertising-giants-americas-amazing-muffler-men/) - Before Mad Men there were Muffler Men – 20-foot tall fiberglass statues cast in the thousands to advertise roadside businesses from coast to coast.
- [Mobile Urbanism: Wheeled Benches & Planters Let Public Reconfigure Square](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/07/mobile-urbanism-wheeled-benches-planters-let-public-reconfigure-square/) - A former parking has become a Green Oasis in front of Poznan, Poland's city hall, but beyond providing seating and greenery the redesign adds another key element: effectively endless flexibility. Custom-created benches and planters (filled with an array of taller trees and shorter flora) create a system of mobile street furniture that can be configured in
- [Spatial Calligraphy: Projected Light Animates Picturesque Japanese Landscape](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/05/spatial-calligraphy-projected-light-animates-picturesque-japanese-landscape/) - Over a dozen installations are bringing Japan's 5,000,0000-square-foot Mifuneyama Rakuen to life, combining nature with cultural traditions and modern technology in dazzling and moving ways. Designed by TeamLab, this exhibition incorporates a sweeping landscape of lakes, mountains and forests as well as ancient structures, some predating the park (which itself is nearly 200 years old).
- [World's Largest Bicycle Parking Garage Stores Over 6,000 Rides in the Netherlands](https://weburbanist.com/2017/09/02/worlds-largest-bicycle-parking-garage-stores-over-6000-rides-in-the-netherlands/) - The Netherlands, where bikes outnumber citizens, is well known for its cycle-centric transportation infrastructure. In Utrecht, over 100,000 cyclists ride through the city every day, connecting between home, school, work and public transportation. Now open, this newly-built bicycle parking lot can already house 6,000 rides at a time, but is aiming to more than double
- [Alien Architecture: Modern Buildings Recast as Extraterrestrial Ships](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/31/alien-architecture-modern-buildings-recast-as-extraterrestrial-ships/) - Composition, color and contrast and go a long way toward reframing photographic subjects, in this case: making familiar architectural forms seem like parts of dark and looming alien spaceships. German photographer Lars Stieger has a knack for capturing ordinary building surfaces, materials and details and rendering them uncanny, especially in this Spaceships series photographed across
- [World's First Interactive, Multi-View Hologram Table for Designers & Gamers](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/26/worlds-first-interactive-multi-view-hologram-table-for-designers-gamers/) - A new hologram table has its sights set on the ultimate prize: an interactive and immersive experience that can shared from multiple angles by different users, all without clunky headgear. [youtube=GjPWk0UhKDQ] Developed by Euclideon Holographics and retailing for just shy of $50,000, the table lets up to four people interface simultaneously with augmented reality images. Motion-tracking glasses are
- [Cellular Urbanism: Analyzing the Anatomy of Functional City Block Designs](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/29/cellular-urbanism-analyzing-the-anatomy-of-functional-city-block-designs/) - We all understand intuitively that different urban layouts lead to different kinds of cities, but a new book analyzes these on a block-to-block basis to illustrate how this civic anatomy works on a cellular level. In Urban Being: Anatomy & Identity of the City, Robin Renner uses anatomical-style classifications to look at urban landscapes through
- [Gyroscopic Public Transit Concept Hovers Above Traffic at Varying Heights](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/25/gyroscopic-public-transit-concept-hovers-above-traffic-at-varying-heights/) - In this strange vision of a city in the not-so-distant future, disc-shaped public transit, emergency vehicles and cargo vehicles rise up above traffic on vertical supports to zoom through the streets unimpeded, lowering to the ground at designated stops. Created by designer Dahir Insaat, ‘Gyroscopic Transport’ looks like an alternate take on China’s traffic-straddling bus
- [Ghost Ship: Wire Mesh Sails Make an Eerie Sight in Italy’s Bay of Sapri](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/23/ghost-ship-wire-mesh-sails-make-an-eerie-sight-in-italys-bay-of-sapri/) - A ghostly ship sails through the Bay of Sapri in Southern Italy, just translucent enough for onlookers to doubt whether they’re imagining it, its silhouette obscured by a jumble of rectilinear columns. The latest wire mesh masterwork by artist Edoardo Tresoldi, ‘Locus’ is a collaboration with Italian musician IOSONOUNCANE, bringing sculpture and music together in
- [Wilderness Huts for Backcountry Glamour: 15 Not-So-Rustic Retreats](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/23/wilderness-huts-for-backcountry-glamour-15-not-so-rustic-retreats/) - If you've got an appetite for backcountry exploration but hate setting up tents, perhaps a more comfortable wilderness hut would be a better fit. Designs for home-like retreats in remote locations range from minimalist sci-fi sleeping pods to luxurious vacation properties with modest exteriors that retain the feel of a homesteader's cabin, and they're often
- [Secret Studio: Suspended Mobile Room Slides & Hides Under Busy Overpass](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/24/secret-studio-suspended-mobile-room-slides-hides-under-busy-overpass/) - Designer Fernando Abellanas has built a remarkable micro-dwelling in Valencia, Spain, that slides into position under a bridge, suspended safely out of sight from the traffic passing by above. The clever construction of the room's frame allows it to roll over tilted sections of beam, making its way between a lofted and secluded position and
- [Light Capsules: Projections Bring Building-Side 'Ghost Signs' Back to Life](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/22/light-capsules-projections-bring-building-side-ghost-signs-back-to-life/) - Exposed to the elements, hand-painted signs on building exteriors chip, crack and fade over time, but one artist is shining a spotlight on these historic illustrations, restoring them through animated and layered projections. Craig Winslow is meticulous about his work on "Light Capsules," digging through archived newspapers, magazines and photographs to find ads showing what
- [Eclipsing Belief: 8 Rare and Amazing Astronomic Objects & Events](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/21/eclipsing-belief-8-rare-and-amazing-astronomic-objects-events/) - We don’t even need to go searching for signs of aliens to find incredibly bizarre and unexplainable objects and events in outer space, from a ‘black widow’ pulsar that’s devouring its own mate to a lonely rogue planet doomed to wander alone for all eternity. Now that we’ve witnessed 2017’s much-hyped total solar eclipse, which
- [8-Bitten: Space Invaders Street Art Tells Tile Tales](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/20/8-bitten-space-invaders-street-art-tells-tile-tales/) - Urban street artist Invader has installed tile mosaics modeled after Space Invaders 8-bit video game characters in over 30 countries over the past 20 years.
- [Deadly Pleasures: The Devil’s in the Details of These Dark Miniature Scenes](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/18/deadly-pleasures-the-devils-in-the-details-of-these-dark-miniature-scenes/) - Every dumb thing we humans do in this modern-day ‘civilized’ world is laid out in excruciating detail in these miniature scenes by artist Frank Kunert - not to mention our fears and anxieties. A row of public toilets is placed on a stage so strangers can watch you poop. A bride and groom poise at the end
- [The Bizarre, Chaotic Geometry of a Frank Gehry Building in Progress](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/16/the-bizarre-chaotic-geometry-of-a-frank-gehry-building-in-progress/) - Depending on how you feel about Frank Gehry’s work, this building in progress could either be fascinating, monstrous or a combination of both. But it’s hard to argue with the fact that seeing the bones of such a complex structure is more interesting than the renderings of the finished building, which is another of the
- [Happier Campers: Take Your Gear to a New Level With These 15 Innovations](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/16/happier-campers-take-your-gear-to-a-new-level-with-these-15-innovations/) - Elevate your camping style with the latest high-performance gear like twig-burning stoves, tree tents, bear-proof coolers and portable loungers. These major upgrades will keep you dry, warm, fed and comfortable no matter how rugged your destination, even when you're traveling on foot instead of in a DIY RV, fancy pop-up car tent or luxuriously equipped
- [Compact CityTree: Vertical Micro-Garden Packs a Forest's Worth of Green Benefits](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/17/compact-citytree-vertical-micro-garden-packs-a-forests-worth-of-green-benefits/) - Packing the environmental impact of as many as 275 actual urban trees, these multi-functional CityTree units are dense and efficient fighters of urban air pollution (the single largest environmental health risk). Each CityTree can remove 240 metric tons of CO2 per year, as much as a small forest. Developed by Green City Solutions in Berlin,
- [Inflatable Interventions: Soft Spikes Bring Roofless Ruins Back to Life](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/15/inflatable-interventions-soft-spikes-bring-roofless-ruins-back-to-life/) - A series of architectural installations in Scotland contrast sharply with the centuries-old stone architecture and natural landscapes, featuring spiky white inflatables filling in aged cracks and gaps. Titled XXX, these designs by Steven Messam add movement to Mellerstain’s House and the surrounding gardens -- they are the first part of a series of contemporary exhibitions planned
- [Oru Origami-Inspired Folding Kayak is Back with an Updated Design](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/14/oru-origami-inspired-folding-kayak-is-back-with-an-updated-design/) - City dwellers with small apartments and limited storage can now own a kayak that folds up into a suitcase-sized package perfect for toting on your bike or public transit. The Oru Kayak originally debuted on Kickstarter in 2012, and every few years since then, they’ve released an updated model, with their lineup including the casual
- [Bold Bamboo: 8 Dramatic Organic Structures by Chiangmai Life Architects](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/14/bold-bamboo-8-dramatic-organic-structures-by-chiangmai-life-architects/) - With the completion of their latest project, a spectacular sports hall made of prefabricated bamboo trusses, Thai firm Chiangmai Life Construction (CLC) shows off the stunning architectural possibilities of this natural, inexpensive and sustainable material. But it’s far from the only incredible bamboo structure they’ve designed and built, and they’re here to prove that bamboo
- [Blade Rollers: 11 Retro-Style Knife Sharpener Vans](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/13/blade-rollers-11-retro-style-knife-sharpener-vans/) - Charming and quaint hand-painted knife sharpener vans are one of the few remaining holdouts from the golden age of hand-delivered household services.
- [Cones on Poles: Field Guide to Elevated Traffic Cones in Everyday Contexts](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/10/cones-on-poles-field-guide-to-elevated-traffic-cones-in-everyday-contexts/) - Like some many things in the built environment, once you start noticing cones on poles you will see them everywhere -- Cones on Poles, an "unofficial sequel" to The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal by Matt McCormick, explores "the strange phenomena of people placing cones on poles and other elevated places." What started out as a
- [Calm & Centered: Cemetery Tunnel Trek Reveals Huge Hill-Wrapped Buddha](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/12/calm-centered-cemetery-tunnel-trek-reveals-huge-hill-wrapped-buddha/) - A massive landscape intervention near Sapporo, Japan by architect Tadao Ando both conceals and reveals a 40-foot statue of the Buddha in the midst of a rural cemetery. [youtube=qQkycy8oAlk] The designer was tasked with highlighting the scale of the figure -- rather than setting it against something smaller, though, he surrounded the sculpture with a gently
- [Avian Palaces: Traditional Ottoman Bird Houses are Miniature Masterpieces](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/07/for-the-birds-ottoman-style-miniature-palaces-house-our-feathered-friends/) - Istanbul takes bird houses very seriously, and always has - seriously enough to attach palatial digs for feathered residents to their own human-sized buildings. In fact, the oldest known bird house in Istanbul can still be spotted on the side of the Büyükçekmece Bridge, dating back to the 16th century. The charters for new mosques often
- [Downloadable Deco: Art Archive Puts 200 Graphic Design Classics Online](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/08/downloadable-deco-art-archive-puts-200-graphic-design-classics-online/) - Some great institutions are becoming even greater in the digital age -- places like museums continue to scan high-quality paintings and photographs for distribution and agencies like NASA put vintage pictures and video footage online for everyone to access. Joining the cool kids' club, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) has taken its
- [Messages in the Sand: 12 Great Guerrilla Ads at the Beach & the River](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/07/messages-in-the-sand-12-great-guerrilla-ads-at-the-beach-river-banks/) - The beach is one big billboard for companies looking to surreptitiously market their products, from Game of Thrones to Jim Beam, which would be annoying if most of these guerrilla installations weren't so fun. Plus, some of these site-specific seaside installations are the work of mysterious anonymous artists, or organizations raising awareness for issues like
- [Warming Signs: Clet Abraham Rewrites Rules Of The Road](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/06/warming-signs-clet-abraham-rewrites-rules-of-the-road/) - Guerrilla street artist Clet Abraham may be the Banksy of the boulevard, hacking road signs with stickers and encouraging people to question authority.
- [Cylinder House: This Residence is Just a Cluster of Glass Tubes](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/11/cylinder-house-this-residence-is-just-a-cluster-of-glass-tubes/) - You know those glass tubes at the bank drive-through that shoot your deposits and withdrawals back and forth between you and the tellers? This house is like living in a cluster of them. Sadly, they’re not full of money, but it’s still pretty cool. ‘Cylinder House’ by lead architect Cyril Lancelin of the firm Town
- [Splitting Bricks: Architectural Art Installation Tears a London Building Apart](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/09/splitting-bricks-architectural-art-installation-tears-a-london-building-apart/) - A London building appears to have fallen victim to an earthquake tremor or foundation collapse, with a jagged section of its brick facade split in half and threatening to collapse altogether. But the deteriorating appearance of this otherwise pristine structure isn’t quite what it seems. Artist Alex Chinneck used 4,000 bricks to create the effect
- [World’s Longest Pedestrian Suspension Bridge Stretches Over 1,000 Feet](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/04/worlds-longest-pedestrian-suspension-bridge-stretches-over-1000-feet/) - Three hundred feet above the valley floor, a suspension bridge gently sways and bobs as pedestrians cross its 1,621-foot length through the Swiss Alps. These impressive stats have helped the Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge in Switzerland break previous records, making it the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world. Sure, the glass-floored bridge in China
- [Anime Architecture: Exhibition Showcases Japan’s Fictional Buildings](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/02/anime-architecture-exhibition-showcases-japans-fictional-buildings/) - Visions of fictional cities - whether optimistic, realistic, fantastical or dystopian - tend to take on a haze of mystery and grandiosity in Japanese anime, as epitomized in 'Ghost in the Shell.' Dark jumbles of nearly-identical skyscrapers lurk over the protagonists in futuristic metropolises, often emphasizing feelings of desolation, industrialization and technology run amok. If
- [Art of Wearable Tech: 10 Fashionable Designs Help with Fun, Sex & Self-Defense](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/02/art-of-wearable-tech-10-fashionable-designs-help-with-fun-sex-self-defense/) - Not all wearable tech has to be a tiny smartphone on your wrist or a device that tracks how many steps you've taken - it can also record your memories as you see them, visibly react to your emotions, flirt with people on your behalf, warn others they're invading your personal space or even measure
- [Plug & Plop: Urban Add-Ons Turn Street-Side Bollards into Seats & Tables](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/05/plug-plop-urban-add-ons-turn-street-side-bollards-into-seats-tables/) - Designed to act as barriers, bollards are a common sight in cities around the world -- but what if they could engage rather than just separate? This series of simple additions from Teratoma dubbed PLUG A SEAT aim to transform (or at least extend) the function of the bollard, converting rows of columns into arrays of
- [Future Fonts: Tracing the Role of Typography in Science Fiction in Films](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/03/future-fonts-tracing-the-role-of-typography-in-science-fiction-in-films/) - Whether intentionally retro, as in Stranger Things, or overtly futuristic, as in RoboCop, the role of typography in a movie goes well past the title, subtly but powerfully shaping the world viewers are invited to experience. Dave Addey, author and creator of Typeset in the Future, is as meticulous as he is obsessed, analyzing appearances of
- [California City: The Half-Built Desert Metropolis of the Golden State](https://weburbanist.com/2017/08/01/california-city-the-half-built-desert-metropolis-of-the-golden-state/) - It's the third-largest city in California by land area but most people (including many in CA) have never even heard of this mostly-empty desert oasis, home to around 15,000 people. It's not quite a city, but not quite a ghost town either. [youtube=gO3LUhFwx6k] Visiting the area is a bit surreal - roads running through its
- [Where Gods Live: Forest Environment Enhanced by Live Digital Projections](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/31/where-gods-live-forest-environment-enhanced-by-live-digital-projections/) - As if forests aren’t magical enough already, the Japanese art/technology collective Teamlab will be live-projecting their signature transforming visuals onto the surfaces of Mifuneyama Rakuen Park, giving visitors the feeling of being on an alien planet. ‘Forest Where Gods Live’ is a collection of individual installations with names like ‘Ever Blossoming Life Rock,’ Drawing on
- [Rethinking the Refugee Camp: 8 Architectural Proposals for Asylum Seekers](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/31/rethinking-the-refugee-camp-8-architectural-proposals-for-asylum-seekers/) - Refugees fleeing the worst humanitarian crises of our time don't just need tents - they need safe and stable long-term housing, a sense of community, access to transitional resources and plans for permanent integration into existing cities. Smart and sensitive design solutions may play just one small role in addressing the crisis, but they can
- [NYC Transformed: Graffiti Artist Turns Urban Objects into 3D Cartoons](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/28/nyc-transformed-graffiti-artist-turns-urban-objects-into-3d-cartoons/) - No street grate, pipe, manhole cover, stack of barrels or concrete blob on the beach is too random and irregular to be transformed into a lighthearted cartoon. Street artist Tom Bob looks for the potential in every alleyway, every sidewalk - seeing all sorts of creatures and scenes and bringing them to life in his
- [Vape Trails: 12 Hot Vape Shops & E-Cigarette Retailers](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/30/vape-trails-12-hot-vape-shops-e-cigarette-retailers/) - E-cigarette and vaping supply shops have sprouted up like mushrooms in recent years but when it comes to branding, this youthful industry is still in a fog.
