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 – but the same might not be said for the owners of the parked cars he recently took over in Logroño, Spain.

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Parklet projects commonly reclaim street parking for recreational use, whether by laying down rugs and setting up lawn chairs and grills or moving in mini parks on wheels, complete with trees and benches. But rarely, if ever, do they plop down right on top of parked vehicles in order to use the space.

Located at Parking El Espolon, the installation is custom-fit to these three perfectly spaced vehicles, so of course, it’s not likely any angry unsuspecting car owners are going to come along to shake their fists. But the project is certainly a conversation starter, inviting people to climb up onto an “atypical terrace” to “discuss, debate and imagine a new world.”

“Benedetto Bufalino is, in his own way, an ‘arranger’. Like a DJ seizes music already heard to do something else – a “mix”, in this case – this young artist who has made his weapons in Lyon and in design, he also, “remix” the real. Does an Ibiza model car evoke summer, beach, the art of seaside idleness? Bufalino redevelops it so as to transform it into a jacuzzi. Let’s stay in the car registry, which inspired the artist a lot. Engine in operation of a car, which produces heat in abundance? It can serve as a barbecue, once topped with a cooking grill. A long limousine, of the kind we like for weddings in Las Vegas? It will be advantageously open, its roof cut and removed, and transformed into urban friendly space.”

via PopUpCity

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).

French artist Benedetto Bufalino removed the roof and got rid of interior furniture, then retrofit the frame to support a pool people — conveniently, the rear ladder for rooftop access now doubles as a means to access to cool water above.

The inventive artist is no stranger to manipulating motor vehicles, artistically flipping them into sculptures, or even turning them into pizza ovens (the pizza car, incidentally, would pair well with the mobile pool at a hot summer party, too).

For that project, he sliced windows of the old ford and removed its technical and internal components, like seats and wheels. a sort of shelf within the car interior was constructed and covered in an all-brick surface that could sustain high heats fueled by burning wood. Grab a slice and take a dip!

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 of the ocean, and court lines light up and transform.

Pigalle Basketball Court in Paris by Pigalle, Ill-Studio and NIKE

French fashion brand Pigalle teamed up with Ill-Studio and NIKE to paint a stunning sunset-hued basketball court set between two apartment buildings in Paris. Gradients of deep blue, fuchsia, pink, orange and yellow creep up the walls of the three surrounding structures and out to the sidewalk to celebrate the release of Pigalle’s latest collection with NIKElab.

Carlo Carrá Park in Alexandria, Italy by Gue

The muralist known as ‘Gue’ gave the basketball court at Carlo Carrá Park in Alexandria, Italy a bright makeover as part of an urban regeneration and redevelopment effort. “The idea was born from the possibility of being able to cross the field’s space,” says the artist, “and to stay inside the composition and change the perception of shapes through the game’s movement.”

House of Mamba Basketball Court by NIKE

Leave it to NIKE to create a totally functional basketball court that doubles as a work of modern installation art. The brand teamed up with AKQA to develop a full-sized LED court for the NIKE RISE basketball tour taking place across China, utilizing motion-tracking and reactive LED visualization to lead players through drills based on Kobe Bryant’s training. Then, in 2015, they completed ‘Rise 2.0,’ a second version of the court with LeBron James.

Rooftop Basketball Court in Venezuela by PICO Estudio

Design collective PICO estudio teamed up with local and international firms as well as volunteers and community members to transform a self-built house that was once a drug trafficking venue in Caracas, Venezuela into a valuable community space hosting a recording studio, computer area, waiting area, kitchen and an incredible rooftop basketball court retrofitted with vibrant green steel framing and chain-link fencing for safety.

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Cladding a cement mixer in pixelated mirror squares, a French artist has created a giant glittering disco ball on wheels able to turn vacant lots and construction sites into instant party zones.

Benedetto Bufalino often adds fun to the mix when working with interactive and installation pieces (unusual sports courts and strange phone booth conversions), for instance, but rarely in quite such a dramatic way.

Parked for a time next to a building site in Lyon and given its own spotlight, the artist’s remixed mixer spins up and casts light in all directions. The idea driving the project is simple: bring together locals and passing pedestrians to mix and meet in the resulting rays.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the entire setup is mobile — for guerrilla party throwers, the mixer can set up shop then move if complaints mount or authorities arrive. Or it can simply cruise slowly down the street, making for a truly and permanently portable party.

Meanwhile, when not at work hosting parties, the vehicle can carry and pour concrete as usual — like many urban residents, it is a worker by day but a partier by night.

Ordinary cars become Ferraris with cardboard camouflage, campers stretch high into the sky and disused telephone booths transform into glowing sidewalk aquariums in fun urban art installations by artist Benedetto Bufalino. Aiming to transcend the mundane in city life, Bufalino repurposes existing objects in unexpected ways, creating head-scratching spectacles all over his home country of France.

Witnessing one of these installations in person feels a bit like wandering onto the set of a surreal film, asking yourself whether you’re actually dreaming.

Chickens cluck and scratch inside the back of a converted police coop, comfortable in their unconventional new home. Bathers lounge in a car-turned-Jacuzzi.

Passersby tug confusedly at the door handles of a classic red telephone booth, gazing at the goldfish inside as if they haven’t quite realized yet that they can’t step in and make a call.

Teens perched on a massively oversized picnic table look as if they’ve been shrunk down to half their normal size.

See lots more dreamlike urban art installations at Benedetto’s website.