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 above) or taking an entire industrial complex and carefully stripping it of its surroundings (like the facility below).

On June 26th, she will join an assortment of other unusual, curious and brilliant creatives — experts in the realms of art, design, interaction and information — as a speaker at the annual Eyeo Festival in Minneapolis, MN.

Designer, entrepreneur and artist Nicholas Felton, creator of the famously detailed and introspective data visualizations, will be back this year as well to talk about his recent work. His numerous personal annual reports condense the events of a year into a tapestry of maps, graphs and statistics.

Artist and programmer Gene Kogan will bring his interest in “generative systems, artificial intelligence, and software for creativity and self-expression.” He has collaborated on various open-source software projects, working at the “intersection of code, art, and technology activism.”

Others include: a smell researcher and artist with a collection of over 7,000 scents, a designer and software designer pursuing machine learning and news automation, and dozens of other fascinating folks from all over the world.

Eyeo asks: “What data is, where it comes from, and how we utilize it, looks different than ever before. What can we do with it all? What can’t we do? Artists, designers and coders build and bend technology to see what’s possible. What’s next with interaction, what’s revealed by the data. Eyeo brings together the most intriguing and exciting people in these arenas today.” If you haven’t been, this is as good a year as any to go for the first time — it is a wonderful and unique experience. Get tickets here.

We take it for granted that London and New York will grace the pages of books, but would you be surprised to learn that Madrid and Cairo were once as commonly referenced, or that Mumbai and Beijing are now two of the most popular cities capturing global imaginations?

Edgard Barbosa created this infographic (above) and other associated graphics (below) to explore the ebb and flow of famous cities in works of fiction and non-fiction alike.

From its creator: “Books of Cities measures the quantity of books, written in the English language, that refers to 10 major cities in the world between 1800 and 2000 … it gives an overall idea of the amount of literature produced in each era about the same city.”

The graphic covers London, New York City, Rome, Paris, Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid, Beijing, Mumbai, and Cairo, and shows how some cities, like Mumbai and Beijing, have recently hit the scene in a major way. Others, meanwhile, like London and NYC, have consistently attracted attention for much of the last few hundred years.

Raw data, as interesting as it may be to the scientists and analysts who use it, simply isn’t very interesting (or understandable) to the rest of us. In order to get the general public truly excited about some bit of trivia, a set of facts and figures, or an unusual trend, you’ve got to dress it up a bit and give it a little flash. That’s just what the makers of these films did. Their short movies all illustrate data sets, but not in a boring, overtly scientific way. These data are presented with the help of some cool graphics and/or video that make them not only informative, but downright fascinating.

The Size of the Known Universe

According to the incomparable Douglas Adams, “Space is big. You just won’t believe how massively, mind-bogglingly big it is.” Its massive size is almost impossible for the human brain to comprehend, but that doesn’t mean that humans will ever stop trying to explain and illustrate it. This film from the American Museum of Natural History shows every known part of our universe, starting on Earth in the Himalayas and expanding to view stars, planets, asteroids, quasars, and a whole lot of dark, empty space.

The Biggest Stars in the Universe

As difficult as it is to imagine the vast size of the universe itself, it is nearly as hard to visualize the size of individual stars. The relative sizes of the planets in the solar system are explored first for reference before the video zooms out to show the inconceivably massive known stars. Starting with our own Sun – which, by the way, looks impressively large compared to the planets – the stars just get larger and larger until even the largest planet in the solar system is completely dwarfed. It’s a humbling reminder of just how tiny our planet is and how vastly minuscule every one of us is in comparison to the rest of the universe.

Asteroid Discoveries – 1980 to 2010

As our space observation and exploration tools have grown more and more sophisticated, we have been able to gain unprecedented glimpses into the universe around us. This video examines the pattern of asteroid discoveries beginning in 1980, showing exactly how our technology has continually advanced to allow more frequent discoveries, further and further from Earth.

1000 Years of Worldwide War in 5 Minutes

Although the data used for this video is somewhat biased, the visual representation of 10 centuries of war is still remarkable. Each explosion represents a military conflict, with the size of the animated explosion and associated label representing how many died in each war.

