Stick ‘Em Up With Klebstoff #6
2014 sees the return of the sticker magazine Klebstoff. In its 6th edition Klebstoff represents the three pillars of sticker design: art, artwork and artsy. Ranging from drawings and doodles to photo manipulation, there is a variety of different styles and techniques represented in this small, yet compact sticker magazine.
Foldable Kiosk Uses Origami Techniques
The architects of Make Architecture came up with two remarkable, flexible, foldable kiosks. First unfolded during last month's Ice Sculpting Festival in Canary Wharf, the kiosks are based on the principles of Japanese art of origami, though they are not made of paper, but of aluminium panels.
Sipke Visser On Doggies And Indie Publishing
Sipke Visser is a fine art photographer working and living in London. He just published his second book called Doggies about the London's dog subculture, which he crowd-funded at Kickstarter. His first book Return to Sender was recently shortlisted for the internationally acclaimed Aperture First Photobook Award. We talked to him about dogs, independent publishing and his ambitions as a photographer.
‘Handup’ For The Homeless
San Francisco is a city renowned for its art and culture, however it also has a much higher than average homeless population. Residents Zac Witte and Rose Broome created Handup, an innovative text-messaging platform that makes it easier to donate to the homeless.
Edward Skidelsky: How To Live A Good Life?
The British economic philosopher Edward Skidelsky is one of the authors of the international bestseller How Much Is Enough? — Money and the Good Life (2012), which he wrote together with his father Robert Skidelsky. Skidelsky is currently working on a new book, The Language of the Virtues, which will be published by Princeton University Press. On Thursday 20 February, architecture and urbanism institute Stroom in The Hague will host a lecture by Edward Skidelsky in which he will focus on two main questions: what do we really need as humans? And how do governments create conditions for a 'Good Life'?
Neighbor.ly: A New Way To Let You Pay
Lots of people wish their city to be better maintained, friendlier to bikes or prettier in general. However, cities do not always have the money to turn things around and invest in the best quality. The solution may be in your own wallet. Crowd-funding platform Neighbor.ly focuses on the financing issues of urban projects and services. On this newly launched platform everyone, including local authorities, companies and non-profit-organizations, can start a campaign to get money together for specific urban projects. Does this development pave the way for on-demand urbanism?
Fluffy Nuzzles Keep Ice Skaters Warm
Toronto-based architecture studio RAW Design has won the Warming Huts Competition with their fur-inspired Nuzzles. The colorful and fluffy design keeps the ice skaters warm along the frozen Red River Mutual Trail in Winnipeg, Canada.
Give-And-Tako In Geneva
The trouble with neighbourly lending is the inevitable caveat that borrowed items are often never returned. On the flipside, donation lacks an element of reciprocity with an added requirement of effort. The city of Geneva has found a healthy medium between getting rid of undesirable items and obtaining necessary things through a network of shareable exchange boxes, which they call Boîtes d’Échange Entre Voisins or Neighbourhood Exchange Boxes.
A Pop-Up Bowling Center In A Nightclub
A temporary bowling hall has popped up in Amsterdam. In collaboration with Club Lebowski, nightclub Trouw will be accommodating three professional bowling lanes in the basement of its building — a former newspaper printing plant. From February 7 until March 2, people are invited to throw strikes and spares.
Next Generation Vending Machines Dispense Healthy Food
The vending machine as an urban phenomenon has a strong traditional connection with candy bars, soft drinks and other types of junk food. But the good ol' vending machine slightly starts to gain a position in the distribution of healthy food as well. A while ago we stumbled upon a couple of initiatives that aim to automatically dispense healthy food to urbanites.
River Of Herbs: An Urban Wildlife Medicine Cabinet
Amsterdam-based urban herbologist Lynn Shore has launched a new initiative to create an edible wildlife corridor through the Dutch capital. Amsterdammers are asked to participate by planting herbs in tree pits, pavement gardens, community orchards and other large or small spaces. The River of Herbs, when ready, should result in an eco-friendly alternative medicine cabinet for inhabitants, an edible corridor through the city and a renewed infrastructure for bees.
Go Home Concrete Silo, You’re Drunk
Most beer brands in the world are pretty boring if take into account the ongoing creative endeavors of the Belgian company Vedett. One month ago I came across a Vedett-flavored concrete silo on a construction site in Antwerp that made me look twice.
Funny Signs In The Underground
Some street artist with a great sense humor has installed a hilarious series of signs in London's Underground stations and trains. The name of the artist is unknown, but that doesn't make his/her creations less hilarious. Most of the sticker signs are add-ons to the original Underground signs.
Tracy Metz On Happy Cities
An American by origin, Tracy Metz is an Amsterdam-based journalist and author on urban and spatial issues. She writes for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad and the weekly magazine the Groene Amsterdammer, focusing on topics such as the city, photography, and architecture, and she is a correspondent for Architectural Record. Besides that, she also hosts a monthly live talkshow called Stadsleven that discusses city life in general and in Amsterdam in particular. We talked to her about the theme of this month’s edition, The Happy City.
Cargotecture For Micro Lots
Brooklyn-based couple Michele Bertomen and David Boyle have built a one-family house out of shipping containers on a very small plot in their neighborhood Williamsburg. Using containers as a building material is not something particularly new, as cargotecture has taken a massive rise over the past years. This single-family house, however, takes it to the next level. It's well-integrated in the existing urban context, looks good and brings in a solution for small plot-building.
