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.

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A post shared by Joanna Hedrick (@joanna_hedrick)

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A post shared by Joanna Hedrick (@joanna_hedrick)

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 artworks for students — a great distraction right around finals time.

Using rakes, the artist creates complex maze, honeycomb, sunshine and other shapes, generally around a half-dozen per year. The idea is simple: take something already in place, then rearrange it to make something fun, interesting and a little different. Naturally, these works are eventually blown back into more abstract configurations, but that unraveling can be fascinating to watch, too.

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 Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries secured land in the mid-1970s to create this experimental forest to determine how tree spaces would impact growth speed and height. Trees were planted at ten-degree increments to create ten concentric circles – the closer to the center, the naturally tighter-packed they were, hence the geometry of the results.

And it turns out tree growth is shaped by proximity, so the trees toward the outer rings grew taller, resulting in an overall graduating shape from the lower trees in thee center, which makes the result look even more designed for effect rather than science. The trees were to be cut down after the experiment, but upon seeing the results, officials may preserve them as works at the intersection of art and research.

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 technology adds a fresh dimension to the sequel imagery, both in terms of the quality and source of light as well as the figures created by the aerial micro-vehicles giving it off.

The photographer has traveled around the world to capture sandstone mountains, bubbling volcanoes, gorgeous lakes and rivers, often employing (natural or artificial) light to set the scene.

“Each image is a carefully planned scene consisting of multiple lighting positions,” he explains, “layered to produce a theatrically lit composition. Using the GPS-enabled aerial light/drone in specific positions in space, I am able to create moods of drama and tension through chiaroscuro, and the ability to illuminate isolated features of a scene and exclude unwanted elements.”

“It’s so easy to become numb to conventional depictions of beautiful nature. In casting a new, unfamiliar light, I want people to see that while other planets are fascinating and incredible to us through the eyes of spacecraft and rovers, it is our own planet which has so much grandeur and beauty which is both accessible to us and worthy of preservation and protection.”

Light other time-lapse light art, his works trace patterns that are only fully visible once a photograph is taken, which in turn highlights the exposure time in play within each piece (sometimes also visible through star patterns in the backgrounds).

More about his project and its creator: “Reuben Wu is an artist with a profound interest in the ways that advancing technology can foster new forms of creative expression. Using a Fiilex AL250 in tandem with the 3DR Solo drone and Phase One XF camera system, Reuben has developed a method for selectively ‘painting’ nocturnal landscapes with light via multiple exposures.”

Ice fishing huts and art shanties allow people to enjoy peaceful winters and creative expression on frozen lakes, but for those with something more dynamic in mind: rotating DIY islands of ice are also an option.

Ice circles have been known to form naturally, particularly in streams where a current can round the edges of a free-floating chunk and keep it spinning. The ice circle below captured by Kaylyn Messer is one such example, found this winter in the Snoqualmie River near Seattle, Washington.

These kinds of formations happen on their own at times in Scandinavian and American rivers, water currents slowly shaping the ice. Lakes with fully-frozen surfaces are another matter — creating ice islands on their surface requires a bit more ingenuity (or at least: labor and machinery).

Once created, these may or may not move on their own, depending on currents below the surface — in some cases they have to be helped along by an outboard motor. Seating and shelters can be brought out to make them more homey (small fires can even be lit if the intended use is temporary).

Fair warning, though: if you plan to light your ice circle on fire at the end of a festival or gathering, be sure to stay far back from the flames and warming ice.

The best part is that there is no waste in the making of these things nor assembly required. And if your first attempt fails (assuming you don’t go down with the island), you can always carve out more.

A new 125,000-square-foot science complex to be built outside Cairo will combine research, learning and museum facilities in a future-focused structure designed by competition-winning architects.

Architects Weston Williamson+Partners beat Zaha Hadid Architects to secure the role of lead designer on this forward-thinking Science City complex. Their plans include a planetarium, observation tower, workshop rooms and conference facilities in addition to spaces dedicated to scientific research and development.

The competition brief called for a future-oriented, state-of-the-art interactive science museum for the new century, and “a set of buildings and spaces that must be inspiring on the outside and motivating and exciting on the inside to visitors and employees alike” – it attracted nearly 500 submissions from architects around the world.

The circular footprint is filled with umbrella-shaped protrusions serving to define spaces and paths while providing shelter from the Egyptian heat. While currently located in a semi-remote location, the design is intended to form part of a larger regional master plan for redefining and expanding Egypt’s capital city.

Of their victory, the architects said: “We are proud to have won. Needless to say that Egypt has a unique cultural heritage, but we were also attracted by the ambition of the project, clearly expressed through the brief. We look forward to developing the design and creating something worthy for Egypt’s future generations.”