- [Call of Nature: Waterfront Step Organ in Croatia Turn Waves into Tunes](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/20/call-of-nature-waterfront-step-organ-in-croatia-turn-waves-into-tunes/) - This 230-foot-long musical instrument contains 35 organ pipes and is powered by the Adriatic Sea, producing sounds for visitors that seem eerily composed rather than random. Whistle holes cut into the stone steps are 'powered' by air pushed in by waves of water, creating chords that are strikingly harmonious in nature. The sounds are constantly
- [Robot Fails: 12 Times Supposedly Intelligent Machines Screwed Up](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/26/robot-fails-12-times-supposedly-intelligent-machines-screwed-up/) - If you’re down about the oncoming dystopia in which robots take all of our jobs before we’ve structurally reorganized society to support ourselves, enjoy a few moments of smug comfort in these videos of supposedly advanced machines falling, spilling coffee, arguing with each other like old couples and committing suicide in fountains. They'll give you
- [Now with More Minimalism: Brandless Brand Trademarks Bland White Boxes](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/27/now-with-more-minimalism-brandless-brand-trademarks-bland-white-boxes/) - Viral Silicon Valley controversies like those revolving around Juicero (a device that squeezed out juice) and Lyft (which seems to be reinventing the bus) are often held us as examples of how innovators are out of touch, which leads us to Brandless, a brand that is apparently reinventing minimalist packaging -- the kind of thing
- [Revitalizing the L.A. River: 7 Architects Envision Fresh Uses for Old Waterway](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/25/revitalizing-the-l-a-river-7-architects-envision-fresh-uses-for-old-waterway/) - The Los Angeles river changes dramatically as it snakes into and through the city, and these different design proposals carry that legacy forward while envisioning new, user-friendly, flexible and sustainable nodes of activity. The L.A. River Downtown Design Dialogue celebrates ten years of working to revitalized areas and create connections along the river's route. Currently, this often-dry river,
- [Tooth Or Consequences: 15 Dodgy Dental Labs](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/23/tooth-or-consequences-15-dodgy-dental-labs/) - Come up to the dental lab, and see what's on the dental slab: these dental labs will definitely leave you shivering, tho' NOT with antici... pation.
- [The Art of Tech Living: Amsterdam’s Urban Campsite Lets You Sleep in Sculptures](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/24/the-art-of-tech-living-amsterdams-urban-campsite-lets-you-sleep-in-sculptures/) - Every year, Amsterdam’s Centrumeiland of Ijburg hosts ‘Urban Campsite,’ a public exhibition of sculptural habitats allowing local residents and tourists can spend the night in mobile sculptures. Designers, artists and architects are invited to create cool structures that are way more interesting than the average tent and install them at Science Park, a new area
- [No More Ugly Apartment Buildings: 13 Designs Refreshing the Paradigm](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/24/no-more-ugly-apartment-buildings-13-designs-refreshing-the-paradigm/) - Apartment buildings are typically so hideous, it’s kind of exhausting. A structure with some measure of character gets knocked down in a prominent spot and before locals dare to dream that something cool might go up in its place, there’s another boring old block of apartments (or worse yet, condos) adding to the dull architectural
- [Swim on the Subway: Taipei Train Cars Transformed into Sports Venues](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/21/swim-on-the-subway-taipei-train-cars-transformed-into-sports-venues/) - Subway cars in Taipei have become swimming pools, basketball courts, baseball fields and track lanes to get residents amped for the upcoming 2017 Summer Universiade, an international multi-sport event for university athletes. While the installations mostly consist of photorealistic photographic murals stuck onto the floors, the illusion comes together pretty nicely, especially in the case
- [Disney’s Star Wars Hotel Will Make Each Guest a Character with a Storyline](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/19/disneys-star-wars-hotel-will-turn-each-guest-into-a-character-with-a-storyline/) - Fans visiting Disney World's upcoming Star Wars Land expansion, set to open in 2019, will have the opportunity to immerse themselves even more deeply into the fictional universe in an almost Westworld-style experience. At its D23 Expo in Los Angeles this week, Disney announced a new Star Wars-themed hotel where every window will offer views
- [Out of This World Architecture: 16 Real Buildings Inspired by Science Fiction](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/19/out-of-this-world-architecture-16-real-buildings-inspired-by-science-fiction/) - From a Star Wars-inspired house in South Korea to a blob-shaped 'friendly alien' museum in Austria, these structures make no attempts to hide the sci-fi sources of their inspiration. All 16 of these futuristic buildings are completed or in progress - not just concept art - including flying saucers, pavilions that quiver in the wind,
- [Cheap Seats: Sculptural Furniture Showroom Facade Made of 900 Black Chairs](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/18/cheap-seats-sculptural-furniture-showroom-facade-made-of-900-black-chairs/) - Using cheap and repetitive materials sounds like a recipe for kitsch, but this furniture-oriented facade clad in generic black chairs (at around $5.00 USD a piece) manages to pull off an elegant and refined look. The clients, MY DVA (a furniture company), were looking for something additive, layered onto the existing bland building, but also reflecting
- [Faux Photoshop in 3D: Artists ‘Erase’ Graffitied Car with Transparency Pattern](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/17/faux-photoshop-in-3d-artists-erase-graffitied-car-with-transparency-pattern/) - A crew of artists found a new way to ‘clean up’ graffiti in a public place by simply erasing a car and dumpster from a street in Russia using the old familiar Photoshop transparency pattern. Called CTRL+X, the piece was created as part of the Stenograffia street art festival, and carrying it out was simple
- [10 Subterranean Museums Reclaiming Abandoned Mines, Tunnels, Cellars & Docks](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/17/10-subterranean-museums-reclaiming-abandoned-mines-tunnels-cellars-docks/) - Disused subterranean spaces like former mines, quarries, tunnels, bunkers and catacombs can offer just the right combination of spaciousness, moodiness, natural drama and a sense of gravity to house museums and other places of learning. Often making use of raw, rocky walls, cavernous proportions and the temperature-regulating insulation of the earth, these underground museums give
- [Buildings as Backdrops: Playful Photography Humanizes Built Environments](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/15/buildings-as-backdrops-playful-photography-humanizes-built-environments/) - People often play a small part in architectural photography and renderings - not so in this series of travel photographs, which would lovely but otherwise unremarkable without clever human inclusions. Anna Devis and Daniel Rueda are a design-minded couple, one an illustrator and the other an architect. And they have taken their creative sensibilities on
- [No Quarter: Parking Meters Pimped To Perfection](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/16/no-quarter-parking-meters-pimped-to-perfection/) - It's time to pay tribute to parking meters, those metal “trees” of the concrete jungle that have collected billions of coins over eight decades of service.
- [Mattest & Flattest: Blackest Paint You Can Buy Turns Solids into Voids](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/13/mattest-flattest-blackest-paint-you-can-buy-turns-solids-into-voids/) - In a weird ongoing war over the blackest black and pinkest pink in the world, a new contender has hit the market -- and unlike Vantablack, anyone can purchase some to make really dark artwork (great for black holes!). Stuart Semple's blackest salvo to date in this pigment war is Black 2.0, which can create
- [Slow-Motion Demolition: Expanding Agent Cracks Concrete from Within](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/16/slow-motion-demolition-expanding-agent-cracks-concrete-from-within/) - Going forward, buildings may not need to go out with a bang if this "non-explosive cracking agent" takes off. The destructive action is quieter and potentially cleaner way to take out structures, break down old infrastructure or excavate building sites. [youtube=KgOtMQcMnH0] Betonamit is boasted to be a non-toxic powder that, when mixed with water and poured in
- [Flat-Pack Mobile Architecture: This Building Will Self-Construct in 8 Minutes](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/11/flat-pack-mobile-architecture-this-building-will-self-construct-in-8-minutes/) - Requiring a single tool and very little power, these self-deploying structures are ready for use in minutes, expanding themselves to multiple times their compact travel size. Based in the United Kingdom, Ten Fold Engineering's structures can be packed onto ordinary trucks, conforming to road-worthy dimensions for maximum flexibility. [vimeo=193884074] The company boasts myriad possible uses,
- [Russia Hour Traffic: Andrey Tkachenko's Soviet Car Concepts](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/09/russia-hour-traffic-andrey-tkachenkos-soviet-car-concepts/) - Russian freelance artist Andrey Tkachenko reveals the figurative swans hidden deep within the notoriously ugly ducklings of the Soviet automobile industry.
- [Panda Power Plant: Shaped Solar Panel Array Forms China's National Animal](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/06/panda-power-plant-shaped-solar-panel-array-forms-chinas-national-animal/) - The world's largest solar power-producing nation is showing off its record-setting green energy production through an adorable new array shaped like a giant panda bear, the national animal of China. This Panda Power Plant in Datong, China, was developed by Panda Green Energy in partnership with the United Nations Development Program. And this first sections of
- [A Whole Latte Art: Masterpieces Rendered in Coffee and Milk](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/14/a-whole-latte-art-masterpieces-rendered-in-coffee-and-milk/) - Most baristas who go the extra mile to make a cute design in the foam on top of your latte or mocha manage to illustrate a heart, a swan, a cat or maybe an owl, not an entire Vincent van Gogh painting. But there’s always an overachiever, isn’t there? South Korean barista Lee Kang-Bin shows
- [Defiant Democracy: Parthenon Replica Made of 100,000 Banned Books](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/07/defiant-democracy-parthenon-replica-made-of-100000-banned-books/) - Standing on the site where Nazis burned 2,000 books by Jewish and Marxist writers, this Parthenon is not made of marble, but of 100,000 books that have been or remain banned by various governmental entities around the world. The Parthenon of Books by Argentine artist Marta Minujin faithfully recreates the historic Athens landmark in Kassel,
- [Palaces of Self-Discovery: Photos Document the World’s Most Beautiful Libraries](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/12/palaces-of-self-discovery-photos-document-the-worlds-most-beautiful-libraries/) - Symmetrical photographs reveal the elegant geometries present in the architecture of some of the world’s most beautiful libraries, captured by Thibaud Poirier. The Paris-based photographer has traveled throughout Europe, visiting places like the Bibliotheque de la Sorbonne, the modern white Stadtbibliothek in Stuttgart, Dublin’s Trinity College Library and the church-like Biblioteca Angelica in Rome to
- [Bold Boats: 15 Wild, Fantastical & Futuristic Nautical Designs](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/12/bold-boats-15-wild-fantastical-futuristic-nautical-designs/) - File these awesome boat and watercraft designs under 'things you'll wish you had access to this summer.' Who wouldn't want their very own personal submarine, or a house boat shaped like a UFO? Some of these wild-sounding creations are concepts - like automated, self-piloted cargo ships and yachts shaped like giant illuminated swans - but
- [Underground Illusions: Anamorphic Parking Lot Turns Flat Paint into Sculpture](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/05/underground-illusions-anamorphic-parking-lot-turns-flat-paint-into-sculpture/) - You’re driving through an underground parking garage when suddenly, the colorful geometric shapes splashed all over every surface pop out into three dimensions. Try not to crash your car! When optical illusions line up right, they can be really disorienting, and it’s always cool to see them carried out on a large scale. Argentinian artist
- [Graffiti by Drone: Team of Spray-Painting UAVs to Make Huge Mural in Berlin](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/04/graffiti-by-drone-team-of-spray-painting-uavs-to-make-huge-mural-in-berlin/) - Taking to the skies in Berlin, a set of color-coded drones aims to make the biggest spray-painted mural ever made (at least by robots) using unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with programmed paintings. And this is just the beginning: painting drones could enable civic artwork in hard-to-reach places, and eventually serve practical applications, re-coating infrastructure and architecture. Designed
- [Morbid Abandonments: 14 Deserted Morgues & Mortuaries](https://weburbanist.com/2012/06/04/morbid-abandonments-14-deserted-morgues-mortuaries/) - These 14 abandoned morgues and mortuaries drip with the death that they once contained, with bone saws and other relics of their past life still visible.
- [Tread Lightly: 16 Clearly Stunning Transparent Floor Designs](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/05/tread-lightly-16-clearly-stunning-transparent-floor-designs/) - Glass floors give us a glimpse at what's beneath our feet - whether that's the historical bones of a building, a swimming pool on the next floor, the city streets or the bottom of a canyon - while freaking us out over the potential of breakage. And yes, sometimes these glass floors really do crack,
- [The Apprehension Engine: Machine Makes Disturbing Horror Movie Music](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/10/the-apprehension-engine-machine-makes-disturbing-horror-movie-music/) - Is this the most terrifying musical instrument ever made? If you just take a quick glance at it, you’ll likely say no - it’s an unassuming (albeit rather strange) jumble of strings, rods, reverbs and metal rulers attached to a boxy wooden base. But just you wait until composer Mark Coven, whose work includes the
- [Water You Can Eat: Edible Drink Bubbles Aim to Eliminate Plastic Bottle Waste](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/08/water-you-can-eat-edible-drink-bubbles-aim-to-eliminate-plastic-bottle-waste/) - So far so good: the creators of these edible water balls have begun deploying them at large-scale festivals, the kinds of places where hundreds of disposable plastic bottles are used and trashed. But while this type of innovation bodes well for the future of biodegradable design, there are still some flaws to be sorted out
- [Wreck: Replica Mercedes Benz S550 Made of Faceted Mirrored Stainless Steel](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/03/wreck-replica-mercedes-benz-s550-made-of-faceted-mirrored-stainless-steel/) - Life is tenuous and luxury easily lost, as illustrated in brilliant glittering fashion by this perfect replica of a Mercedes Benz S550 that has seen better days. Can arbitrarily assigned status be maintained even once an object has been used, abused and discarded for newer and nicer things? Artist Jordan Griska ruminates on these questions
- [Acclaim for the Reclaimed: 14 Cool Upcycled Architecture Projects](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/10/acclaim-for-the-reclaimed-14-cool-upcycled-architecture-projects/) - Going beyond simple stacks of shipping crates and ripped-apart pallets, these creative upcycled architecture projects reclaim stuff like corrugated iron, 5-gallon water bottles, old doors and even junk left over from the London Olympics as building materials and truly elevate them to new heights. These projects offer some fresh ideas, use the materials in new
- [Like A Rock Star: 12 Iconic Movie Corvettes](https://weburbanist.com/2017/07/02/like-a-rock-star-12-iconic-movie-corvettes/) - The Chevrolet Corvette's long list of silver screen starring roles turned America's first mass-produced sports car into an automotive pop culture icon.
