MVRDV’s Village In The Cloud
For some reason Dutch architects think that they must be provocative. Remember Rem Koolhaas’s ‘Fuck the Context’, or plans like his CCTV Tower in Beijing and this hotel in Zaandam by WAM Architects that combines modern building principles and traditional lay-out. The architects of MVRDV describe a pair of luxury residential skyscrapers that they plan to build in Seoul […]
3D Printing On Street Corners: A Future Scenario?
Rapid prototyping is still the domain of nerds, but it’s just a matter of time before 3D printers become mass consumer products. With its Kiosk project, Antwerp-based design studio Unfold explores a future scenario in which digital fabricators are so ubiquitous that we see them appear on street corners, just like fast food is sold on the streets […]
Google Shoot View
Amsterdam-based digital agency Pool has just launched Google Shoot View, a pretty extraordinary web-based first-person shooter that takes Google Street View as environment. The game encourages players to "explore the beauty of the world's cities, towns and villages through 360-degree street-level imagery... and fire a M4A1 assault rifle".
Guided By Music
The National Gallery of Denmark launched an interesting project involving art and music some months ago, that breaks the intangible screen that usually divides us from the modern art world. The institute asked several Danish musicians to compose a track based on their interpretation of some of the major works released by Danish and Nordic artists between 1750 […]
Kong Brings Urban Furniture To Life
Great ideas are often simple ideas. Take this project by the German graphic designer and street artist Kong. Using styrofoam balls, Kong transformed a number of urban objects and street furniture like post boxes, garbage bins and public toilets into funny looking puppets that strongly remind of Sesame Street’s Elmo and Cookie Monster. Small effort, […]
Revolutionary Train Of Thought
Even though public heathers have been installed at several train stations, there is a more revolutionary approach to avoid waiting at an utterly cold platform. Paul Priestman, director of the British design group Priestmangoode, argues that the concept of ‘moving platforms’ will take rail transport into the 21st century. This futuristic idea aims to connect train […]
Keep Yourself Warm With The Public Heater
We don’t have to smoke any more to get social with strangers at the train station. Yesterday I came across a rather innovative urban installation at Schiedam Centrum station (a Rotterdam suburb) that has to keep the train travelers warm when they’re waiting at windy stations. On a cold day like yesterday strangers huddle together to […]
Transportable Farm
In his recent installation, our Shanghai-based friend Hiroyuki Shinohara (see also Custom Bike Urbanism) is adding scale to the equation of urban farming. His work 'Transportable Farm' is showcasing urban food production in its smallest scale.
Literature In The Copenhagen Metro
Metro Litteratur is a recently launched campaign that helps to promote talented Danish authors, poets and graphic artists by distributing their works at various metro stations in the city of Copenhagen. The program is a collaboration between the Milan-based organization Subway Letteratura and the Copenhagen Metro Authority and is "a result of a competition held earlier this year, which led to the publication of thirteen small booklets that are offered to passengers free of charge", writes Guerrilla Innovation. Every booklet is published in 300,000 copies and can be downloaded over here.
Pianos In Public Space
People in Tilburg still talk about it. In September 101 pianos popped up in public parks, bus shelters and train stations, outside galleries and markets and even on bridges. The musical instruments were there for everyone to play and enjoy. From the very beginning, the piano project appeared to be one of the highlights during […]
A Suburb In The Clouds
We have heard a lot about the city in the cloud over the last years — a term that is used to define the digitalization of cities. In New York’s latest suburb there might emerge a real city in the cloud. Why paying enormous amounts of money for the limited space available on earth, if living […]
An Online Marketplace For Bike Rentals
Spinlister is a fresh initiative from Los Angeles that enables people to earn a little extra money by renting out their bicycle. According to Springwise, this peer-to peer marketplace for bicycles is comparable to other services for renting out luxury vehicles, gardens and parking places, and is focused on bike enthusiasts around the world. Cycling becomes […]
IKEA Urbanism: A New Era In Urban Design?
Will the new era of architecture be the era of IKEA urbanism? IKEA has proposed to build a complete neighborhood in East London. The Swedish furniture giant tries to implement its ideas and concepts in new fields of knowledge and urbanism. After its injection of each single family's interior with cheap design furniture and the introduction of the IKEA standard house by daughter company BoKlok, it seems to be time for a complete IKEA neighborhood, reports the Huffington Post, LandProp — also part of the IKEA group — is planning to build a neighborhood of 1,200 houses, shops, cafés and a 350-room hotel.
Swap And Recycle Stuff With Swap-O-Matic
We love extraordinary vending machines, so we couldn’t resist featuring this New York-born Swap-o-Matic. The Swap-o-Matic is a vending machine that allows users to donate and receive items, instantly and for free. Why? Because re-using and recycling can be just as fun as buying something new. And, of course, because swapping is contageous and using is the new […]
An Escher-Like Rollercoaster In West-Germany
Imagine an abandoned waste dump in West-Germany, with a rollercoaster on top. As soon as you get closer, it appears to be an elevated pathway that looks like a thrilling rollercoaster ride. This great shiny steel sculpture is entitled Tiger & Turtle Magic Mountain and designed by the German artists Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth.
