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io9
A lotus-shaped oasis blooms over the London skyline
Some concept designs are just so surprising and gorgeous that all you can do is sigh over the fact that they’ll likely never be real. These aerial gardens might not be the best fit for London, but they would look lovely glittering over some future city. Architect Tsvetan Toshkov created his “City in the Sky” … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech News
15 Awesome Art Installations Painted in Light
With the proper projector, the world is your canvas. Our friends at Oobject have assembled 15 of the most innovative building facade projections since MIT employed one as a giant Tetris board. https://gizmodo.com/mit-students-hack-building-play-tetris-5904520 Be sure to also check out these 15 Blade Runner Buildings, these 12 movable facades, and this collection of ginormous screens. 3D … Continued
David Galbraith - Oobject.com -
Tech News
This Bright-Red Housing Complex Is Actually Green
The residents of these bright-red social housing units in Salburua, Spain, are the envy of every bill-paying apartment (and house!) dweller everywhere. In a feat of remarkable design innovation, these affordable apartments—designed by ACXT—actually produce too much energy! The U-shaped structure abounds with energy-efficient design strategies: A continuous ventilation system extends from one side of … Continued
By Molly Oswaks -
io9
The awesomely insane Heaven and Hell nightclubs of 1890s Paris
In modern times, you can find a stray cabaret or goth club in most modern metropolitan areas. But back in the late 19th century, your options were limited, albeit merrily deranged. Paris of the 1890s had several supernatural nightlife options, each of them with marvelously outlandish gimmicks. In the 1899 book Bohemian Paris of To-Day … Continued
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Tech News
The Nicest Micro-Cabin $10,000 Can Buy
Are you one of those people who constantly threatens to detach from society and go live out in the woods? But you’re probably baffled as to how you’d go about making that a reality, right? Well for $10,000 and a little bit of elbow grease, you could finally make good on those empty threats with … Continued
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io9
The lost art of sculpting cathedrals out of lard
From bacon suits to flying buttresses made of dead hog. Here are some panels from Otto F. Fleiss’ floridly titled pamphlet (deep breath) White Art in the Meat Food Business. A Practical Handbook for Butcher, Pork Stores, Restaurants, Hotels and Delicatessens on How to Make Lasting and Transferable White Art Decorations out of Bacon Fat … Continued
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Tech News
Would You Live in a Church?
Just outside of Adelaide, Australia, there’s a pedestrian-looking, bluestone church deserving of a second glance. Inside, the 1877 house of worship has been completely renovated and transformed into a thoroughly modern dwelling. It’s such a unique residence that it’s no surprise that it was snapped up almost immediately after it went on the market. What … Continued
Kif Leswing -
Tech News
Korean Toddlers Build Tallest Lego Tower in the World
What did you do last week? Did you build a a 104-foot tall Lego tower, made of 50,000 bricks, with a team of kids who can pretty much not even talk? Didn’t think so! South Korea’s world record breaking monolith took five days to complete, and based on this footage, was erected upon the backs … Continued
By Sam Biddle -
io9
The Psychedelic Japanese Cityscapes Of Decades Past
If older science fiction designs are any indicator, the city of today should look like a bundle of broken Christmas tree lights during the middle of a Peyote trip. Here’s a sampling of fantastic retrofuturistic metropolises and architecture by Japanese artists from the 1960s-1980s. Given our technological advances, there’s really no reason we shouldn’t all … Continued
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Tech News
Dancing Dragon Towers Will Have a Breathable, Scale-Like Skin
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill, an architecture firm that is arguably one of the world’s leading designers of skyscrapers, has just unveiled plans for a pair of towers that will grace the skyline in Seoul, South Korea with an absolutely stunning dragon-like facade. The towers, 88- and 77-stories respectively, will a breathable, scale-like skin of … Continued
By Molly Oswaks -
io9
The 1950s Space Age style known as Googie lives on forever
The era of “Googie” design and architecture is half a century ago — but in many ways, it feels fresher than anything that’s come along since. The optimism and brightness that comes out of these buildings and their facades still shines out like a sign of what humans are capable of when we believe. To … Continued
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Tech News
The House That Can Live on the Water or in the Trees
Imagine spending a summer floating down a river in this magnificent barge, stopping only for food and water in some random backwater town, then returning to the top deck cargo net hammock to resume the lazy float to nowhere. That’s all that comes to mind when looking at this magnificent wood creation. That, and the … Continued
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io9
Why Space: 1999 is Still Retro Cool
People sometimes dismiss Space: 1999 as a fatally kitschy space adventure, full of unconvincing aliens and wah-wah guitar histrionics. But many of the design elements of Space: 1999 still look incredibly cool today. Like the above lamp, the Sorella Lamp created by Studio Tecnico Harvey, which is now considered a prime example of 1970s retro … Continued
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io9
Chinese capsule hotel lets you pretend you’re sleeping in space (minus the microgravity)
The first “capsule hotel” in mainland China is scoring huge popularity, in part because it’s being described as a “space capsule,” as if you’re sleeping inside a spaceship. Each tiny room includes wireless broadband internet and a little dresser, as well as a bed. The capsules are divided up into different houses of the Zodiac, … Continued
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Tech News
Polish Architects Build Stereotype-Reinforcing Upside-Down House
With a last name like Liszewski, I’ve heard every single Polish joke and stereotype there is. But I’m going to assume that Polish architects Irek Glowacki and Marek Rozanski have just spawned at least one more with this unique tourist attraction they built in Austria. Have you heard the one about the Polish architects who … Continued
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Tech News
Amazing Candy Store Looks Like It Was Drawn By Kids
When the Red Design Group was hired by Sweet Enough to design the interior of its first retail store, it ran with the idea of a ‘kid in a candy store’. In fact, it actually looks like they hired a group of pre-schoolers to sketch the blueprints with crayons. The use of hand-drawn artwork on … Continued
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io9
Chain of tank-like fortresses would protect Japan from natural disasters and human enemies
These gloomy citadels are just a concept design, one that imagines a massive defense network that could surround and defend Japan. Using a chain of breakwaters and drainage channels, these fortresses would protect the coast from tsunamis, while serving as an added layer of defense for man-made threats to the islands. Victor Kopeikin and Pavlo … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech News
Future Dubai Hotel Will Sit 21 Stories Underwater
Imagine waking up in a hotel room, and instead of getting a view of a bustling city, or beach, or maybe a parking lot, you are greeted by underwater wildlife 200 feet below the surface. And while it sounds like something out of a early 20th-century sci-fi novel, one group is trying to make this … Continued
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Tech News
World’s Largest Underground High-Speed Rail Station Will be Spectacular, Surreal-Looking
The Express Rail Link West Kowloon Terminus, when completed (sometime in 2015), will be the world’s largest underground high-speed rail station, occupying a whopping 4,628,481sq/ft! Its surreal modern design is the work of international architectural studio Aedas, who with it demonstrate the interconnectedness of architecture and technology. From the central Hong Kong terminal’s 15 tracks, … Continued
By Molly Oswaks -
Tech News
Reflections Off This Skyscraper Are Destroying Priceless Works of Art
The city of Dallas has a burning question. What does it do when a newly constructed high rise reflects so much heat that it’s frying the works of art in the galleries and the lawn of a museum it overlooks? Opened in 2003, The Nasher Sculpture Center is home to pieces by important artists like … Continued
By Leslie Horn