- [Rebuilding Memories: Meticulous Miniatures by Iraqi Immigrant Ali Alamedy](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/30/rebuilding-memories-meticulous-miniatures-by-iraqi-immigrant-ali-alamedy/) - Born in Karbala during the Iraq-Iran War while his father was imprisioned by Saddam Hussein as a dissident, Ali Alamedy turned to books as a means of escape, wishing he could transport himself into the fictional settings between the pages. Later, as an adult, he began to bring those scenes to life - along with
- [Laptop/Rooftop: Chicago Apple Store is Crowned with a Giant MacBook](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/28/laptoprooftop-chicago-apple-store-is-crowned-with-a-giant-macbook/) - Construction is in full swing on Chicago’s new Apple store by Foster + Partners, revealing a surprise design feature that wasn’t visible in the firm’s early renderings: a gigantic MacBook for a roof. When the project was initially unveiled in 2015, the drawings depicted a sleek two-story structure with river views, glass walls and a
- [Architecture for Animals: 13 Structures Designed with Non-Human Use in Mind](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/28/architecture-for-animals-13-structures-designed-with-non-human-use-in-mind/) - If we’re going to keep animals in artificial environments to make money off gawking at them, you’d hope we’d at least design these structures sensitively, hiring top architects to give them the kind of loving care we’d give to our own homes. Whether building spacious zoo enclosures mimicking natural environments, bat-friendly bridges, stables to house
- [Behind the Curtain Wall: Theatrical Facade Rotates Around Cultural Center](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/27/behind-the-curtain-wall-theatrical-facade-rotates-around-cultural-center/) - This mesmerizing mobile facade is an aesthetic and engineering marvel, but one has to wonder: could the mechanisms behind it be appropriated for other architectural purposes, like: providing light and shade on demand or on a schedule? The dynamic design wraps a new cultural center in Shanghai, part of a 190,000-square-meter development by Foster +
- [Dream Deep: Trippy Maps Reenvisioned by Google's Artificial Neural Network](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/29/dream-deep-trippy-maps-reenvisioned-by-googles-artificial-neural-network/) - FaceApp and similar reality-warping applications are especially fun to use in ways their designers never intended. Along similar lines, Google's DeepDream (designed for photo manipulation) creates fascinating results using photographs but is even more stunning when applied to representations of cityscapes. While training DeepDream (a neural network that adapts like a brain to new inputs) to identify,
- [CityTree: High-Tech Green Wall Cleans as Much Pollution as a Forest](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/26/citytree-high-tech-green-wall-cleans-as-much-pollution-as-a-forest/) - A 13-foot-tall high-tech green wall encased in a concrete frame is capable of cleaning as much polluted air as an entire forest, combining the Internet of Things and biotechnology to collect data while it improves the urban environment. Created by Green City Solutions, the ‘tree’ isn’t really a tree at all, but rather a moss
- [The Earth as a Canvas: 25 Monumental Works of Land-Based Art](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/26/the-earth-as-a-canvas-25-monumental-works-of-land-based-art/) - Treating the Earth like a canvas and natural objects like rocks, sticks, sand and ice as art materials, we alter the natural environment to reflect ourselves and our own artistic impulses - even if only temporarily, until these works of land-based art are erased by nature itself. Animated Land Art by Paul Johnson [vimeo=156481685] For
- [Bright Idea: London Street Lights Converted to Charge Electric Vehicles](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/23/bright-idea-london-street-lights-converted-to-electric-vehicle-charging-points/) - It sounded kind of far away when announced in 2013, but German renewable energy firm Ubitricity’s plan to convert street lamps to electric vehicle chargers is now underway in London, making it easy to plug in just about anywhere in the Hounslow borough of the city. Owners of electric vehicles simply order a custom charging
- [Siberia Space: Russian Town Tints Its White Winter World](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/25/siberia-space-russian-town-tints-its-white-winter-world/) - The tiny Siberian town of Ust-Yansk counters the pervasive whiteness of long & snowy winters by cladding its buildings in a rainbow of contrasting colors.
- [Hyperloop Hotel: Zoom from City to City in a Luxury Lodging Pod](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/21/hyperloop-hotel-zoom-from-city-to-city-at-high-speeds-in-a-luxury-lodging-pod/) - Hyperloop transit is about to make the world a whole lot smaller, and with it could come a system of luxurious private pods outfitted like high-end hotel rooms so you can zoom from one city to the next in unprecedented comfort. While it might seem like there’s little need for such cush train cars when
- [Living Light: 11 Transforming Kinetic & Illuminated Art Installations](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/21/living-light-11-transforming-kinetic-illuminated-art-installations/) - Rippling, unfolding, slithering and glowing like bioluminescent creatures, these kinetic and illuminated works of art are mesmerizing to watch. We can't help being fascinated by the combination of light and motion, especially when it's integrated into clothing, responds to our gaze or voices, or is engineered into monumental interactive installations of laser beams for our
- [Recycling Rockets: Ixion Will Turn Orbital Space Junk into Spacious Habitats](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/24/recycling-rockets-ixion-will-turn-orbital-space-junk-into-spacious-habitats/) - As part of their NextSTEP program, NASA has contracted a space company to turn trash into treasure, converting used rocket sections already being sent into orbit into habitation units rather than letting them drift or be destroyed. It takes an immense amount of effort and fuel to break out of the Earth's atmosphere, yet upper stage rocket
- [New IKEA Smart Home Fixtures Compatible with Google, Apple & Amazon](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/25/new-ikea-smart-home-fixtures-compatible-with-google-apple-amazon/) - Furniture giant IKEA is making its new low-cost smart home fixtures voice-controllable can connect with ease to systems including Google Home, Apple HomeKit and Amazon Alexa. [youtube=RU8UY6wmMrs] The company has been pushing in the direction of making homes smarter for some time, with furnishings able to wirelessly charge phones, for instance. But with TRADFRI, they are taking the
- [Radbahn Berlin: 6-Mile Sheltered Bike Path to Run Under City Train Line](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/22/radbahn-berlin-6-mile-sheltered-bike-path-to-run-under-city-train-line/) - A long unused strip of space weaving through Berlin is set to become a bicycling boulevard, sheltered by the tracks above and lined with bike service stations, recreation areas and food trucks. This latest rails-to-trails project has six miles of space to work with, connecting major roads and multiple neighborhoods. Completely disused aside except as illegal
- [Pollution Pops: Sewage-Ridden Public Waters Frozen into Horrifying Popsicles](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/20/pollution-pops-sewage-ridden-public-waters-frozen-into-horrifying-popsicles/) - A stomach-churning twist on classic frozen treats, 100 stabilized ice pops made from Taiwan's polluted lakes, rivers, beaches and ports feature an unsettling array of sewage found in public waters. Each of these edible-scale popsicles was first frozen then preserved in polyester resin and wrapped in packaging. Diverse flavors feature ingredients such as plastic, arsenic, mercury
- [Trash Beats Tesla: This Powerful DIY Electric Car Cost Just $13K to Build](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/19/trash-beats-tesla-this-powerful-diy-electric-car-cost-just-13k-to-build/) - Made from the corpse of a 1997 BMW 528i salvaged from a junkyard and other recycled parts, this DIY electric car beats the Tesla Model S P100D’s mile range at a tiny fraction of the cost. The Tesla boasts a range of 335 miles per charge, while the ‘Phoenix’ by Eric Lundgren gets 380 miles.
- [Lush Labels: 15 Bold & Beautiful Botanical Packaging Designs](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/19/lush-labels-15-bold-beautiful-botanical-packaging-designs/) - Representing all that’s fresh, lush and alive, botanical illustrations can make even the most boring everyday products seem life-sustaining, highlight the potential of a simple bag of dirt and turn takeout coffee cups into fashion accessories. They're especially effective on personal care products, tea, liquor bottles and other products that go in or on our
- [BAM! BIFF! POW! Street Art Showcases Adam West's Batman](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/18/bam-biff-pow-street-art-showcases-adam-wests-batman/) - The late Adam West's role as TV's campy yet cool Batman garnered him a permanent place in pop culture – just ask these 12 graffiti artists.
- [Crazy Cat Castle for Sale: 20 Acres of Terror in the Arizona Desert](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/16/crazy-cat-castle-for-sale-20-acres-of-terror-in-the-arizona-desert/) - Are you one of the 3 billion people worldwide estimated to be infected with toxoplasmosis, the brain-controlling parasite passed onto humans by our feline overlords? This protozoa invades the host’s brain and makes it do things that are counterproductive to survival - and apparently good taste. How else would you explain this Arizona real estate
- [30 Years of Graffiti: Peeled Dutch Wall Sample Reveals Colorful Art History](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/17/30-years-of-graffiti-peeled-dutch-wall-sample-reveals-colorful-art-history/) - The sides of the structure are painted from ground to roof, but peeling back layers of artwork reveals just how far back the building's vibrant history goes. "This is Doornroosje, the location where I took the piece from, "explains Paul De Graff. "It's a Graffiti Hall of Fame in the city of Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
- [Cyberpunk City: World's First Self-Driving Grocery Store Hits Streets of Shanghai](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/15/cyberpunk-city-worlds-first-self-driving-grocery-store-hits-streets-of-shanghai/) - It's a tale as old as time, or at least: science fiction films -- an autonomous grocery store on wheels (staffed by a holographic assistant) that can deliver late-night snacks as well as everyday essentials. The Wheelys "Moby Mart" looks the part as well, sporting a trapezoidal shape, illuminated display in front, vintage neon sign
- [Kowloon Walled City: Drone Photos Reveal a Re-Growth of Urban Density](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/14/kowloon-walled-city-drone-photos-reveal-a-re-growth-of-urban-density/) - Once notorious both for its lawlessness and a maze of urban density so intense that sunlight couldn’t penetrate to its lowest levels, Kowloon Walled City was demolished in the 1990s, but a new version of it is rising from the ashes. Standing in stark contrast to the modern towers of Hong Kong just beyond its
- [Architecture for Airheads: 13 Intriguingly Interactive Inflatable Structures](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/14/architecture-for-airheads-13-intriguingly-interactive-inflatable-structures/) - Who can resist a gigantic bubble that's big enough to climb into? Inflatables aren't just practical, packing down to surprisingly small packages and then popping right back up into sizable structures, they're also just plain fun, whether they act as portable temporary architecture, offer bouncing surfaces, react to movement with light and sound or just
- [Sea Monsters: Massive Crocheted Sea Urchins Float Over Singapore](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/13/sea-monsters-massive-crocheted-sea-urchins-float-over-singapore/) - Mutant sea urchins seem to have evolved into monstrous, buoyant creatures capable of rising above the surface of the sea, glowing softly against the skyline in Singapore. Made from crocheted lace, these three oversized urchin installations by Choi + Shine invite passersby to pause within them and take in the city through their patterned shells.
- [Brutalist Victory: Concrete Skylines Dominate Radical Retro-Future Cities](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/12/brutalist-victory-concrete-skylines-dominate-radical-retro-future-cities/) - Architectural trends come and go, but some visions are more persistent than others, and Brutalism could have been among them. This artist asks and answers the question: what if concrete monstrosities of the 1960s and 70s had somehow won the war against the steel-and-glass towers that dominate contemporary skylines? German digital artist Clemens Gritl has built
- [World's Largest "Car Vending Machine" Dispenses Real Bentleys & Ferraris](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/10/worlds-largest-car-vending-machine-dispenses-real-bentleys-ferraris/) - Combining architecture, advertising and technology, this car dealership lets users punch in numbers to bring their vehicle of choice down a 15-story showroom looming above in full view. The tall lit-up facade of Autobahn Motors acts as a billboard and show space, letting fans scope out a Lamborghini from a distance then take it out for
- [Haul For One: U-Haul Adapts & Reuses Abandoned Buildings](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/11/haul-for-one-u-haul-adapts-reuses-abandoned-buildings/) - U-Haul company's commitment to renovate and reuse abandoned buildings is not only economical, it also serves to revitalize post-industrial neighborhoods.
- [Bikesphere: Car-Detecting Ring of Red Light Puts Cyclists in a Safety Bubble](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/09/bikesphere-ring-of-red-light-puts-cyclists-in-a-safety-bubble/) - There’s no missing cyclists - or the zone of space you need to safely pass them - when they’ve got a ring of red light encircling them as they ride down the road. Michelin’s new open-source project, Bikesphere, features a light sensor and proximity detecting sensor that work together to monitor the environment around a
- [Optical Illusion Architecture: These 11 Buildings Are Not What They Seem](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/07/optical-illusion-architecture-these-11-buildings-are-not-what-they-seem/) - Pinched, warped, rippled, steeply angled and mirrored until they disappear into the sky, these buildings are not quite what they seem at first glance. Sometimes, it takes a nice long look at their outlines and proportions to determine where their facades actually begin and end, and how they can possibly be balanced so precariously. Rachel
- [Out of Gas: Abandoned Station Will Live its Golden Years as a Venue](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/05/out-of-gas-abandoned-station-will-live-its-golden-years-as-a-venue/) - A formerly abandoned gas station in London’s White City district may have outlived its usefulness in its original purpose, but it’s got a new, more relaxing job to do in the ‘hereafter.’ If all those pastel colors didn’t tip you off, the station is in retirement, and it will live out its golden years acting
- [Eyebombing Bulgaria: Artist Adds Googly Eyes to Bollards, Bins & Pipes](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/08/eyebombing-bulgaria-artist-adds-googly-eyes-to-bollards-bins-pipes/) - As public art interventions go, googly-eye additions to urban objects and surfaces are pretty simple to implement, effectively animating their surroundings without too much work (or risk of being caught). Humans are naturally wired to read faces into ordinary things, but an extra cue or too by someone like Vanyu Krastev solidifies the effect, often with hilarious results.
- [Aromatic Art: Empty NYC Trash Bins Turned into Beautiful Floral Bouquets](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/06/aromatic-art-empty-nyc-trash-bins-turned-into-beautiful-floral-bouquets/) - Sprouting up alongside the streets of New York City, garbage cans packed with colorful flowers are turning repelled waste receptacles into attractive centers of attention for garbage-weary pedestrians. Floral designer Lewis Miller has been turning heads -- passersby are quite literally stopping to smell the roses (and other plants) appearing in his carefully arranged bouquets, each unique
- [Hang Loose: 13 Hammock Innovations for Max Relaxation](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/05/hang-loose-13-hammock-innovations-for-max-relaxation/) - Take your summer lounging to the next level with hammocks that attach to your kayak or the roof of your car, fill up with water like a hot tub or double as a soccer goal. And if you're stuck at work daydreaming about outdoor adventures, there's even a stealthy hammock that clamps onto table surfaces
- [Heathen's Gate: Ingenious Overlay Reveals History of Ancient Roman Ruin](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/01/heathens-gate-ingenious-overlay-shows-history-of-roman-ruin/) - A pane of glass overlaid with a simple line drawing brings crumbling ruins to life at one of Austria's most famous historical sites, reanimating the partial building near the Open Air Museum Petronell. When a viewer lines up the illustration with the structure, known as Heidentor (Heathen's Gate), the image completes itself in a compelling yet
- [Imperial Pomp: Strange Post-Soviet Skyscrapers in Remote Russia](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/31/imperial-pomp-strange-post-soviet-skyscrapers-in-remote-russia/) - Deep in the most remote reaches of the former Soviet Union, strange skyscrapers glitter against the sky, made all the more out of place by their sleepy rural settings and lack of similarly scaled surroundings. Photographer Frank Herfort calls them ‘Imperial Pomp,’ monstrous and overly ostentatious structures that sprung up throughout the nation and the
- [Battered: 15 Closed And Abandoned Fish & Chip Shops](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/04/battered-15-closed-and-abandoned-fish-chip-shops/) - Fish & Chips are famed the world over as THE quintessential English food so why are there so many closed and abandoned “Chippies” in their home country?
- [Magic Ink: Highly Detailed Optical Illusion Drawings Pop Off the Page](https://weburbanist.com/2017/06/02/magic-ink-highly-detailed-optical-illusion-drawings-pop-off-the-page/) - Strategically placed shadows and highlights make these incredibly intricate nature-themed drawings more than just impressive pages in an artist’s sketchbook. The pieces reveal unexpected depths and textures, and sometimes seem to lift right off the pages and into the real world, as if the sketchbook just couldn’t contain their vitality. Artist Visothkakvei shows off a
- [Mashup Masterpieces: 48 Fusions of Art and Contemporary Pop Culture](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/31/mashup-masterpieces-48-fusions-of-art-and-contemporary-pop-culture/) - In centuries past, art has mostly depicted religious and political figures alongside artist’s models and ordinary people, but as future generations look back on our era, they’ll see a confusing mishmash of celebrities and fictional characters interwoven into our fine art legacy. Often removed from their context and mixed together, figures from music, movies, television
- [Modular Remix: Parking Garage Picked Apart, Reassembled Like LEGO](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/30/modular-remix-parking-garage-picked-apart-reassembled-like-lego/) - As autonomous vehicles begin to roll out on city streets, adaptive reuse projects like this one could help old parking structures readily find new and productive urban purposes. This award-winning design by Dutch firm Studio Komma and The Men of Foam for The Hague features a mixed-use program built on the bones of an existing parking
- [Industrial Scars: Aerial Photos of Humankind’s Harrowing Impact on Earth](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/29/industrial-scars-aerial-photos-of-humankinds-harrowing-impact-on-earth/) - In strikingly well-composed, vividly colored scenes resembling abstract paintings, J. Henry Fair’s aerial photographs of toxic waste and industrial activity on Earth give us an uncomfortable look at the cost of human progress. In fact, the images seem unreal: how could the damage caused by industrial pollution be so strangely beautiful? Tar sands, mountaintop removal
- [Modern Homes for Mermaids: 12 Houses Built Around Swimming Pools](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/29/modern-homes-for-mermaids-12-houses-built-around-swimming-pools/) - Like oversized aquariums made for humans, these glass-walled swimming pools put bathers on display and making splashing in shimmering waters the defining feature of the homes, hotels and apartment blocks they're built into. Transparent sides or floors allow them to peer into adjacent interiors or look down onto landscapes, blurring the lines between these watery
- [Memorable Memorials: 10 Extraordinary War Monuments](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/28/memorable-memorials-10-extraordinary-war-monuments/) - These extraordinary war monuments stand out from the crowd in commemorating those who have fallen while performing their duty in the service of their country.
