Literally popping out of city walls in three dimensions, wild animals emerge from a jumble of car parts, corrugated metal and random industrial objects masterfully layered and painted by Bordalo II. The Portuguese street artist has spent much of the last decade installing these giant murals in the streets of his hometown of Lisbon and other locales around the world, literally infusing new life into the stuff we’ve deemed junk and tossed away. Several new pieces have emerged in recent months, including a possum in Ft. Smith, Arkansas and a flying squirrel in Estonia.

Each of Bordalo’s sculptures grows in an almost organic fashion depending on what kind of trash the artist can find on the streets near his installation location. As you can probably imagine, he has no trouble accumulating more materials than he can handle just with a quick trip driving around a few city blocks. Certain materials, like tires, are preferred because they’re easy to cut and shape.

Like so many street artists, Bordalo started out making illegal street graffiti, and his style emerged over time as he began to integrate 3D objects into the paint. “Even if in the beginning it was all about exploring and discovering the way to do, the way to make it work, I’m still trying to innovate, create new problems and have fun with them – this is the process that creates different expressions, forms, textures, etc.,” he says in an interview with Street Art News.

Take a look through Bordalo’s Instagram for more projects, and see if you can identify all the individual elements that go into each piece.

Giant human figures made of jumbled steel letters loom over public spaces in a series of monumental typographic sculptures by artist Jaume Plensa. The contemplative seated figures seem to watch over the landscapes and city squares where they have been installed around the world, from London to Rio de Janeiro.

(images via: chris huggins, jaume plensa)

(images via: terry madeley)

The text seems to wrap around invisible human forms, looking at times as if it is incomplete. Plensa’s work is not just thought-provoking, it is about thought itself and how words can shape our world and the way we interact with it.

(images via: terry madeley, jw sherman, anders sandberg)

Plensa has borrowed paragraphs from biblical texts, classic literature like Dante’s Divine Comedy, and poetry by William Blake. Stand beneath or inside one of these massive sculptures and you likely won’t be able to read much of the text – but that’s not the point.

(images via: tim green, lorraine 1 + 2, liza31337)

Conceptual dualities, like the play between negative and positive space, are intended to stimulate intellectual engagement, connecting the sculptures with the viewers on an intuitive level. The pieces often include ‘doorways’ so viewers can interact with the work, temporarily becoming a part of it.

Those of us who grew up playing Tetris credit the game with teaching us everything from patience to time management to packing skills. For Swedish artist Michael Johansson, Tetris also seems to have instilled a love of organization. Johansson’s Tetris-like organizational art pieces are fun and satisfying in that everything-in-its-place kind of way.

Johansson collects used objects which have already enjoyed a long life and turns them into larger-than-life sculptures. He seems to have a magical sense of space, fitting items of different sizes and shapes perfectly into doorways, windows, and all types of unlikely spaces.

Because the objects are old and show some signs of wear, Johansson believes that his art gives them a new past – a “fake history.” He lovingly crafts these combinations of (usually) unrelated items into sculptures that rely not only on the skill of the artist, but also the size, shape and color of the objects themselves.

Without the whole, each individual part of these sculptures would not make sense as art. And like Tetris, it is the coming together of many pieces that really makes the projects fun. One can step back and look at the amazing tableau of these combined objects or step closer to appreciate each individual object. Either way, Johansson’s real-life Tetris leaves us all feeling like winners.

Alan Wolfson is a master of the miniature. His urban sculptures are tiny, incredibly detailed views of the mundane city landmarks that urban citizens interact with on a daily basis.

(Images via lanny-yap, okharris, xiixix, eclectica)

Alan Wolfson’s artistry is not just confined to his technical ability; his true artistry is how he captures the atmosphere of a specific time and place. “Follies Burlesk” is the top piece, made in 1987. The box is “Brooklyn Rooftop”, a creation he made in 2005 and depicts an interesting view of the city mainstay; the rooftop patio. Alan is so particular, that you can even look into the windows on this piece and see the interior of an apartment. Alan created “Paradise Motel” in 1989, and the final piece is “Terminal Diner”, which is part of his “Diners and Eateries” collection.

(Images via neatorama, alanwolfson, freshpaintnyc)

“Canal St. Cross-Section” gives a great idea of the scale of these projects. The quarter inserted into the photo looks like a gigantic coin inserted into a real station. “Pennsylvania Ave. Elevated” is a 1995 piece that realistically depicts a train that nobody wants to wait for. The final image is another detail from “Canal St. Cross-Section.”

(Images via weheart, alanwolfson, evewithoutadam, alanwolfson)

“Canal St. Cross-Section” is featured again, with a full view of its three descending levels. “New York’s Best Pizza” and “Street Corner #1” are both from a collection featuring phone booths. “Lucky Sevens Casino” is brilliantly lit, making it look like it was torn straight from a real street corner.

(Images via mymodernmet, mymodernmet, designboom)

These three detailed views of “Canal St. Cross-Section” display the different levels of the piece and highlight the incredibly hyper-realistic details. From real-looking ads, to intricate brickwork, it is difficult to differentiate these urban sculptures from real photographs.

(Images via mymodernmet, thelightboxproject, eclectica, livrespensadoras)

A detail from the tiered masterpiece “Canal St. Cross-Section” and one of his most intense projects to date, “Peep World”, which depicts the inside of a dirty video store and peep show. “Times Square Hotel Room” has a beautiful view out of its windows, and “Peep World” makes another appearance, with this detailed view of its magazine collection.

(Images via alanwolfson, boingboing)

“Katz’s Delicatessen” is Alan Wolfson’s newest piece, and it’s most stunning feature is the intricate neon lighting that looks incredibly realistic. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to find another miniature artist with such a consistent quality and tone to their work. To see more images from Alan Wolfson’s portfolio, visit his site here.