-
Tech News
It Took 55 Miles of Sewing Thread To Create This Complete Spectrum of Visible Color
How do you sew up a seam that hangs 20 feet above your head? You develop your own, industrial-sized needle–like the artist Gabriel Dawe did to finish this installation. “I use an extension pole with a tool I developed that works as a giant needle,” Dawe explains in an interviewabout his piece at the Smithsonian’s … Continued
-
Tech NewsDesign
A 120-Year-Old Building Damaged in Japan’s 2011 Quake Is Reborn as This Beautiful Home
The Great Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011 damaged over a million buildings in northeastern Japan. A century-old storehouse that barely survived has been redesigned into this gorgeous home— the Rebirth House, a symbol of both great architecture, and resilience. Ryo Matsui Architects, the firm behind the project, finished reconstruction on the Ibaraki prefecture-based home … Continued
By Bryan Lufkin -
Tech NewsDesign
Behold the Dizzying Pedestrian Bridge Copenhagen Is Building Above Its Harbor
Cities can learn a lot from Copenhagen’s multimodal ways. But how about this inspiring piece of infrastructure from the Danish city: Instead of simply adding a frilly statue to mark its harbor’s entrance, this bridge incorporates housing and provides a stunning vista for tourists and residents alike. Copenhagen Gate is designed by Steven Holl Architects, … Continued
-
Tech NewsDesign
This Building’s Swooping Curves Were Fabricated By a Robot
An architecture firm called Studio RAP has built what it claims is the“first robotically fabricated building in the Netherlands,” using automated milling techniques to craft a unique, swooping structure. The 130-square-metre building was put together inside a giant disused machine hall. The team used 3D modelling program Rhino to create the plans for the 2235-panel … Continued
-
Tech News
The Caves that Held a Secret Hungarian Aircraft Factory During World War II
In 1944 and 1945, the Allies were attacking the last supporter of Nazi Germany. Tens of thousands of tons of bombs were dropped on Hungarian ground targets, mostly by the Consolidated B-24 Liberator and Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of the 15th Air Force. By the end of the World War II, the rain of … Continued
By Attila Nagy -
Tech News
In These Photographs, New York City Is Drowning
Photographer Zev Schmitz took a deep breath and created an incredible architecture photoseries of New York City. Every photo was taken from the waters that surround Manhattan. It’s a bit like seeing the near-death experience of a drowning person. But it also feels like you’re seeing a majestic new world emerging. The fast-moving cold current … Continued
By Attila Nagy -
Tech News
We Are All Doomed to Live in Vertical Forests Now
Switzerland, a country not known for its lack of trees, has come up with a new solution to grow a few more: a ‘vertical forest’, or more accurately, a 383-ft skyscraper masquerading as a shrub. Designed by Italian Stefano Boeri, the tower will consist of cantilevered concrete pods interspersed with cedar trees. It’s being built … Continued
By Chris Mills -
Tech News
These Are the Best Architectural Images of the Year
The winners of the 2015 Arcaid Images Architectural Photography Awards were announced last week as part of the the World Architecture Festival—and the results are predictably stunning. The image above, shot by Fernando Guerra, took first prize. It shows the vibrant orange, yellow and green hues of the EPFL Quartier Nord, a new mixed-use building … Continued
-
Tech NewsDesign
Architects Say This Apartment Complex Is the Year’s Best Building–Here’s Why
What do villages look like in a world where most people live in cities? Can close-knit communities even exist in the megapolis of the future? The Interlace, an unusual apartment building that was just crowned Building of the Year, thinks so. The Interlace is an apartment complex in Singapore designed by Ole Scheeren, a German … Continued
-
Tech NewsDesign
These Mutant Buildings Were Generated By Code and Drawn By a Machine
Architecture and code are inseparable these days–just about every new building involves software in some way. Now a design project is taking the influence of code on architecture to generate building plans designed by software, and the results are oddly human. The recipe for these buildings looks a lot like any other: There are walls. … Continued
-