- [Bamboo Architecture: 14 Sustainable and Spectacular Organic Structures](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/24/bamboo-architecture-14-sustainable-and-spectacular-organic-structures/) - Extraordinarily flexible yet strong, the fast-growing grass known as bamboo serves as a versatile medium for architectural projects with sculptural flair, especially when it's bent or woven. These creatively engineered bamboo structures show off the material's potential and hint at how it could play a role in future sustainable architecture and infrastructure in the years
- [Trippy Transformations: Makeup Artist Creates Unreal 3D Illusions](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/26/trippy-transformations-makeup-artist-creates-unreal-3d-illusions/) - Makeup artist Mimi Choy slices, disjoints, stretches, blurs and otherwise radically transforms her own face in stunningly realistic optical illusions using nothing but makeup. No templates, prosthetics or Photoshop go into the creation of her surreal photos - she freehand them all, often using standard cosmetics from brands like MakeupForever and Kryolan theater makeup. The
- [Amsterdam Airbnb in a Metro Station Mocks Misleading & Harmful Hotels](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/24/amsterdam-airbnb-in-a-metro-station-mocks-misleading-harmful-hotels/) - Anyplace can be an Airbnb - including vans, sheds, housing that should rightfully be for rent to the city’s residents, and cozy rooms ‘by the metro’ that turn out to actually be in the metro station. In fact, the latter example is on display in the metro station Wibautstraat in Amsterdam’s city center right now,
- [Seoul Skygarden: Elevated Park on an Abandoned Highway Officially Opens](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/22/seoul-skygarden-elevated-park-on-an-abandoned-highway-officially-opens/) - A formerly abandoned 1970s highway in South Korea’s capital city now hosts 24,000 plants as the Seoullo Skygarden, an elevated public park open to all citizens 24 hours a day. That’s a big deal in a city where so much architecture and infrastructure tends to be corporate-sponsored, with special perks for paying customers of companies
- [Murals with a Message: 23 Works of Statement-Making Street Art](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/22/murals-with-a-message-23-works-of-statement-making-street-art/) - Banksy may be the most famous street artist addressing topics like capitalism, war, the refugee crisis and environmental degradation, but he's far from the only one. These political works by a wide range of international artists call attention to the ravages of the palm oil industry, police brutality, climate change, rapid industrialization and human trafficking
- [Urban Blinds: Skyline Curtains Turn Bright Days into Dark City Nights](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/27/urban-blinds-skyline-curtains-turn-bright-days-into-dark-city-nights/) - Casting pixelated patterns into day-lit rooms, these shades swap boring views (or overly bright days) for iconic scenes of metropolises at night. This particular set by HoleRole features famous structures from cities like Manhattan (the Chrysler) and London (the "Gherken"). In each piece, minimal geometric windows and pinpoint stars on black prompt observing eyes to complete each picture, but theirs is
- [Hidden Stories: 3D-Printed, Architect-Designed Rings Tell Looping Tales](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/25/hidden-stories-3d-printed-architect-designed-rings-tell-looping-tales/) - Most jewelry tells some kind of a story (about its origin if nothing else) but these pieces are a bit more explicit, featuring tales of structures, characters and actions in miniature built environments. Architectural designer Artur Dabrowsk produces rings, cuffs, necklaces and bracelets that revolve "around the concept of ‘depth’ in terms of formal language (shadow
- [Pillars of Green: 85,000 Plants on World's Largest Vertical Garden Facade](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/23/pillars-of-green-85000-plants-on-worlds-largest-vertical-garden-facade/) - An extensive living facade system in Bogota, Columbia, represents growth in the right direction, away from unrealistic tree-covered skyscrapers toward more sustainable and useful vertical greenery. The Santalaia building has plants spanning over 30,000 square meters of its surface area, able to produce oxygen for over 3,000 people annually (and filter tons of heavy metals, harmful
- [Fading To Black: 13 Abandoned TV Repair Shops](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/21/fading-to-black-13-abandoned-tv-repair-shops/) - TV repair shops, once fixtures of our tuned-in society, have faded away as televisions became more reliable and the broadcast medium itself lost its relevance.
- [Ghostly Garden: Classical Wire Mesh Architecture Haunts Abu Dhabi](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/19/ghostly-garden-classical-wire-mesh-architecture-haunts-abu-dhabi/) - Seeming like a ghostly image of structures long gone overlaid onto the current reality, these wire mesh architectural creations arch over 75,000 square feet of event space in Abu Dhabi. The way the mesh shifts between transparency and opacity depending on how it’s layered, paired with its grid pattern, gives it the look of a
- [Free Castles & Villas: Italy is Giving Away Over 100 Historic Properties](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/18/free-castles-villas-italy-is-giving-away-over-100-historic-properties/) - Anyone who has dreamed of retiring from the rat race to run a grand estate hotel, rural farmhouse bed and breakfast, quaint inn or remote monastery spa could see their wish come true in this unprecedented giveaway from the Italian government. As part of its Strategic Tourist Plan, Italy is offering up 103 historic sites
- [Ferrari Designer Launches World's Most Luxurious Sleeper Train in Japan](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/21/ferrari-designer-launches-worlds-most-luxurious-sleeper-train-in-japan/) - Public transit meets luxury transport in this elegant and open train design with rich interiors as well as copious windows for viewing the passing landscape. The champagne-colored Shiki-Shima sleeper boasts aesthetics by Ken Kiyoyuki Okuyama, the automotive designer behind the Ferrari Enzo as well as Maserati Quattroporte. Inside, branching window frames are meant to conjure
- [Helping Hands: "Support" Sculpture Braces Venetian Architecture From Below](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/20/helping-hands-support-sculpture-braces-venetian-architecture-from-below/) - Historic architecture meets modern art on the canals of Venice, where a pair of gigantic hands emerge from the depths to lend support above the waterline. Designed by Lorenzo Quinn, "Support" was put into place a month in advance of the 57th International Art Biennale but is already drawing massive crowds ahead of its official debut. It
- [City Hack: Cyclists Create DIY Bike Lane with 120 Glued-On Plungers](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/17/city-hack-cyclists-create-diy-bike-lane-with-120-glued-on-plungers/) - When the government fails to meet the needs of its citizens, the citizens will go around them and produce their own solutions, whether they’re legal or not. That might mean occupying an alleyway with temporary housing, using cheap materials to create new public seating and other street furniture, or turning a disused city square into
- [Chain Mail for Space: NASA's 4D-Printed Metal Fabric Deflects Debris](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/07/chain-mail-for-space-nasas-4d-printed-metal-fabric-deflects-debris/) - NASA's latest futuristic textile is made of metal but can fold and change shape, protecting a wearer (or covered craft) from dangerous collisions that could tear holes in people or ships. The woven metal is made up of a squares on the surface that are linked together on the back, but thanks to clever manufacturing
- [The Sky’s The Limit: 14 Promising New Advancements in Solar Power](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/17/the-skys-the-limit-14-promising-new-advancements-in-solar-power/) - Even while it feels like certain things are moving backward, efforts to power the world with solar energy instead of fossil fuels continue to reach for the sky, innovating advancements that make a renewable future more achievable. Tesla's Solar Roof tiles are about to become commercially available, flexible solar panels are cheaper and more efficient than ever,
- [Flat-Pack Life Support: NASA's Inflatable Hydroponic Space Greenhouse](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/14/flat-pack-life-support-nasas-inflatable-hydroponic-space-greenhouse/) - A key development in the quest to create sustainable ecosystems in space, this expandable greenhouse prototype aims to generate essential food and oxygen for long-term astronaut travel. Recently, Peggy Whitson broke the record for longest stay in space (534 days) and astronauts have started growing their own vegetables on the International Space Station. This collapsible
- [Ship & Swim: Mobile Cargo Container Pool & On-Demand Hot Tub for Homes](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/16/ship-swim-mobile-cargo-container-pool-on-demand-hot-tub-for-homes/) - More stable and versatile than a typical temporary above-ground pool and less likely to tank your home real estate value than a built-in one, this modular plug-and-play swimming pool is the best of both worlds. Developed by Canadian company Modpools, these converted shipping containers measure 8 by 20 feet (or 8 by 40), can be
- [Trainspotting Hotel: Stacked Shipping Containers Overlook the Rail Tracks](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/15/trainspotting-hotel-stacked-shipping-containers-overlook-the-rail-tracks/) - The phrase ‘Trainspotting Hotel’ probably doesn’t conjure visions of a cozy, comfortable and safe place to lay your head at night, but this hotel gets its nickname from its location overlooking rail tracks rather than anything relating to the heroin-charged cult classic film. Obviously, that’s a good thing for guests who want to enjoy a
- [Cookin' With Gas: 12 Abandoned Food Trucks](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/14/cookin-with-gas-12-abandoned-food-trucks/) - Food trucks and snack vans are mobile kitchens that offer meals on wheels to busy folks on the go... until the day they break down and are left abandoned.
- [Architecture in Miniature: 13 Modern Dollhouse & Other Tiny Buildings](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/15/architecture-in-miniature-13-modern-dollhouse-other-tiny-buildings/) - Fit for the most discerning fans of modern architecture, these dollhouses and other miniature architectural creations feature tiny moving parts, high-end designer furniture, swimming pools, built-in lighting and other fun details, rendered in astonishing realism. You'll almost wish you could shrink yourself small enough to tour their often-fantastical layouts, which range from the luxurious to the
- [MUJI Huts: $27,000 Japanese Timber Micro-Homes Finally for Sale this Fall](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/11/muji-huts-27000-japanese-timber-micro-homes-finally-for-sale-this-fall/) - Japanese makers of minimalist household goods and apparel at MUJI began designing and developing a series of small prefab homes a few years back, one of which is now slated to hit the market later this year. At just under 100 square feet, the first model to hit the sales floor is a simple but elegant
- [Spring on Speed: Time-Lapse Video Captures 3 Years of Blooming Flowers](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/12/spring-on-speed-time-lapse-video-captures-3-years-of-flowers-blooming/) - A single sweeping shot seems to capture an entire spring season of blooming flowers in this artfully directed time-lapse video, which took three years to record and complete. Filmmaker Jamie Scott captured almost all of the footage on a soundstage in the closet of his New York home, often against a black backdrop, placing the
- [Risk-Taking Russian Rooftopper: Woman Takes Terrifying Skyscraper Selfies](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/08/risk-taking-russian-rooftopper-woman-takes-terrifying-skyscraper-selfies/) - If you’re afraid of heights, a mere glance at these photos taken by Russian daredevil photographer Angela Nikolau might be enough to give you the heebie-jeebies. The 23-year-old scales some of the tallest skyscrapers in Russia and Asia, either using a selfie stick, a drone, or bringing her boyfriend Ivan Kuzenetsov along to take the
- [Moving Miniature: Tiny Landscape Made of Sugar, Spices, Salt & Sand](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/10/moving-miniature-tiny-landscape-made-of-sugar-spices-salt-sand/) - Nothing about the hazy sunlight, languid motion of a tire swing, branches blowing in the breeze or puffy white steam pouring out of a factory chimney gives you any idea that the scene you’re looking at fits on a tabletop. Not only is this landscape a miniature - it’s made out of ordinary household objects
- [Conductive Design: 10 Objects Transformed Into Touch Pads & Circuits](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/10/conductive-design-10-objects-transformed-into-touch-pads-circuits/) - Conductive paint, ink and thread can be drawn, woven or even tattooed into objects like denim jackets, carpeting and leather iPad cases to make them into electrical circuits, adding a new layer of functionality as well as cool-looking graphic patterns. Draw circuits in any shape, create smart objects that interact with apps, and answer your
- [Circular Logic: "Endless Runways" Rounded to Save Energy, Time & Space](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/01/circular-logic-endless-runways-rounded-to-save-energy-time-space/) - Designed to reduce real estate needs for runways in ever-more-crowded cities, this "endless runway" system encircles a central terminal building and lets multiple planes take off and land at the same time. [youtube=_tp0jaKaz7c] Developed by Dutch scientist Henk Hesselink, the two-mile-circumference shape also lets planes land or take off in alignment with the wind (rather than
- [Art Sinks to New Depths: 25 Wet Works of Sub-Aquatic Sculpture](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/08/art-under-the-surface-25-works-of-sub-aquatic-sculpture/) - Temporarily submerged in a swimming pool for snorkelers to explore or permanently sunken into the sea as a diving destination, these subaquatic works of art take on a whole new dimension under water. Artists create faux shipwrecks, artificial reefs, submerged art shows and other water-themed works, often with environmental messages. Treasures from the Wreck of
- [Guerrilla Apparel: Pirate Printers Press Clothes to Painted Public Surfaces](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/06/guerrilla-apparel-pirate-printers-press-clothes-to-painted-public-surfaces/) - A Berlin street art collective is hitting the streets of Europe again, touring major cities to turn infrastructural patterns into (quite literal) streetwear across the continent. Each of their unique creations is tied to public art and design patterns often overlooked as we walk by (or on top of) them. Raubdruckerin (AKA Pirate Printer) press apparel
- [Oh Brothel: 12 Abandoned Houses Of Ill Repute](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/07/oh-brothel-12-abandoned-houses-of-ill-repute/) - The world's oldest profession ain't what it used to be as these abandoned brothels, bordellos and bawdy houses so sleazily show.
