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Tech NewsDesignHow Architects Use Computational Design to Get You the Best Views
Designing and constructing a building is not an easy task; guaranteeing everyone is happy with their view from the thing is almost impossible. But these days, architects are using intelligent computational design to make sure as many people as possible get an amazing view from their desk. This video shows how it’s possible to use … Continued
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io9Dome Houses to Protect You from the Dark Future
If science fiction is any guide, we’ll all live under domes one day. And some of these houses make that future look pretty damn good. The Palais Bulles (Bubble House) in Tourettes-sur-Loup, France, designed by Antti Lovag, built between 1975 and 1989. Once it was the home of fashion designer Pierre Cardin. (via Alexandra Lloyd … Continued
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Tech NewsSploid
Which famous villain had the biggest and baddest secret headquarters?
It sucks to be a villain. Not just because you’re destined to lose to the hero but because when you do lose, you lose everything, including your stupid awesome villain hideout slash lair slash headquarters. Why couldn’t you just lose a little bit and get to keep rolling around in the Death Star? Why can’t … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech News
The Brutally Beautiful Wastelands of Outer Moscow
The seam where a city meets the country is an uncanny place. It’s not rural, yet not exactly urban, either, a non-place often full of half-finished streets and isolated developments. Most of us only see these environments through the windows of our cars, but photographer Alexander Gronsky has spent the last four years in Moscow’s … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
The Subtle Art of Breaking Building Laws
Building permits are wonderful things: They protect us from slum conditions and scammers, and they make money for our local governments. But permits can also pose a major financial hurdle for independent home builders—and rules are meant to be broken, man. There’s a rich, if somewhat under-the-radar, tradition of architectural loopholes out there, and it … Continued
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io9
The Towering Glory and Infinite Weirdness of Post-Soviet Architecture
These surreal photographs from Frank Herfort’s Imperial Pomp – Post Soviet Highrise series show us the strangest post-Soviet buildings of Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia. Two golden towers in Astana, Kazakhstan, also called as ‘the beer cans’ by locals, built in 1998 An office building in Moscow, Russia Grand Park Towers (Khodynsky Bulvar 5), 414 ft … Continued
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Tech News
London’s Giant Shoebox Is Actually An Adidas Pop-Up Shop
Pop-up shops are a dime a dozen these days but, when a brand decides to get weird, it’s often memorable. Such was the case with the recent Adidas project in London’s Shoreditch neighborhood. Designed to celebrate the launch of the new Stan Smith collection, this giant shoebox of a pop-up shop had a short run. … Continued
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Tech NewsSploid
I want to study in this awesome high school
I wish I could be 16 again to enroll in the futuristic Island School in Hong Kong, a 28,000-square-meter building that merges into the landscape. From the inside, it looks like a spaceship. From the outside, its structure seems to defy gravity: According to ArchDaily, “the design is formed by an atrium, which doubles as … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech NewsDesign
Archaeologists Uncover 300,000-Year-Old Kitchen in Israeli Cave
Sure, early hominins used fire for upwards of a million years. But when did early hominins start acting like humans—for example, cooking in the same spot each night? The new discovery of an old (really old) hearth at an Israeli dig site could hold the answer. The site is Qesem Cave—Qesem meaning “magic” in Hebrew—a … Continued
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Tech News
These Are the Futuristic Venues of the Upcoming Winter Olympics
The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics will start on February 6th, 2014. The Russian Empire has built a bunch of brand new arenas for the upcoming winter sports fiesta. This is our collection of the artistic-futuristic architecture of the Sochi Games, built from scratch in the past few years. Outside of Shayba Arena, Alder, Russia. The … Continued
By Attila Nagy -
Tech NewsDesign
Why the Statue of Liberty’s Arm Lived In a NYC Park For Six Years
It took a very long time for the Statue of Liberty to find a home on Liberty Island. In fact, for several years, her creators showed off pieces of her body in NYC and Philadelphia in an effort to drum up funds to finance the statue’s completion. The picture above is from New York City’s … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
ScienceHealth
NYC’s Charming Water Towers Are Actually Bacteria-Filled Horrorshows
Ah, New York—the sparkling skyline! The bustling streets! The… poop-filled water tanks? According to a new report from The New York Times, the city’s roughly 17,000 water tanks are totally unsanitary and widely unregulated. First of all: Why does NYC still use water tanks? The answer is relatively simple: Many buildings taller than six or … Continued
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Tech NewsSploid
This building is designed for everyone to climb all over it
This is one of the coolest buildings I’ve seen in a long time: a structure designed to turn everyone into Spider-man by allowing people to climb all over its interior and exterior. It kind of feels like a glitch in the Matrix: a computer-generated mountain that needs more polygons and some textures. And that seems … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech NewsDesignMost Beautiful Items: January 17 – 24, 2014
All you see from your window might be ice, but from this screen you’re eyes will catch nothing but beautiful things. From the worlds of art, architecture, and design, here are the most lovely things we found this week. Don’t you dare go outside; it’s way too dangerous. A frozen Niagara Falls light show looks … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech NewsDesignUsing A Centuries-Old Printmaking Technique To Immortalize A New Museum
Photogravure is a printmaking technique that requires a hell of a lot of prep, but the ghostly effect of the finished work is awesome: it’s like part etching and a bit charcoal drawing, with the spirit of an old timey black-and-white. German photographer Antje Hanebeck and artist Fanny Boucher of studio Atelier Hélio’g in France … Continued
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io9Could you see yourself living in any of these incredibly tiny houses?
Itty-bitty apartments are nothing new, but many people are moving towards microhouses, free-standing or mobile structures that have all the amenities of a larger home, just with a lot less room. Would you be willing to trade your current digs for a small house that maximizes space, or do these just look like cramped quarters? … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech News
Would You Live in a House of Bricks Made from Pee and Bacteria?
To make a concrete bench, add sand, bacteria, calcium chloride, and some really concentrated pee? When we first saw Peter Trimble’s sand and urea bio-furniture—the latter is a chemical most commonly found in pee—we were excited to see human urine put to yet another green use. So we were slightly disappointed to learn that, no, … Continued
By Sarah Zhang -
io9Books & Comics
Rediscovering Acres of Forgotten Books In a Grand Old Albany Basement
Amidst endless stories about the death of the printed word and the closing of America’s libraries, another issue remains unresolved: What’s to be done with all the leftover books? In Albany, administrators at the former State Library are embroiled in a debate over the value of books—and what’s “too precious” to throw away. The 102-year-old … Continued
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Tech NewsPhotos of Post-Soviet High Rises Are Grandiose and Surreal
Photographer Frank Herfort’s recent book Imperial Pomp is a beautiful collection of images depicting a very strange breed of architecture in Russia. Herfort traveled extensively—over 15,000 miles—to various cities and remote areas of Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Belarus with camera in tow. His purpose was to document the huge buildings, some monolithic, some opulent, erected … Continued