Tech NewsDesign
The Designers Who Make Muji’s Products Are Now Making Muji Cabins
Very few pieces of architecture are forms of trolling. But this tiny hut, designed for Muji by Konstantin Grcic, is one of them: It is just small enough to avoid needing planning permission from the local government to build in Japan. Designboom explains that it’s one of three Muji Huts built in a park in … Continued
-
Tech NewsDesign
Feast Your Eyes on NYC’s Remarkably Beautiful Mail Chutes
You know those curious brass boxes in the hallwaysof old New York skyscrapers? Believe it or not they represent the public-facing element of a communications network that kept office buildings humming before email. And damn are they beautiful. Atlas Obscura just posted an image-rich feature on the history of the technology. It turns out that … Continued
-
Tech News
CEO’s Swiss Alps Estate Is a Dope James Bond Villain Hideout
Want to spend a few minutes living vicariously through a multimillionaire whose 007-inspired villa feels like the awesome digs of a real-life Spectre villain? Then scope out VisaJet CEO Thomas Flore’s Swiss villa, which appears in the new issue of T magazine from the New York Times. The seven-story, 35,000-square foot chalet is named “Eagle’s … Continued
By Bryan Lufkin -
Tech NewsDesign
Boston’s Most Controversial Buildings Prove That Concrete Can Be Beautiful
Boston, city of charming Colonial-era brick rowhouses lining narrow cobblestone streets. Not exactly the place you’d expect to incubate a modern design revolution. And yet, when Brutalism first came to the US, the hard-edge architectural movement took its firmest hold here. The new book Heroic: Concrete Architecture and the New Boston by Mark Pasnik, Chris … Continued
-
Tech NewsMicrosoft
Every Tiny Apartment Should Come Standard With These Pop-out Windows
Industrial designer Aldana Ferrer Garcia also happens to be an architect, and she’s combined her skills in both fields to come up with some wonderful pop-out window concepts that lets those living in tiny, balcony-less apartments to get a little more exposure to the sun. The ‘Hopper Niche’ concept extends outwards like an accordion, but … Continued
-
Tech NewsDesign
This Airport Gallery Shows Off Japan’s Freakin’ Fantastic Hi-Tech Toilets
You may think toilets aren’t very exciting. That’s where you’re wrong, my friend. Because in Japan, toilets can be self-cleaning wonder thrones that are energy efficient and even keep your buns nice and toasty. A design gallery at one of the country’s major airports shows off Japan’s restroom innovation. It’s called Gallery Toto, and it … Continued
By Bryan Lufkin -
Tech NewsDesign
On Canadian Construction Sites, You Build the Roof First
Conventional construction logic says that you have to build foundations first, roofs last. Montreal, Canada, home to poutine and twisted logic, disagrees. A Montreal construction company is building a 10-story condo building in the heart of downtown. That itself is not surprising in a city undergoing rapid gentrification; what is unusual is the construction method. … Continued
By Chris Mills -
Tech News
The Shells of Former Pizza Huts Continue to Shape Our Cities
Like many children of the ‘80s, Pizza Hut occupies a special place in my heart. Those red-roofed, linoleum-floored restaurants are woven into my early childhood memories as palaces of delectably greasy pizza, texture-perfect breadsticks, and carefree Saturday afternoons. I haven’t been to a Pizza Hut in over a decade, and apparently, I’m not alone. Pizza … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech NewsDesign
This Glitch Art Building Looks Like an Apple Maps Fail on a Sucky Internet Connection
Do not refresh your browser. This is an architectural optical illusion that makes an entire building look like a bad Street View capture reloading over dialup. This glitch art architecture (glitchitecture?) named H3333333K is the work of the artists Domagoj Smoljo and Carmen Weisskop, who you’ll know best for building a bot which bought hundreds … Continued
-
Tech News
NASA Considered an Inflatable Donut for a Space Habitat
Once upon a time, NASA contemplated building an inflatable solar-powered space station. Unlike most early concepts for bringing humans to space, this one made it from concept art all the way to a testable prototype, although it never left the planet. This is a 1961 prototype model an inflatable space station, the Erectable Torus Manned … Continued