- [The Human Footprint: Aerial Photos Show How Industry Changes the Land](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/05/the-human-footprint-aerial-photos-show-how-industry-changes-the-land/) - The toll exacted from the earth for human progress is rarely more dramatically visible than from overhead, looking down onto the mines, oil fields, salt flats, recycling yards and other artificial landscapes we’ve created to maintain a population that has exploded since the 1950s. Photographer Edward Burtynsky, who has been flying all over the world
- [Stacked: Cleverly Designed Chinese Hotel Gives Everyone a Unique View](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/03/stacked-cleverly-designed-chinese-hotel-gives-everyone-a-unique-view/) - Despite sharing a tiny footprint of land with other guests at this Chinese hotel, you can practically forget anyone else exists altogether thanks to a clever stacked arrangement that points each level in a different direction. Step out onto your private balcony - located on the roof of the room below - and look out
- [Off the Rails: 12 Artistic Interventions of Train Cars & Rail Yards](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/03/off-the-rails-12-artistic-interventions-of-train-cars-rail-yards/) - As railway systems decay in the United States and flourish elsewhere in the world, works of art pop up in train cars and along disused tracks, paying tribute to the journey of a transportation system in transition. Painted murals display works of art across long distances, interior installations make trips more engaging and projects reclaiming
- [Dirty Car & Truck Art: Moscow Street Artist Adds Critters to Filthy Vehicles](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/13/dirty-car-truck-art-moscow-street-artist-adds-critters-to-filthy-vehicles/) - Massive deep sea monsters, jungle predators and swamp creatures lurk in the grimey shadows on the backs of trucks, thanks to interventions by illustrator Nikita Golubev. Most of the featured critters are of the potentially creepy variety, including a deep-sea angler fish, octopus, shark, alligator, lion, owl and orangutan. Based in Russia, the artist works on cars
- [Holy Housing: Stained Glass Walls & Ceiling Fill Cabin with Color & Light](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/09/holy-housing-stained-glass-walls-ceiling-fill-cabin-with-color-light/) - The complete opposite of a minimalist Modernist glass-clad house, this rustic and homey backyard cabin exhibits hand-crafted details, rich dark wood and best of all: a gorgeous array of custom stained glass panels. Built behind her home in Mohawk, New Jersey, this wonderful work of micro-architecture was constructed by glass artist and jewelry maker Neile
- [Emoji Facade: Dutch Architects Decorate Brick Building with 22 Smiley Faces](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/04/emoji-facade-dutch-architects-decorate-brick-building-with-22-smiley-faces/) - Instead of gargoyles, grotesques or ornate decorative details, this somewhat silly facade expresses an array of emotions through circular icons familiar to anyone with a smartphone or social media account. Located in suburban Vathorst near Amersfoort, this design by Attika Architekten (images by Bart van Hoek) looks quite conventional at a glance. At each level, horizontal
- [Muji Huts: Affordable Pop-Up Modern Homes Made for Japan](https://weburbanist.com/2015/12/04/muji-huts-affordable-pop-up-modern-homes-made-for-japan/) - The same Japanese retail chain selling household supplies like space-saving furniture, bed linens and travel toothbrushes will soon sell pop-up houses, too, so you can literally walk out with a kit for an entire, fully-outfitted home in one trip. The Muji Hut, designed by Konstantin Grcic, Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa for retailer Muji, comes
- [Future-Proof Parking Garages: Autonomous Vehicles Drive Reusable Designs](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/02/future-proof-parking-garages-autonomous-vehicles-drive-reusable-designs/) - As driverless vehicles hit the streets and shared car usage grows, forward-thinking architects, developers and urban planners are working on adaptable designs to future-proof parking garage structures and give them second lives. Big firms like Gensler see the writing on the wall, predicting car usage will peak by the end of the decade and ride-sharing
- [Art of Typography: 13 Text-Based Designs Spell It All Out](https://weburbanist.com/2017/05/01/art-of-typography-13-text-based-designs-spell-it-all-out/) - The language of letters themselves is revealed when we look at their shapes as artistic forms and experiment with the materials we use to create them, whether using them as the basis of furniture design, climbing walls or intricately cut works of paper art. These typography-based experiments encourage us to look at the written word
- [RotterZwam: Abandoned Water Park Turned Indoor Mushroom Farm](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/28/rotterzwam-abandoned-water-park-turned-indoor-mushroom-farm/) - Bags of old coffee grounds hang in the dank dressing rooms of an abandoned Rotterdam water park, growing oyster mushrooms. Two men turned the former Tropicana space, an old teen hangout, into the perfect damp, dim environment for their business, making use of the structure while the city council decides what to do with it.
- [Rage Rooms: Hourly Russian Service Lets You Vent Aggression](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/26/rage-rooms-hourly-russian-service-lets-you-vent-aggression/) - Has life in the modern world given you a simmering sense of resentment, anxiety and anger you wish you could unleash upon some highly breakable objects? Maybe you’re fuming over your job and fantasize about smashing a copy machine, Office Space-style, or maybe you’d like to give a certain public institution a piece of your
- [THE HAUS Berlin: Abandoned Building Taken Over By 165 Street Artists](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/24/the-haus-berlin-abandoned-building-taken-over-by-165-street-artists/) - Set to be demolished in June to make way for an apartment building,THE HAUS in Berlin is a formerly abandoned 5-story building filled with site-specific works by 165 street artists. Dreamed up by artists Kimo, Bolle and Jörni of Die Dixons collective, THE HAUS was once a bank on avenue Kurfürstendamm, but fell into disuse
- [Transparent Intentions: 13 Glass Additions to Historic Architecture](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/24/transparent-intentions-13-glass-additions-to-historic-architecture/) - Transparent additions to historic architecture physically expand the space while making the subtlest possible changes to the building exteriors, allowing you to see the original structures right through the glazed walls. Augmenting 500-year-old farmhouses, Victorian row houses in London and some of Paris' most iconic-looking apartment buildings, these modern glass extensions aim to blend in with
- [Sleeves Are For Nerds: Geeky iPad, Tablet & eReader Covers](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/23/cover-ups-geeky-ipad-tablet-ereader-case-covers/) - Tablets, iPads and eReaders are so ubiquitous, nerdy owners are employing extreme acts of graphic personalization to imbue their devices with unique geek chic.
- [Selective Hearing: These Earplugs Let You Turn Down Sounds of the World](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/21/selective-hearing-these-earplugs-let-you-turn-down-sounds-of-the-world/) - We’ve all had moments where we wished we could tune out a particular person or muffle loud music without losing the ability to hear a friend’s voice, but standard earplugs don’t exactly allow for a lot of fine-tuning. But with a new product called ‘Knops,’ you can literally turn the volume of the world up
- [End of Elevated Parks? UK Garden Bridge & US Pier 55 Projects in Doubt](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/27/end-of-elevated-parks-uk-garden-bridge-us-pier-55-projects-in-doubt/) - It has been a challenging few weeks for architect Thomas Heatherwick, whose proposals for elevated green urban spaces in both London and New York City face uncertain futures. While the specifics vary, there may be lessons for elevated parks that spans both cases -- and if these fail to move forward, it could spell the end of
- [Shaolin Flying Monks Temple: Wind Tunnel Facilitates Midair Kung Fu Fighting](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/25/shaolin-flying-monks-temple-wind-tunnel-facilitates-midair-kung-fu-fighting/) - Mixing modern architecture and traditional arena theater design, the Shaolin Flying Monks Temple features a massive wind tunnel that lets combatants in rural Henan, China, fly and fight in front of hundreds of fascinated observers. The mountainous setting is home to the historical Shaolin Monastery (UNESCO World Heritage Site) and is considered the birthplace of Zen
- [Fractal Fruit: Produce Carved into Elaborate Geometric Patterns](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/19/fractal-fruit-produce-carved-into-elaborate-geometric-patterns/) - S The mathematical precision of the patterns cut into raw fruits and vegetables is almost too perfect to be real, but on top of that, Japanese artist Gaku has to work as rapidly as possible to capture a photo of the finished product before it starts to turn brown. Imagine how hard that is with
- [Imagine Nations: 15 Peaceful John Lennon Memorials](https://weburbanist.com/2012/12/09/imagine-nations-15-peaceful-john-lennon-memorials/) - Scattered across the globe, these 15 international memorials to the late John Lennon attest to the enduring popularity of the man, his music and his message.
- [Visionary High-Rises: Winners of the 2017 eVolo Skyscraper Competition](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/19/visionary-high-rises-winners-of-the-2017-evolo-skyscraper-competition/) - The way we design and engage with our built environments will rapidly change as we grapple with climate change and develop new technological innovations, and in some cases, radical new ideas will be required. The annual skyscraper design competition held by eVolo recognizes visionary ideas for high-rise projects that challenge our understanding of vertical architecture
- [Still Life with Smoke Bombs: Artist Live-Paints Berkeley Protest Violence](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/18/still-life-with-smoke-bombs-artist-live-paints-berkeley-protest-violence/) - This past Saturday, Trump supporters and counter-protesters from the left clashed violently in liberal Berkeley, all while one intrepid street painter captured the scene live on canvas. As reporters filmed and photographed the chaos, John Paul Marcelo biked his mobile painting station into place. https://twitter.com/SFist/status/853364133088997376 https://twitter.com/shane_bauer/status/826980737446391808 The alt-right rally organizers and their opponents arrived ready for a brawl, variously
- [Digital Knitting Machine: Kniterate is a 3D Printer for Custom Apparel](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/22/digital-knitting-machine-kniterate-is-a-3d-printer-for-custom-apparel/) - Borrowing logic from the 3D printing industry, Kniterate lets users turn ideas and designs from digital files to one-off wearable garments in hours. Able to "print" shirts, scarves, sweaters, dresses and more, the machine is aimed at enabling customized creations as well as rapid prototyping. [youtube=BigQUFZJaMk] Compact, portable and affordable, the gadget itself links into
- [Collecting Inspiration: 3 Must-See Data Artists & Designers at Eyeo 2017](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/20/collecting-inspiration-3-must-see-data-artists-designers-at-eyeo-2017/) - Jenny Odell collects and organizes all kinds of things, from meticulously sorting digital finds on Google Maps to tracing the origins of everything she used, wore, ate or bought on one particular day in 2013. Her work often pulls objects out of context, aggregating and arranging something like a set of pools against a neutral backdrop (as seen
- [Guitar for Modern Nomads: This Digital Instrument is Designed to Travel](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/17/guitar-for-modern-nomads-this-digital-instrument-is-designed-to-travel/) - What if you were to eliminate the unwieldy parts of a guitar but maintain its resonant sound and the same exact way of playing, in order to make the instrument are more convenient traveling companion? It might sound ridiculous or downright impossible, but that’s exactly what designer Orit Dolev has done with NOMAD, a compact
- [Labyrinthine Loophole: Bar Entry Maze Beats 500 Meter Minimum Distance Law](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/16/labyrinthine-loophole-bar-entry-maze-beats-500-meter-minimum-distance-law/) - Following a Supreme Court of India ruling that bars must be a minimum of 500 meters away from highways, one intrepid watering hole wrapped itself in a 250-meter maze to effectively circumvent the law. Handed down earlier this month, the ruling has closed down liquor-serving establishments across the country prompting some to get creative. Owners of
- [Steampunk Micro-Home: Mobile Shabby Chic Trailer Rocks Lofty Aesthetic](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/15/steampunk-micro-home-mobile-shabby-chic-trailer-rocks-lofty-aesthetic/) - Borrowing stylistic details from urban warehouse lofts and rustic rural cabins, this 200-square-foot home manages to look weathered and sophisticated at the same time. Reclaimed pine and cedar, a gabled roof and various recycled materials make the exterior of this abode look well-worn but welcoming. Inside, the so-called Earth and Sky Palace feels surprisingly spacious, complete
- [Deserted Space: Photos Document NASA's Abandoned Launch Pads](https://weburbanist.com/2014/11/20/deserted-space-photos-document-nasas-abandoned-launch-pads/) - The race for space has shifted gears in recent years with the rise of private programs, leaving a series of amazing space-related graveyards around the United States, which this photographer has spent 25 years exploring and documenting. In his upcoming book, Abandoned in Place, Roland Miller takes readers on a "photographic exploration of the American
- [NK INK: North Korea Graffiti, Stencils & Street Art](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/16/nk-ink-north-korea-graffiti-stencils-street-art/) - North Korea may be making the headlines like never before but the world's graffiti artists have been featuring the Hermit Kingdom's leaders for years.
- [Secret Rooms Installed in Deserted Sewers & Maintenance Shafts](https://weburbanist.com/2016/04/16/secret-rooms-installed-in-deserted-sewers-maintenance-shafts/) - A series of abandoned subterranean spaces in Milan have been transformed into tiny living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms and kitchens, complete with furniture and fixtures. Designed by Italian artist Biancoshock, these small dwellings are rendered especially surreal thanks to bright colors and attention to detail. The project has a social dimension as well, inspired by the
- [A Taste of Japan: Immersive Animated Restaurant Shifts with the Seasons](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/14/a-taste-of-japan-immersive-animated-restaurant-shifts-with-the-seasons/) - The exclusive experience of dining at this Tokyo restaurant, which serves just eight patrons a day, is not really about the food - though Saga Beef restaurant Sagaya-Ginza is not necessarily lacking in quality. It’s just that watching nature spring to life all around you, cycling through the seasons to represent some of Japan’s most
- [Culinary Arts: Rock Candy Geodes Hidden Inside Huge Chocolate Shells](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/13/culinary-arts-rock-candy-geodes-hidden-inside-huge-chocolate-shells/) - Just like the dull rocks that often reveal geode formations in nature, one would not expect to find such a sweet surprise inside what look a bit like giant Easter eggs (or perhaps dinosaur droppings). As a final thesis project for the Culinary Institute of America in New York, Alex Yeatts and Abby Lee Wilcox spent months crafting these
- [Picasso in 3D: Famous Paintings Transformed Into Physical Objects](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/12/picasso-in-3d-famous-paintings-transformed-into-physical-objects/) - What would Pablo Picasso think if he saw that another artist had transformed his two-dimensional Cubist works of art into three-dimensional form? While the MIMIC series by Omar Aqil was created digitally and doesn’t exist as physical objects, it’s easy to imagine each piece as a sculpture you can walk around and examine from all
- [Underpass Art & Parks: 15 Fun Projects Reclaiming Disused Urban Space](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/12/underpass-art-parks-15-fun-projects-reclaiming-disused-urban-space/) - Climbing walls, skate parks, art installations, theaters and even miniature marinas take advantage of the cathedral-like spaces beneath highways and bridges, revitalizing formerly disused and depressed square footage in urban areas. In cities around the world, underpasses are often fenced off, strewn with trash and generally unappreciated, but these intervention projects reclaim the space in