The Decline of Empires

Along with war and conflict has come the natural ebb and flow of the world’s empires. This video gives an interesting look at how the great world powers of the 19th and 20th centuries changed – with an emphasis on their downfalls. Year by year, the empires grow, shrink, break off into factions and sometimes disappear altogether. Just like in today’s world, these empires were in a near-constant state of flux – although the data represented in the video make that time period look much more volatile than our own.

Every Nuclear Explosion since 1945

A haunting depiction of a terrifying subject, this short film from artist Isao Hashimoto shows every nuclear explosion in the world since the first one occurred in 1945. The film also shows which countries were behind the blasts, illustrating just who in the world has the most nuclear firepower. The video is strangely beautiful, but of course very scary. The final blasts of the video are in Pakistan in 1998 – given the doubts about the legitimacy of the alleged nuclear tests performed by North Korea in 2009, they were not included.

Scientific Visualization of the 9/11 Attack on the World Trade Center

This scientific animation is difficult to watch, but it is an interesting look into how the planes struck the WTC buildings on 9/11 and what happened immediately after the impacts. The video was created by scientists and engineers at Purdue University as a scientifically accurate depiction of those tragic events.

Light Traveling at One Trillion Frames per Second

The Media Lab at MIT developed a new imaging system that is capable of recording images at one trillion frames per second – which is fast enough to record a burst of light traveling through a one-liter plastic bottle and reflecting back toward the source.

Worldwide Android Activations

When the open-source Android operating system was released, the world immediately took notice. The first Android-powered mobile phone was released in October 2008, and between that time and January 2011 millions of Android devices were activated all over the world. This video maps out all of those activations from that time period, calling attention to which parts of the world are most into Android.

Radiohead’s Data-Only Video

Radiohead is an innovative band that has tried some rather unconventional things during its long run of popularity, so this unique video should come as no surprise to fans. No lights or cameras were used in the music video for the song “House of Cards;” rather, the images were created by 3D plotting technologies measuring info about the shapes and distances of objects – namely, Thom Yorke’s beautiful singing head.

Just like the flash cards of our youth, infographics make it much easier to digest, understand and remember information, whether we’re talking multiplication tables or architectural styles. From fun images that break down famous architects’ signature styles into recognizable icons to charts of the world’s tallest buildings, these 15 infographics condense interesting facts about architecture into highly engaging visual learning tools. Click the images to view full-size.

Architecture Icons

(image via: archdaily)

Notable architects of the 20th and 21st centuries including Santiago Calatrava, Frank Lloyd Wright, Tadao Ando, Rem Koolhaas and Zaha Hadid get the graphic treatment in this All Nighter Original poster. The infographic breaks down each architect’s most notable works into graphic icons, like Foster + Partners’ 30 St. Mary Axe tower (‘The Gherkin’).

The Architecture of Inception

(images via: fast co design)

There are three types of architecture in the Martin Scorcese film Inception: real-world architecture, the intricately designed architecture created for the dream worlds, and the structure of the film’s plot throughout those dream worlds. This infographic, by graphic designer Rick Slusher, deals with the third. The many layers of plot throughout each ‘level’ of the dream world is laid out here in a way that is easier to understand than the movie itself.

Inside the Mind of an Architect by Raynes Architecture

(image via: raynes architecture)

Ever wonder how an architect comes up with a plan for a building, step-by-step? Raynes Architecture lays it out in this infographic, from their first surveys to handing the completed project over to a builder.

The World’s Tallest Buildings by 2020

(image via: ctbuh.org)

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is currently the tallest building in the world by far at 2,717 feet, the closest being the 2,165-foot Ping An Finance Center in Shenzen, China. But by 2020, another tower is set to blow it out of the water: the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, set to reach 3,280 feet into the air. See them all in this infographic by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH.)

Home Spending Projection by Canyon Design Build

(image via: canyon design build)

How is the home renovation market shaping up this year? Canyon Design Build created this infographic that tells us where homeowners plan to spend their money over the next two years, with the biggest chunk continuing to go toward kitchens.