- [Raining Pitchforks: Artist Lures Visitors Under 300 Spikey Forks of Doom](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/11/raining-pitchforks-artist-lures-visitors-under-300-spikey-forks-of-doom/) - When someone exclaims "It's raining pitchforks and hammer handles out there" they rarely mean it quite so literally. Dubbed The Crusher, this installation sounds as much like a pro wrestler or horror movie as a piece of art. And as the ominous name suggests: it is something to be awed ... and perhaps at least a
- [A Drunkard’s Dream: This Cloud Rains Tequila Whenever it’s Rainy Outside](https://weburbanist.com/2017/04/10/a-drunkards-dream-this-cloud-rains-tequila-whenever-its-rainy-outside/) - It rains more in Berlin than it does in England, especially during the cold and dreary months of winter, so enticing Germans to vacation in Mexico with a cloud that literally rains tequila is probably pretty effective. And this isn’t just a cloud-shaped installation that pours a mist of tequila out of a showerhead or
- [Seaside Stunners: 14 Cliff-Clinging Houses with Crazy Views](https://weburbanist.com/2015/01/21/seaside-stunners-14-cliff-clinging-houses-with-crazy-views/) - Dangling precariously from cliffs, tumbling down hillsides or jutting out over the water, these beautiful seaside homes feature mirage-like rooftop infinity pools, diving boards that lead nowhere, terrifying drop-offs and terraces that seem to float. Mirage House with Rooftop Infinity Pool The glimmer of water on the rooftop of this incredible home on Greece's Tinos

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## Tags

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- [Subversive Arts](https://weburbanist.com/tags/subversive-arts/)
- [Flashmobs](https://weburbanist.com/tags/flashmobs/)
- [Urban Gatherings](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urban-gatherings/)
- [Subway Parties](https://weburbanist.com/tags/subway-parties/)
- [Pillow Fights](https://weburbanist.com/tags/pillow-fights/)
- [Skyscrapers](https://weburbanist.com/tags/skyscrapers/)
- [Urban Density](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urban-density/)
- [Black Rock City](https://weburbanist.com/tags/black-rock-city/)
- [Drops Spots](https://weburbanist.com/tags/drops-spots/)
- [Glowstick Art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/glowstick-art/)
- [Guerilla Gardening](https://weburbanist.com/tags/guerilla-gardening/)
- [American Dream](https://weburbanist.com/tags/american-dream/)
- [Kozyndan](https://weburbanist.com/tags/kozyndan/)
- [Murals](https://weburbanist.com/tags/murals/)
- [Paintings](https://weburbanist.com/tags/paintings/)
- [Google](https://weburbanist.com/tags/google/)
- [images](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urban-images/)
- [Legal Street Art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/legal-street-art/)
- [urbex](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urbex/)
- [Political Art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/political-art/)
- [Homeless Shelters](https://weburbanist.com/tags/homeless-shelters/)
- [Car Living](https://weburbanist.com/tags/car-living/)
- [Couch Surfing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/couch-surfing/)
- [Houseboats](https://weburbanist.com/tags/houseboats/)
- [Boats](https://weburbanist.com/tags/boats/)
- [Structures](https://weburbanist.com/tags/structures/)
- [Europe](https://weburbanist.com/tags/europe/)
- [Installation Art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/installation-art/)
- [Demolition](https://weburbanist.com/tags/demolition/)
- [Implosion](https://weburbanist.com/tags/implosion/)
- [Floating](https://weburbanist.com/tags/floating/)
- [Ocean](https://weburbanist.com/tags/ocean/)
- [graphic design](https://weburbanist.com/tags/graphic-design/)
- [Geography](https://weburbanist.com/tags/geography/)
- [Gatherings](https://weburbanist.com/tags/gatherings/)
- [Religion](https://weburbanist.com/tags/religion/)
- [Festivals](https://weburbanist.com/tags/festivals/)
- [America](https://weburbanist.com/tags/america/)
- [Deserted](https://weburbanist.com/tags/deserted/)
- [Skiing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/skiing/)
- [Sports](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sports/)
- [Prisons](https://weburbanist.com/tags/prisons/)
- [Film](https://weburbanist.com/tags/film/)
- [Models](https://weburbanist.com/tags/models/)
- [Castles](https://weburbanist.com/tags/castles/)
- [World](https://weburbanist.com/tags/world/)
- [building jumping](https://weburbanist.com/tags/building-jumping/)
- [Arbosculpture](https://weburbanist.com/tags/arbosculpture/)
- [Trees](https://weburbanist.com/tags/trees/)
- [Sea Forts](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sea-forts/)
- [Military](https://weburbanist.com/tags/military/)
- [Construction](https://weburbanist.com/tags/construction/)
- [Industry](https://weburbanist.com/tags/industry/)
- [science](https://weburbanist.com/tags/science/)
- [Wonders](https://weburbanist.com/tags/wonders/)
- [bookcases](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bookcases/)
- [bookshelves](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bookshelves/)
- [vaults](https://weburbanist.com/tags/vaults/)
- [archives](https://weburbanist.com/tags/archives/)
- [nuclear waste](https://weburbanist.com/tags/nuclear-waste/)
- [marketing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/marketing/)
- [advertising](https://weburbanist.com/tags/advertising/)
- [Subversive](https://weburbanist.com/tags/subversive/)
- [portraits](https://weburbanist.com/tags/portraits/)
- [Memorials](https://weburbanist.com/tags/memorials/)
- [Sculptures](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sculptures/)
- [Monuments](https://weburbanist.com/tags/monuments/)
- [secret](https://weburbanist.com/tags/secret/)
- [hidden](https://weburbanist.com/tags/hidden/)
- [rooms](https://weburbanist.com/tags/rooms/)
- [doors](https://weburbanist.com/tags/doors/)
- [paper](https://weburbanist.com/tags/paper/)
- [cardboard](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cardboard/)
- [shelters](https://weburbanist.com/tags/shelters/)
- [politics](https://weburbanist.com/tags/politics/)
- [private islands](https://weburbanist.com/tags/private-islands/)
- [luxury](https://weburbanist.com/tags/luxury/)
- [reuse](https://weburbanist.com/tags/reuse/)
- [toys](https://weburbanist.com/tags/toys/)
- [animals](https://weburbanist.com/tags/animals/)
- [shipping](https://weburbanist.com/tags/shipping/)
- [cargo](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cargo/)
- [container](https://weburbanist.com/tags/container/)
- [shipping containers](https://weburbanist.com/tags/shipping-containers/)
- [cargotecture](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cargotecture/)
- [guerrilla marketing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/guerrilla-marketing/)
- [jay conrad levinson](https://weburbanist.com/tags/jay-conrad-levinson/)
- [artists](https://weburbanist.com/tags/artists/)
- [trash](https://weburbanist.com/tags/trash/)
- [recycled](https://weburbanist.com/tags/recycled/)
- [recycled art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/recycled-art/)
- [liquor](https://weburbanist.com/tags/liquor/)
- [statues](https://weburbanist.com/tags/statues/)
- [heros](https://weburbanist.com/tags/heros/)
- [wind](https://weburbanist.com/tags/wind/)
- [solar](https://weburbanist.com/tags/solar/)
- [power](https://weburbanist.com/tags/power/)
- [energy](https://weburbanist.com/tags/energy/)
- [big companies](https://weburbanist.com/tags/big-companies/)
- [creative ads](https://weburbanist.com/tags/creative-ads/)
- [themed hotels](https://weburbanist.com/tags/themed-hotels/)
- [viral marketing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/viral-marketing/)
- [commercials](https://weburbanist.com/tags/commercials/)
- [weblog](https://weburbanist.com/tags/weblog/)
- [blogging](https://weburbanist.com/tags/blogging/)
- [weburbanist](https://weburbanist.com/tags/weburbanist/)
- [adaptive reuse](https://weburbanist.com/tags/adaptive-reuse/)
- [leisurevilles](https://weburbanist.com/tags/leisurevilles/)
- [suburbs](https://weburbanist.com/tags/suburbs/)
- [retirement](https://weburbanist.com/tags/retirement/)
- [community](https://weburbanist.com/tags/community/)
- [modular](https://weburbanist.com/tags/modular/)
- [building](https://weburbanist.com/tags/building/)
- [eco](https://weburbanist.com/tags/eco/)
- [Various](https://weburbanist.com/tags/various/)
- [wikipedia](https://weburbanist.com/tags/wikipedia/)
- [wikimedia](https://weburbanist.com/tags/wikimedia/)
- [treehouses](https://weburbanist.com/tags/treehouses/)
- [houses](https://weburbanist.com/tags/houses/)
- [homes](https://weburbanist.com/tags/homes/)
- [social marketing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/social-marketing/)
- [social causes](https://weburbanist.com/tags/social-causes/)
- [nonprofit marketing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/nonprofit-marketing/)
- [guerrilla](https://weburbanist.com/tags/guerrilla/)
- [shipwrecks](https://weburbanist.com/tags/shipwrecks/)
- [sea](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sea/)
- [disaster](https://weburbanist.com/tags/disaster/)
- [oceania](https://weburbanist.com/tags/oceania/)
- [ambient marketing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/ambient-marketing/)
- [presence marketing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/presence-marketing/)
- [grassroots marketing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/grassroots-marketing/)
- [astroturfing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/astroturfing/)
- [buzz marketing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/buzz-marketing/)
- [wild postings](https://weburbanist.com/tags/wild-postings/)
- [alternative marketing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/alternative-marketing/)
- [undercover marketing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/undercover-marketing/)
- [experiential marketing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/experiential-marketing/)
- [tissue-pack marketing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tissue-pack-marketing/)
- [future](https://weburbanist.com/tags/future/)
- [theater](https://weburbanist.com/tags/theater/)
- [places](https://weburbanist.com/tags/places/)
- [guerrilla art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/guerrilla-art/)
- [marketing art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/marketing-art/)
- [urban environment](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urban-environment/)
- [stencil](https://weburbanist.com/tags/stencil/)
- [paint](https://weburbanist.com/tags/paint/)
- [street](https://weburbanist.com/tags/street/)
- [masterpiece](https://weburbanist.com/tags/masterpiece/)
- [painting](https://weburbanist.com/tags/painting/)
- [Portugal](https://weburbanist.com/tags/portugal/)
- [new york](https://weburbanist.com/tags/new-york/)
- [england](https://weburbanist.com/tags/england/)
- [banksy](https://weburbanist.com/tags/banksy/)
- [style](https://weburbanist.com/tags/style/)
- [controversial](https://weburbanist.com/tags/controversial/)
- [Norway](https://weburbanist.com/tags/norway/)
- [mysterious](https://weburbanist.com/tags/mysterious/)
- [light art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/light-art/)
- [projection bombing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/projection-bombing/)
- [guerrilla gardening](https://weburbanist.com/tags/guerrilla-gardening/)
- [gardening](https://weburbanist.com/tags/gardening/)
- [earth](https://weburbanist.com/tags/earth/)
- [plants](https://weburbanist.com/tags/plants/)
- [geeky](https://weburbanist.com/tags/geeky/)
- [artist](https://weburbanist.com/tags/artist/)
- [typography](https://weburbanist.com/tags/typography/)
- [typographer](https://weburbanist.com/tags/typographer/)
- [religious](https://weburbanist.com/tags/religious/)
- [sand art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sand-art/)
- [moving](https://weburbanist.com/tags/moving/)
- [beds](https://weburbanist.com/tags/beds/)
- [bedroom](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bedroom/)
- [bedroom furniture](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bedroom-furniture/)
- [sand artists](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sand-artists/)
- [stencil art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/stencil-art/)
- [cliff houses](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cliff-houses/)
- [precarious houses](https://weburbanist.com/tags/precarious-houses/)
- [living room](https://weburbanist.com/tags/living-room/)
- [night photography](https://weburbanist.com/tags/night-photography/)
- [night photographers](https://weburbanist.com/tags/night-photographers/)
- [tattoos](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tattoos/)
- [fashion](https://weburbanist.com/tags/fashion/)
- [Sport](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sport/)
- [Stadiums](https://weburbanist.com/tags/stadiums/)
- [Olympics](https://weburbanist.com/tags/olympics/)
- [urban landscape](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urban-landscape/)
- [urban living](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urban-living/)
- [Ruins](https://weburbanist.com/tags/ruins/)
- [Southeast Asia](https://weburbanist.com/tags/southeast-asia/)
- [Afghanistan](https://weburbanist.com/tags/afghanistan/)
- [home](https://weburbanist.com/tags/home/)
- [art cars](https://weburbanist.com/tags/art-cars/)
- [guerrilla action](https://weburbanist.com/tags/guerrilla-action/)
- [urban videos](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urban-videos/)
- [futurism](https://weburbanist.com/tags/futurism/)
- [urban image](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urban-image/)
- [vehicle](https://weburbanist.com/tags/vehicle/)
- [car](https://weburbanist.com/tags/car/)
- [train](https://weburbanist.com/tags/train/)
- [truck](https://weburbanist.com/tags/truck/)
- [tank](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tank/)
- [dining](https://weburbanist.com/tags/dining/)
- [kitchen](https://weburbanist.com/tags/kitchen/)
- [room](https://weburbanist.com/tags/room/)
- [outdoor](https://weburbanist.com/tags/outdoor/)
- [indoor](https://weburbanist.com/tags/indoor/)
- [kids](https://weburbanist.com/tags/kids/)
- [garden](https://weburbanist.com/tags/garden/)
- [book](https://weburbanist.com/tags/book/)
- [books](https://weburbanist.com/tags/books/)
- [recycle](https://weburbanist.com/tags/recycle/)
- [reading](https://weburbanist.com/tags/reading/)
- [book art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/book-art/)
- [amazing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/amazing/)
- [house](https://weburbanist.com/tags/house/)
- [cliff](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cliff/)
- [mountain](https://weburbanist.com/tags/mountain/)
- [lake](https://weburbanist.com/tags/lake/)
- [dollhouse](https://weburbanist.com/tags/dollhouse/)
- [doghouse](https://weburbanist.com/tags/doghouse/)
- [beach](https://weburbanist.com/tags/beach/)
- [condo](https://weburbanist.com/tags/condo/)
- [cramped](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cramped/)
- [tattoo](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tattoo/)
- [information](https://weburbanist.com/tags/information/)
- [about](https://weburbanist.com/tags/about/)
- [swimming](https://weburbanist.com/tags/swimming/)
- [pool](https://weburbanist.com/tags/pool/)
- [water](https://weburbanist.com/tags/water/)
- [tiny](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tiny/)
- [tower](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tower/)
- [pisa](https://weburbanist.com/tags/pisa/)
- [dutch](https://weburbanist.com/tags/dutch/)
- [church](https://weburbanist.com/tags/church/)
- [lean](https://weburbanist.com/tags/lean/)
- [italy](https://weburbanist.com/tags/italy/)
- [exterior](https://weburbanist.com/tags/exterior/)
- [outdoors](https://weburbanist.com/tags/outdoors/)
- [hdr](https://weburbanist.com/tags/hdr/)
- [haunted](https://weburbanist.com/tags/haunted/)
- [ghost](https://weburbanist.com/tags/ghost/)
- [spooks](https://weburbanist.com/tags/spooks/)
- [quotes](https://weburbanist.com/tags/quotes/)
- [words](https://weburbanist.com/tags/words/)
- [speak](https://weburbanist.com/tags/speak/)
- [sound](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sound/)
- [bite](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bite/)
- [bush](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bush/)
- [criticism](https://weburbanist.com/tags/criticism/)
- [humor](https://weburbanist.com/tags/humor/)
- [interviews](https://weburbanist.com/tags/interviews/)
- [dining room](https://weburbanist.com/tags/dining-room/)
- [designs](https://weburbanist.com/tags/designs/)
- [theme](https://weburbanist.com/tags/theme/)
- [restaurant](https://weburbanist.com/tags/restaurant/)
- [food](https://weburbanist.com/tags/food/)
- [interior](https://weburbanist.com/tags/interior/)
- [glass](https://weburbanist.com/tags/glass/)
- [greenhouse](https://weburbanist.com/tags/greenhouse/)
- [glass house](https://weburbanist.com/tags/glass-house/)
- [office](https://weburbanist.com/tags/office/)
- [skyscraper](https://weburbanist.com/tags/skyscraper/)
- [spinning](https://weburbanist.com/tags/spinning/)
- [nanotechnology](https://weburbanist.com/tags/nanotechnology/)
- [spaces](https://weburbanist.com/tags/spaces/)
- [agandonments](https://weburbanist.com/tags/agandonments/)
- [vehicles](https://weburbanist.com/tags/vehicles/)
- [computers](https://weburbanist.com/tags/computers/)
- [geeks](https://weburbanist.com/tags/geeks/)
- [cakes](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cakes/)
- [creativity](https://weburbanist.com/tags/creativity/)
- [asia](https://weburbanist.com/tags/asia/)
- [town](https://weburbanist.com/tags/town/)
- [city](https://weburbanist.com/tags/city/)
- [place](https://weburbanist.com/tags/place/)
- [structure](https://weburbanist.com/tags/structure/)
- [statue](https://weburbanist.com/tags/statue/)
- [monument](https://weburbanist.com/tags/monument/)
- [liberty](https://weburbanist.com/tags/liberty/)
- [360](https://weburbanist.com/tags/360/)
- [panoramic](https://weburbanist.com/tags/panoramic/)
- [Add new tag](https://weburbanist.com/tags/add-new-tag/)
- [Lego](https://weburbanist.com/tags/lego/)
- [balloons](https://weburbanist.com/tags/balloons/)
- [urban exloration](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urban-exloration/)
- [24 Abandoned](https://weburbanist.com/tags/24-abandoned/)
- [Deserted and Decaying Buildings](https://weburbanist.com/tags/deserted-and-decaying-buildings/)
- [smallest](https://weburbanist.com/tags/smallest/)
- [freeze](https://weburbanist.com/tags/freeze/)
- [frame](https://weburbanist.com/tags/frame/)
- [airport](https://weburbanist.com/tags/airport/)
- [airfield](https://weburbanist.com/tags/airfield/)
- [airplane](https://weburbanist.com/tags/airplane/)
- [aircraft](https://weburbanist.com/tags/aircraft/)
- [chairs](https://weburbanist.com/tags/chairs/)
- [wood](https://weburbanist.com/tags/wood/)
- [chair](https://weburbanist.com/tags/chair/)
- [exploration](https://weburbanist.com/tags/exploration/)
- [table](https://weburbanist.com/tags/table/)
- [tables](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tables/)
- [metal](https://weburbanist.com/tags/metal/)
- [plastic](https://weburbanist.com/tags/plastic/)
- [optical-illusions](https://weburbanist.com/tags/optical-illusions/)
- [disasters](https://weburbanist.com/tags/disasters/)
- [phenomena](https://weburbanist.com/tags/phenomena/)
- [airplanes](https://weburbanist.com/tags/airplanes/)
- [photographers](https://weburbanist.com/tags/photographers/)
- [infrared](https://weburbanist.com/tags/infrared/)
- [horror](https://weburbanist.com/tags/horror/)
- [rack](https://weburbanist.com/tags/rack/)
- [coat rack](https://weburbanist.com/tags/coat-rack/)
- [wall](https://weburbanist.com/tags/wall/)
- [hospital](https://weburbanist.com/tags/hospital/)
- [hotel](https://weburbanist.com/tags/hotel/)
- [asylum](https://weburbanist.com/tags/asylum/)
- [wallpaper](https://weburbanist.com/tags/wallpaper/)
- [flat pack](https://weburbanist.com/tags/flat-pack/)
- [prefab](https://weburbanist.com/tags/prefab/)
- [prefabrication](https://weburbanist.com/tags/prefabrication/)
- [mirrors](https://weburbanist.com/tags/mirrors/)
- [decoration](https://weburbanist.com/tags/decoration/)
- [temporary](https://weburbanist.com/tags/temporary/)
- [shelter](https://weburbanist.com/tags/shelter/)
- [robotics](https://weburbanist.com/tags/robotics/)
- [black and white](https://weburbanist.com/tags/black-and-white/)
- [monochrome](https://weburbanist.com/tags/monochrome/)
- [monotone](https://weburbanist.com/tags/monotone/)
- [architectural photos](https://weburbanist.com/tags/architectural-photos/)
- [urban view](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urban-view/)
- [vacation](https://weburbanist.com/tags/vacation/)
- [sink](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sink/)
- [faucet](https://weburbanist.com/tags/faucet/)
- [ceramic](https://weburbanist.com/tags/ceramic/)
- [cardboard art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cardboard-art/)
- [truck art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/truck-art/)
- [pakistan](https://weburbanist.com/tags/pakistan/)
- [art installation](https://weburbanist.com/tags/art-installation/)
- [truck painting](https://weburbanist.com/tags/truck-painting/)
- [gadgets](https://weburbanist.com/tags/gadgets/)
- [cartoons](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cartoons/)
- [funny](https://weburbanist.com/tags/funny/)
- [cute](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cute/)
- [fun](https://weburbanist.com/tags/fun/)
- [starwars](https://weburbanist.com/tags/starwars/)
- [batman](https://weburbanist.com/tags/batman/)
- [kermit](https://weburbanist.com/tags/kermit/)
- [muppets](https://weburbanist.com/tags/muppets/)
- [geeky art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/geeky-art/)
- [tourism](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tourism/)
- [city life](https://weburbanist.com/tags/city-life/)
- [thermal](https://weburbanist.com/tags/thermal/)
- [organic](https://weburbanist.com/tags/organic/)
- [weird](https://weburbanist.com/tags/weird/)
- [clocks](https://weburbanist.com/tags/clocks/)
- [modern](https://weburbanist.com/tags/modern/)
- [traditional](https://weburbanist.com/tags/traditional/)
- [rare](https://weburbanist.com/tags/rare/)
- [exotic](https://weburbanist.com/tags/exotic/)
- [endangered](https://weburbanist.com/tags/endangered/)
- [towns](https://weburbanist.com/tags/towns/)
- [infiltration](https://weburbanist.com/tags/infiltration/)
- [money](https://weburbanist.com/tags/money/)
- [odd](https://weburbanist.com/tags/odd/)
- [installation](https://weburbanist.com/tags/installation/)
- [dollar](https://weburbanist.com/tags/dollar/)
- [bills](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bills/)
- [note](https://weburbanist.com/tags/note/)
- [miniatures](https://weburbanist.com/tags/miniatures/)
- [cutouts](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cutouts/)
- [storage](https://weburbanist.com/tags/storage/)
- [cupboard](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cupboard/)
- [dresser](https://weburbanist.com/tags/dresser/)
- [scary](https://weburbanist.com/tags/scary/)
- [creepy](https://weburbanist.com/tags/creepy/)
- [mannequins](https://weburbanist.com/tags/mannequins/)
- [dolls](https://weburbanist.com/tags/dolls/)
- [light](https://weburbanist.com/tags/light/)
- [time-lapse](https://weburbanist.com/tags/time-lapse/)
- [3d](https://weburbanist.com/tags/3d/)
- [photogram](https://weburbanist.com/tags/photogram/)
- [night](https://weburbanist.com/tags/night/)
- [lighting](https://weburbanist.com/tags/lighting/)
- [lights](https://weburbanist.com/tags/lights/)
- [tagging](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tagging/)
- [lounge](https://weburbanist.com/tags/lounge/)
- [coffee](https://weburbanist.com/tags/coffee/)
- [tea](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tea/)
- [milk](https://weburbanist.com/tags/milk/)
- [sugar](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sugar/)
- [mug](https://weburbanist.com/tags/mug/)
- [unique](https://weburbanist.com/tags/unique/)
- [cool](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cool/)
- [hot](https://weburbanist.com/tags/hot/)
- [cup](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cup/)
- [drinking](https://weburbanist.com/tags/drinking/)
- [caffeine](https://weburbanist.com/tags/caffeine/)
- [diy](https://weburbanist.com/tags/diy/)
- [walls](https://weburbanist.com/tags/walls/)
- [doorknobs](https://weburbanist.com/tags/doorknobs/)
- [latches](https://weburbanist.com/tags/latches/)
- [christmas](https://weburbanist.com/tags/christmas/)
- [holidays](https://weburbanist.com/tags/holidays/)
- [gifts](https://weburbanist.com/tags/gifts/)
- [electronics](https://weburbanist.com/tags/electronics/)
- [tree](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tree/)
- [orn](https://weburbanist.com/tags/orn/)
- [ornaments](https://weburbanist.com/tags/ornaments/)
- [reverse](https://weburbanist.com/tags/reverse/)
- [fittings](https://weburbanist.com/tags/fittings/)
- [shower](https://weburbanist.com/tags/shower/)
- [bath](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bath/)
- [stone](https://weburbanist.com/tags/stone/)
- [post-apocalyptic](https://weburbanist.com/tags/post-apocalyptic/)
- [toilet](https://weburbanist.com/tags/toilet/)
- [washroom](https://weburbanist.com/tags/washroom/)
- [fixtures](https://weburbanist.com/tags/fixtures/)
- [fish](https://weburbanist.com/tags/fish/)
- [aquarium](https://weburbanist.com/tags/aquarium/)
- [fish tank](https://weburbanist.com/tags/fish-tank/)
- [rugs](https://weburbanist.com/tags/rugs/)
- [carpets](https://weburbanist.com/tags/carpets/)
- [mats](https://weburbanist.com/tags/mats/)
- [floor](https://weburbanist.com/tags/floor/)
- [wool](https://weburbanist.com/tags/wool/)
- [geeky toys](https://weburbanist.com/tags/geeky-toys/)
- [vinyl toys](https://weburbanist.com/tags/vinyl-toys/)
- [collectibles](https://weburbanist.com/tags/collectibles/)
- [furnishings](https://weburbanist.com/tags/furnishings/)
- [bathroom](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bathroom/)
- [tub](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tub/)
- [space](https://weburbanist.com/tags/space/)
- [vegetables](https://weburbanist.com/tags/vegetables/)
- [fruit](https://weburbanist.com/tags/fruit/)
- [cooking](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cooking/)
- [seat](https://weburbanist.com/tags/seat/)
- [stool](https://weburbanist.com/tags/stool/)
- [fireplace](https://weburbanist.com/tags/fireplace/)
- [fire](https://weburbanist.com/tags/fire/)
- [extraordinary art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/extraordinary-art/)
- [art from ordinary](https://weburbanist.com/tags/art-from-ordinary/)
- [push pins](https://weburbanist.com/tags/push-pins/)
- [thumbtacks](https://weburbanist.com/tags/thumbtacks/)
- [mosaic](https://weburbanist.com/tags/mosaic/)
- [wooden](https://weburbanist.com/tags/wooden/)
- [benches](https://weburbanist.com/tags/benches/)
- [bench](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bench/)
- [gaming](https://weburbanist.com/tags/gaming/)
- [videogaming](https://weburbanist.com/tags/videogaming/)
- [retrogaming](https://weburbanist.com/tags/retrogaming/)
- [puppets](https://weburbanist.com/tags/puppets/)
- [TV](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tv/)
- [audio](https://weburbanist.com/tags/audio/)
- [evolution](https://weburbanist.com/tags/evolution/)
- [vinyl](https://weburbanist.com/tags/vinyl/)
- [figures](https://weburbanist.com/tags/figures/)
- [figurines](https://weburbanist.com/tags/figurines/)
- [knitting](https://weburbanist.com/tags/knitting/)
- [bum](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bum/)
- [bums](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bums/)
- [hobo](https://weburbanist.com/tags/hobo/)
- [hobovertising](https://weburbanist.com/tags/hobovertising/)
- [homelessness](https://weburbanist.com/tags/homelessness/)
- [signs](https://weburbanist.com/tags/signs/)
- [sign](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sign/)
- [ventless](https://weburbanist.com/tags/ventless/)
- [free standing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/free-standing/)
- [burning](https://weburbanist.com/tags/burning/)
- [heater](https://weburbanist.com/tags/heater/)
- [radiators](https://weburbanist.com/tags/radiators/)
- [heat](https://weburbanist.com/tags/heat/)
- [lighthouses](https://weburbanist.com/tags/lighthouses/)
- [roads](https://weburbanist.com/tags/roads/)
- [factories](https://weburbanist.com/tags/factories/)
- [churches](https://weburbanist.com/tags/churches/)
- [windmills](https://weburbanist.com/tags/windmills/)
- [USB](https://weburbanist.com/tags/usb/)
- [Tech](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tech/)
- [Work](https://weburbanist.com/tags/work/)
- [Skating](https://weburbanist.com/tags/skating/)
- [lifestyle](https://weburbanist.com/tags/lifestyle/)
- [BMX](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bmx/)
- [Inline](https://weburbanist.com/tags/inline/)
- [parks](https://weburbanist.com/tags/parks/)
- [retro](https://weburbanist.com/tags/retro/)
- [rural](https://weburbanist.com/tags/rural/)
- [monasteries](https://weburbanist.com/tags/monasteries/)
- [public art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/public-art/)
- [amusement parks](https://weburbanist.com/tags/amusement-parks/)
- [roller coasters](https://weburbanist.com/tags/roller-coasters/)
- [theme park](https://weburbanist.com/tags/theme-park/)
- [blood](https://weburbanist.com/tags/blood/)
- [graphic](https://weburbanist.com/tags/graphic/)
- [bloody](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bloody/)
- [book covers](https://weburbanist.com/tags/book-covers/)
- [Computer](https://weburbanist.com/tags/computer/)
- [Mods](https://weburbanist.com/tags/mods/)
- [Nerd Art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/nerd-art/)
- [infrared photography](https://weburbanist.com/tags/infrared-photography/)
- [movies](https://weburbanist.com/tags/movies/)
- [posters](https://weburbanist.com/tags/posters/)
- [cinema](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cinema/)
- [entertainment](https://weburbanist.com/tags/entertainment/)
- [ultramodern](https://weburbanist.com/tags/ultramodern/)
- [futuristic](https://weburbanist.com/tags/futuristic/)
- [business](https://weburbanist.com/tags/business/)
- [wine](https://weburbanist.com/tags/wine/)
- [wine labels](https://weburbanist.com/tags/wine-labels/)
- [pop art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/pop-art/)
- [braille](https://weburbanist.com/tags/braille/)
- [interiors](https://weburbanist.com/tags/interiors/)
- [bottles](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bottles/)
- [ships](https://weburbanist.com/tags/ships/)
- [etching](https://weburbanist.com/tags/etching/)
- [blueprints](https://weburbanist.com/tags/blueprints/)
- [planes](https://weburbanist.com/tags/planes/)
- [update](https://weburbanist.com/tags/update/)
- [psp](https://weburbanist.com/tags/psp/)
- [videogames](https://weburbanist.com/tags/videogames/)
- [sony](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sony/)
- [billboards](https://weburbanist.com/tags/billboards/)
- [bold](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bold/)
- [streetart](https://weburbanist.com/tags/streetart/)
- [vintage](https://weburbanist.com/tags/vintage/)
- [Pompeii](https://weburbanist.com/tags/pompeii/)
- [Age of Reason](https://weburbanist.com/tags/age-of-reason/)
- [The Dark Age](https://weburbanist.com/tags/the-dark-age/)
- [stencils](https://weburbanist.com/tags/stencils/)
- [concepts](https://weburbanist.com/tags/concepts/)
- [prototypes](https://weburbanist.com/tags/prototypes/)
- [custom](https://weburbanist.com/tags/custom/)
- [trains](https://weburbanist.com/tags/trains/)
- [ads](https://weburbanist.com/tags/ads/)
- [international](https://weburbanist.com/tags/international/)
- [necktie](https://weburbanist.com/tags/necktie/)
- [clothing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/clothing/)
- [men](https://weburbanist.com/tags/men/)
- [retrofuturism](https://weburbanist.com/tags/retrofuturism/)
- [concept](https://weburbanist.com/tags/concept/)
- [safe sex](https://weburbanist.com/tags/safe-sex/)
- [mtv](https://weburbanist.com/tags/mtv/)
- [condoms](https://weburbanist.com/tags/condoms/)
- [STDs](https://weburbanist.com/tags/stds/)
- [AIDS](https://weburbanist.com/tags/aids/)
- [advertisement](https://weburbanist.com/tags/advertisement/)
- [HIV](https://weburbanist.com/tags/hiv/)
- [mainstream](https://weburbanist.com/tags/mainstream/)
- [nesting dolls](https://weburbanist.com/tags/nesting-dolls/)
- [Russian](https://weburbanist.com/tags/russian/)
- [matryoshka dolls](https://weburbanist.com/tags/matryoshka-dolls/)
- [collection](https://weburbanist.com/tags/collection/)
- [Russian nesting dolls](https://weburbanist.com/tags/russian-nesting-dolls/)
- [crafts](https://weburbanist.com/tags/crafts/)
- [Matryoshka](https://weburbanist.com/tags/matryoshka/)
- [kayaks](https://weburbanist.com/tags/kayaks/)
- [canoes](https://weburbanist.com/tags/canoes/)
- [beer cans](https://weburbanist.com/tags/beer-cans/)
- [collectors](https://weburbanist.com/tags/collectors/)
- [mirror](https://weburbanist.com/tags/mirror/)
- [street signs](https://weburbanist.com/tags/street-signs/)
- [hip hop](https://weburbanist.com/tags/hip-hop/)
- [garbage](https://weburbanist.com/tags/garbage/)
- [propaganda](https://weburbanist.com/tags/propaganda/)
- [ideology](https://weburbanist.com/tags/ideology/)
- [nationalism](https://weburbanist.com/tags/nationalism/)
- [album covers](https://weburbanist.com/tags/album-covers/)
- [parody](https://weburbanist.com/tags/parody/)
- [legos](https://weburbanist.com/tags/legos/)
- [famous](https://weburbanist.com/tags/famous/)
- [music](https://weburbanist.com/tags/music/)
- [environmental](https://weburbanist.com/tags/environmental/)
- [materials](https://weburbanist.com/tags/materials/)
- [blocks](https://weburbanist.com/tags/blocks/)
- [sheets](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sheets/)
- [superconductors](https://weburbanist.com/tags/superconductors/)
- [chemistry](https://weburbanist.com/tags/chemistry/)
- [vinyl car wraps](https://weburbanist.com/tags/vinyl-car-wraps/)
- [car wraps](https://weburbanist.com/tags/car-wraps/)
- [vehicle wraps](https://weburbanist.com/tags/vehicle-wraps/)
- [chidhood](https://weburbanist.com/tags/chidhood/)
- [drawing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/drawing/)
- [sculpting](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sculpting/)
- [designing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/designing/)
- [screen-printing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/screen-printing/)
- [laptop](https://weburbanist.com/tags/laptop/)
- [case](https://weburbanist.com/tags/case/)
- [sleeve](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sleeve/)
- [faucets](https://weburbanist.com/tags/faucets/)