Tilted Wonders of the World

(image via: the economist)

Compare the precarious angles of the world’s most notable leaning buildings in this infographic from the Economist. While the Leaning Tower of Pisa is the most famous of them all, Germany’s Bad Frankenhausen Tower and one of the Two Towers of Bologna are actually more in danger of toppling.

Fast, Cheap or Great: Pick Two

(image via: colin harman)

This infographic about graphic design, created by Colin Harman, is just as applicable to architecture. So you’d like your project to be fast, cheap (or free) and great? Pick any two.

Pie Plan by Abi Huynh

(image via: abi huynh)

Designer Abi Huynh created this pie graph, which breaks down interior spaces according to how much they’re actually utilized.

Building Alphabet

(image via: jpg mag)

This graphic brings together photographs taken from street level looking up at the tops of buildings, capturing the letters of the alphabet. Says creator Lisa Reinermann, “Standing in something like a little courtyard in Barcelona I looked up. I saw houses, the sky, clouds and a “Q”. The negative space in-between the houses formed a letter. I loved the idea of the sky as words, the negative being the positive. If I could find a “Q” other letters should be somewhere around the corner. The following weeks, I kept running around looking up to the sky. Bit by bit I found all the letters of the alphabet.”

Architecture Flash Cards

(image via: coffee with an architect)

Brush up on the various styles of architecture with humorous flash cards made by Coffee with an Architect, including Beaux Arts, Tudor, Jacobean, Vernacular and Minimalism. See them all here.

One World Trade Center

(image via: the guardian)

The facts about One World Trade Center, the new trade center building set to become America’s tallest structure, are all laid out in this infographic created by Online-Architecture-Degree.com. The building will be 1,776 feet tall, in honor of the year of America’s Independence.

Infographic Resume by Dustin Thorlakson

(image via: dustin thorlakson)

Architectural designer Dustin Thorlakson presents his resume in infographic form, making it easy to get a sense of his past experience at a glance.

The Impact of Steel in Architecture

(images via: archdaily)

The development of construction methods utilizing steel has made a huge impact on architecture. Just how much of an impact? This infographic by Megan Jett of ArchDaily examines the types of steel used, how it’s made, and a timeline of its history.

Iconic Olympic Buildings

(images via: archdaily)

ArchDaily offers an updated infographic of the most iconic buildings of the Olympic Games from 776 B.C. all the way through 2012.

Famous Architects Dressed as their Buildings

(image via: retronaut)

Retronaut dug up this awesome photo of famous architects literally dressed as their buildings in what could almost be described as a living infographic.

Photographers are the subject of a medium-old question: does their work represent reality, or create new realities? This one undoubtedly does both, putting images of eyes and faces up in urban spaces (streets, walls, even roofs) then recapturing them on film.

Their author, the anonymous JR, is a French artist who tackles tough subjects in difficult places, and has won a TED award for doing so. “In 2007, with Marco, he did Face 2 Face, the biggest illegal photo exhibition ever. JR posted huge portraits of Israelis and Palestinians face to face in eight Palestinian and Israeli cities, and on the both sides of the Security fence / Separation wall. The experts said it would be impossible. Still, he did it.”

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Featured here, however, are primarily his studies in Rio de Janeiro, which BldgBlog questions the purpose of: “are you visually transforming the ghetto so that those who live in the city below no longer have to look up and see themselves surrounded by blight? Or could you visually augment the favela in a way that positively impacts both the self-image of, and the quality of life for, the people living there while not erasing the presence of that ghetto from the visual awareness of the central city dwellers?”

Jane Jacobs (historic scholar of urban settings) is famous for coining the phrase “eyes on the street” – part of a larger realization that the presence of onlookers provides safety for residence, an understanding of which has since shaped mixed-use urban design.

One other question one might ask, then, would be in regards to whether these artistic “eyes” provide similar exposure (and thus safety) for residence (via visitors, viewers and appreciators from afar).