- [elegant](https://weburbanist.com/tags/elegant/)
- [LED faucet](https://weburbanist.com/tags/led-faucet/)
- [photoshop](https://weburbanist.com/tags/photoshop/)
- [graphic designer](https://weburbanist.com/tags/graphic-designer/)
- [70s](https://weburbanist.com/tags/70s/)
- [80s](https://weburbanist.com/tags/80s/)
- [graphics](https://weburbanist.com/tags/graphics/)
- [digital](https://weburbanist.com/tags/digital/)
- [optical illusion](https://weburbanist.com/tags/optical-illusion/)
- [cellphones](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cellphones/)
- [communications](https://weburbanist.com/tags/communications/)
- [trailers](https://weburbanist.com/tags/trailers/)
- [mobile homes](https://weburbanist.com/tags/mobile-homes/)
- [messy](https://weburbanist.com/tags/messy/)
- [celebrity](https://weburbanist.com/tags/celebrity/)
- [sloppy](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sloppy/)
- [color](https://weburbanist.com/tags/color/)
- [artwork](https://weburbanist.com/tags/artwork/)
- [museum](https://weburbanist.com/tags/museum/)
- [exhibit](https://weburbanist.com/tags/exhibit/)
- [pictures](https://weburbanist.com/tags/pictures/)
- [free](https://weburbanist.com/tags/free/)
- [event](https://weburbanist.com/tags/event/)
- [Bristol Museum](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bristol-museum/)
- [Banksy vs Bristol Museum](https://weburbanist.com/tags/banksy-vs-bristol-museum/)
- [animatronics](https://weburbanist.com/tags/animatronics/)
- [suitcase](https://weburbanist.com/tags/suitcase/)
- [luggage](https://weburbanist.com/tags/luggage/)
- [archaeology](https://weburbanist.com/tags/archaeology/)
- [realistic](https://weburbanist.com/tags/realistic/)
- [drawings](https://weburbanist.com/tags/drawings/)
- [illustrations](https://weburbanist.com/tags/illustrations/)
- [abstract](https://weburbanist.com/tags/abstract/)
- [injuries](https://weburbanist.com/tags/injuries/)
- [brain damage](https://weburbanist.com/tags/brain-damage/)
- [digital art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/digital-art/)
- [fine arts](https://weburbanist.com/tags/fine-arts/)
- [watercolor](https://weburbanist.com/tags/watercolor/)
- [self portraits](https://weburbanist.com/tags/self-portraits/)
- [nose art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/nose-art/)
- [WWII](https://weburbanist.com/tags/wwii/)
- [Korean War](https://weburbanist.com/tags/korean-war/)
- [military aircraft](https://weburbanist.com/tags/military-aircraft/)
- [pinups](https://weburbanist.com/tags/pinups/)
- [Vargas](https://weburbanist.com/tags/vargas/)
- [vintage art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/vintage-art/)
- [graphic-arts](https://weburbanist.com/tags/graphic-arts/)
- [elevators](https://weburbanist.com/tags/elevators/)
- [bicycles](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bicycles/)
- [comics](https://weburbanist.com/tags/comics/)
- [caricatures](https://weburbanist.com/tags/caricatures/)
- [film noir](https://weburbanist.com/tags/film-noir/)
- [1940s](https://weburbanist.com/tags/1940s/)
- [1950s](https://weburbanist.com/tags/1950s/)
- [Casablanca](https://weburbanist.com/tags/casablanca/)
- [abandoned churches](https://weburbanist.com/tags/abandoned-churches/)
- [abandoned cathedrals](https://weburbanist.com/tags/abandoned-cathedrals/)
- [economy](https://weburbanist.com/tags/economy/)
- [space-saving](https://weburbanist.com/tags/space-saving/)
- [ethnic](https://weburbanist.com/tags/ethnic/)
- [Green Technologies](https://weburbanist.com/tags/green-technologies/)
- [Parties](https://weburbanist.com/tags/parties/)
- [trucks](https://weburbanist.com/tags/trucks/)
- [bento](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bento/)
- [cans](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cans/)
- [chocolate](https://weburbanist.com/tags/chocolate/)
- [fountains](https://weburbanist.com/tags/fountains/)
- [restroom](https://weburbanist.com/tags/restroom/)
- [restaurants](https://weburbanist.com/tags/restaurants/)
- [toilets](https://weburbanist.com/tags/toilets/)
- [urban travels](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urban-travels/)
- [restaurant restrooms](https://weburbanist.com/tags/restaurant-restrooms/)
- [weird washrooms](https://weburbanist.com/tags/weird-washrooms/)
- [bizarre urinals](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bizarre-urinals/)
- [wacky washrooms](https://weburbanist.com/tags/wacky-washrooms/)
- [eating](https://weburbanist.com/tags/eating/)
- [novelty](https://weburbanist.com/tags/novelty/)
- [abandonment](https://weburbanist.com/tags/abandonment/)
- [derelict](https://weburbanist.com/tags/derelict/)
- [history](https://weburbanist.com/tags/history-factoids/)
- [giant lizards](https://weburbanist.com/tags/giant-lizards/)
- [David Icke](https://weburbanist.com/tags/david-icke/)
- [Moon Landing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/moon-landing/)
- [fake](https://weburbanist.com/tags/fake/)
- [hoax](https://weburbanist.com/tags/hoax/)
- [conspiracy](https://weburbanist.com/tags/conspiracy/)
- [911 conspiracy](https://weburbanist.com/tags/911-conspiracy/)
- [Roswell](https://weburbanist.com/tags/roswell/)
- [holocaust](https://weburbanist.com/tags/holocaust/)
- [new world order](https://weburbanist.com/tags/new-world-order/)
- [secret societies](https://weburbanist.com/tags/secret-societies/)
- [government](https://weburbanist.com/tags/government/)
- [bus](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bus/)
- [school](https://weburbanist.com/tags/school/)
- [hanging bridges](https://weburbanist.com/tags/hanging-bridges/)
- [perilous footpaths](https://weburbanist.com/tags/perilous-footpaths/)
- [rope bridges](https://weburbanist.com/tags/rope-bridges/)
- [swinging bridges](https://weburbanist.com/tags/swinging-bridges/)
- [root bridge](https://weburbanist.com/tags/root-bridge/)
- [most dangerous bridges](https://weburbanist.com/tags/most-dangerous-bridges/)
- [primitive architecture](https://weburbanist.com/tags/primitive-architecture/)
- [bizarre bridge design](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bizarre-bridge-design/)
- [branding](https://weburbanist.com/tags/branding/)
- [consumerism](https://weburbanist.com/tags/consumerism/)
- [capitalism](https://weburbanist.com/tags/capitalism/)
- [bridge](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bridge/)
- [perspective](https://weburbanist.com/tags/perspective/)
- [environmental art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/environmental-art/)
- [designer](https://weburbanist.com/tags/designer/)
- [geeky gadgets](https://weburbanist.com/tags/geeky-gadgets/)
- [recycled technology](https://weburbanist.com/tags/recycled-technology/)
- [repurposed gadgets](https://weburbanist.com/tags/repurposed-gadgets/)
- [hardware hacks](https://weburbanist.com/tags/hardware-hacks/)
- [recycled electronics](https://weburbanist.com/tags/recycled-electronics/)
- [extreme](https://weburbanist.com/tags/extreme/)
- [remote](https://weburbanist.com/tags/remote/)
- [villages](https://weburbanist.com/tags/villages/)
- [stonehenge](https://weburbanist.com/tags/stonehenge/)
- [replicas](https://weburbanist.com/tags/replicas/)
- [sci-fi](https://weburbanist.com/tags/sci-fi/)
- [designs](https://weburbanist.com/tags/designs-tag/)
- [travel](https://weburbanist.com/tags/travel-places/)
- [performance art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/performance-art/)
- [dance](https://weburbanist.com/tags/dance/)
- [urban dance](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urban-dance/)
- [geeky jewelry](https://weburbanist.com/tags/geeky-jewelry/)
- [tech jewelry](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tech-jewelry/)
- [geek fashion](https://weburbanist.com/tags/geek-fashion/)
- [graffiti](https://weburbanist.com/tags/graffiti-drawing/)
- [video games](https://weburbanist.com/tags/video-games/)
- [health](https://weburbanist.com/tags/health/)
- [self improvement](https://weburbanist.com/tags/self-improvement/)
- [education](https://weburbanist.com/tags/education/)
- [underwater sculptures](https://weburbanist.com/tags/underwater-sculptures/)
- [marine ecosystem](https://weburbanist.com/tags/marine-ecosystem/)
- [reefs](https://weburbanist.com/tags/reefs/)
- [prison](https://weburbanist.com/tags/prison/)
- [prisoners](https://weburbanist.com/tags/prisoners/)
- [inventions](https://weburbanist.com/tags/inventions/)
- [upcycling](https://weburbanist.com/tags/upcycling/)
- [environment](https://weburbanist.com/tags/environment-nature/)
- [industrial](https://weburbanist.com/tags/industrial/)
- [retro futuristic](https://weburbanist.com/tags/retro-futuristic/)
- [featured articles](https://weburbanist.com/tags/featured-articles/)
- [wash basin](https://weburbanist.com/tags/wash-basin/)
- [Bizarre places](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bizarre-places/)
- [beautiful swim](https://weburbanist.com/tags/beautiful-swim/)
- [natural phenomena](https://weburbanist.com/tags/natural-phenomena/)
- [graffiti writers](https://weburbanist.com/tags/graffiti-writers/)
- [furniture](https://weburbanist.com/tags/furniture-interiors/)
- [body painting](https://weburbanist.com/tags/body-painting/)
- [alternative art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/alternative-art/)
- [unstable](https://weburbanist.com/tags/unstable/)
- [precarious](https://weburbanist.com/tags/precarious/)
- [fine art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/fine-art/)
- [fine art photographers](https://weburbanist.com/tags/fine-art-photographers/)
- [famous photographers](https://weburbanist.com/tags/famous-photographers/)
- [fine art photography](https://weburbanist.com/tags/fine-art-photography/)
- [spray paint](https://weburbanist.com/tags/spray-paint/)
- [stickers](https://weburbanist.com/tags/stickers/)
- [industrual design](https://weburbanist.com/tags/industrual-design/)
- [clothing design](https://weburbanist.com/tags/clothing-design/)
- [household](https://weburbanist.com/tags/household/)
- [clock](https://weburbanist.com/tags/clock/)
- [alarm clock](https://weburbanist.com/tags/alarm-clock/)
- [wildstyle](https://weburbanist.com/tags/wildstyle/)
- [graffiti lettering](https://weburbanist.com/tags/graffiti-lettering/)
- [instruments](https://weburbanist.com/tags/instruments/)
- [gajitz](https://weburbanist.com/tags/gajitz/)
- [website](https://weburbanist.com/tags/website/)
- [launch](https://weburbanist.com/tags/launch/)
- [commercial photo](https://weburbanist.com/tags/commercial-photo/)
- [commercial photographers](https://weburbanist.com/tags/commercial-photographers/)
- [survivalism](https://weburbanist.com/tags/survivalism/)
- [hidden rooms](https://weburbanist.com/tags/hidden-rooms/)
- [fashion photography](https://weburbanist.com/tags/fashion-photography/)
- [online art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/online-art/)
- [towers](https://weburbanist.com/tags/towers/)
- [Cardboart Art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cardboart-art/)
- [professional photography](https://weburbanist.com/tags/professional-photography/)
- [transforming](https://weburbanist.com/tags/transforming/)
- [modifications](https://weburbanist.com/tags/modifications/)
- [decor](https://weburbanist.com/tags/decor/)
- [geeky decor](https://weburbanist.com/tags/geeky-decor/)
- [haunted castles](https://weburbanist.com/tags/haunted-castles/)
- [ghosts](https://weburbanist.com/tags/ghosts/)
- [paranormal](https://weburbanist.com/tags/paranormal/)
- [paranormal phenomenon](https://weburbanist.com/tags/paranormal-phenomenon/)
- [paranormal activity](https://weburbanist.com/tags/paranormal-activity/)
- [recyling](https://weburbanist.com/tags/recyling/)
- [robots](https://weburbanist.com/tags/robots/)
- [death](https://weburbanist.com/tags/death/)
- [New Orleans](https://weburbanist.com/tags/new-orleans/)
- [tombstones](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tombstones/)
- [cemetery](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cemetery/)
- [steampunk laptop](https://weburbanist.com/tags/steampunk-laptop/)
- [steampunk art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/steampunk-art/)
- [steampunk geek](https://weburbanist.com/tags/steampunk-geek/)
- [steampunk hack](https://weburbanist.com/tags/steampunk-hack/)
- [steampunk mod](https://weburbanist.com/tags/steampunk-mod/)
- [steampunk guitar](https://weburbanist.com/tags/steampunk-guitar/)
- [steampunk guitars](https://weburbanist.com/tags/steampunk-guitars/)
- [steampunk guns](https://weburbanist.com/tags/steampunk-guns/)
- [steampunk ray gun](https://weburbanist.com/tags/steampunk-ray-gun/)
- [steampunk musician](https://weburbanist.com/tags/steampunk-musician/)
- [steampunk shooter](https://weburbanist.com/tags/steampunk-shooter/)
- [teapot](https://weburbanist.com/tags/teapot/)
- [beverage](https://weburbanist.com/tags/beverage/)
- [crockery](https://weburbanist.com/tags/crockery/)
- [contemporary design](https://weburbanist.com/tags/contemporary-design/)
- [retrofuturistic design](https://weburbanist.com/tags/retrofuturistic-design/)
- [body art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/body-art/)
- [Star Wars](https://weburbanist.com/tags/star-wars/)
- [atomic](https://weburbanist.com/tags/atomic/)
- [bomb](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bomb/)
- [urban street art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urban-street-art/)
- [technology](https://weburbanist.com/tags/technology-futurism/)
- [Games & Gaming](https://weburbanist.com/tags/games-gaming/)
- [guerilla marketing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/guerilla-marketing-ads/)
- [subvertising](https://weburbanist.com/tags/subvertising-counter-ads/)
- [Roads & Highways](https://weburbanist.com/tags/roads-highways/)
- [usb gadgets](https://weburbanist.com/tags/usb-gadgets/)
- [cruise ships](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cruise-ships/)
- [technology & fururism](https://weburbanist.com/tags/technology-fururism/)
- [photo-realism](https://weburbanist.com/tags/photo-realism/)
- [gargoyles](https://weburbanist.com/tags/gargoyles/)
- [electricity](https://weburbanist.com/tags/electricity/)
- [musical instruments](https://weburbanist.com/tags/musical-instruments/)
- [staircases](https://weburbanist.com/tags/staircases/)
- [stairs](https://weburbanist.com/tags/stairs/)
- [japan](https://weburbanist.com/tags/japan/)
- [urban ninja](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urban-ninja/)
- [Black Friday](https://weburbanist.com/tags/black-friday/)
- [holiday shopping](https://weburbanist.com/tags/holiday-shopping/)
- [urban video](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urban-video/)
- [extreme sport](https://weburbanist.com/tags/extreme-sport/)
- [Cybernetics](https://weburbanist.com/tags/cybernetics/)
- [umbrella](https://weburbanist.com/tags/umbrella/)
- [swords](https://weburbanist.com/tags/swords/)
- [solar power](https://weburbanist.com/tags/solar-power/)
- [hacks](https://weburbanist.com/tags/hacks/)
- [Jobs](https://weburbanist.com/tags/jobs/)
- [holiday](https://weburbanist.com/tags/holiday/)
- [gift](https://weburbanist.com/tags/gift/)
- [webecoist](https://weburbanist.com/tags/webecoist/)
- [dornob](https://weburbanist.com/tags/dornob/)
- [USB flash drive](https://weburbanist.com/tags/usb-flash-drive/)
- [3d art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/3d-art/)
- [stunts](https://weburbanist.com/tags/stunts/)
- [Urbex & Parkour](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urbex-parkour/)
- [spy gadgets](https://weburbanist.com/tags/spy-gadgets/)
- [James Bond gadgets](https://weburbanist.com/tags/james-bond-gadgets/)
- [lasers](https://weburbanist.com/tags/lasers/)
- [spy cam](https://weburbanist.com/tags/spy-cam/)
- [keylogger](https://weburbanist.com/tags/keylogger/)
- [spy devices](https://weburbanist.com/tags/spy-devices/)
- [apartments](https://weburbanist.com/tags/apartments/)
- [Christmas Graffiti](https://weburbanist.com/tags/christmas-graffiti/)
- [musicians](https://weburbanist.com/tags/musicians/)
- [camera](https://weburbanist.com/tags/camera/)
- [photo](https://weburbanist.com/tags/photo/)
- [contest](https://weburbanist.com/tags/contest/)
- [gingerbread houses](https://weburbanist.com/tags/gingerbread-houses/)
- [gingerbread design](https://weburbanist.com/tags/gingerbread-design/)
- [home design](https://weburbanist.com/tags/home-design/)
- [Logos](https://weburbanist.com/tags/logos/)
- [urban planning](https://weburbanist.com/tags/urban-planning/)
- [motorcycles](https://weburbanist.com/tags/motorcycles/)
- [concept motorcycles](https://weburbanist.com/tags/concept-motorcycles/)
- [green tech](https://weburbanist.com/tags/green-tech/)
- [concept bike](https://weburbanist.com/tags/concept-bike/)
- [bad-ass bikes](https://weburbanist.com/tags/bad-ass-bikes/)
- [home entertainment](https://weburbanist.com/tags/home-entertainment/)
- [audiophile](https://weburbanist.com/tags/audiophile/)
- [shipping container buildings](https://weburbanist.com/tags/shipping-container-buildings/)
- [Surreal Art](https://weburbanist.com/tags/surreal-art/)
- [tricks](https://weburbanist.com/tags/tricks/)
- [creations](https://weburbanist.com/tags/creations/)
- [time](https://weburbanist.com/tags/time/)
- [crowdsourcing](https://weburbanist.com/tags/crowdsourcing/)
- [city planning](https://weburbanist.com/tags/city-planning/)
- [software](https://weburbanist.com/tags/software/)
- [programming](https://weburbanist.com/tags/programming/)
- [Calvin and Hobbes](https://weburbanist.com/tags/calvin-and-hobbes/)

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