it looks CG but it’s totally real.

take a closer look. it seems almost like a ‘waste’ to put this crafty, eye-bending building smack dab in the middle of some hom-hum area… the views are… blegh butttt impressive feat nonetheless

Built by architecture studio Eastern Design Office, this Japanese Flatiron inspired building is located in the district of Youkaichi in Shiga Prefecture. A triangular residential complex of 13 meters height with 7 apartments each composed of a living room of 13 m2, two bed rooms with 13 m2 and 9m2, a prefabricated bathroom, a kitchen system and a toilet.

The exterior wall is made out of square cut stone, concrete and glass formed like scattered cards on it.
They are bound by a “cross” so that the spread out material would not disjoint.

More information at www.eastern.e-arc.jp

source: http://trendland.net/japanese-flatiron-by-eastern-design-office/#more-67729

whoa. it’s the future. and it’s now.

this is the sort of stuff that was inconceivable to my Short Circuit-watching-tyke-of-a-self and everyone else growing up… but it’s reality- you can turn any surface into a working keyboard! what the what!!??

and now maybe you don’t have to wipe your smudgy oil off the screen constantly!!

The Celluon Magic Cube turns any table or surface into a virtual keyboard or multi-touch mouse with its amazing laser projection and motion detection technology. The Magic Cube is smaller than a pack of cards – easy to use, and a great travel companion projection keyboard for mobile, tablet, and laptop devices. $169 at www.amazon.com

totally clever. totally cool.

these photos for Stephanie Baechler’s project are mind bending and complete visual delight!  it’s hard to make out just what is going on because she so cleverly manipulated the materials and challenges dimensions and perceptions to create some really unique images… more below on this project  (and a special shout out to francesca for showing this to me first!)

also i highly suggest checking out her video which can be found here: http://vimeo.com/23258126

Swiss artist Stéphanie Baechler is inspired by curtains, fabric pleats, plastic bags, wrapped objects and creased blankets. As a starting point for her fabric project Baechler begins with formations, shapes, and material combinations that result from the rather accidental than conscious every day actions. In creating this project she explores paper or fabric installations in 3D, the processing into a two dimensional pieces of fabric and the creation of a textile object that turns into a symbiosis of 3D and 2D.

Realizing this project she was interested in various approaches: Paper or fabric installations in 3D, the processing into a two dimensional pieces of fabric and the creation of a textile object that turns into a symbiosis of 3D and 2D. First she produced installations using plain colored fabrics.

The guidelines for her formations were the above mentioned pleats and color moods (ranges). She printed these onto fabric. This lead to a new perception (point of view) of the different composed pieces of fabric.

A pair of scissors and a model demonstrate a possible realization of that very idea.

source: http://trendland.net/fabric-project-by-stephanie-baechler/

organic, nearly living, net sculptures

 

Janet Echelman creates these mesmerizing, colorful net sculptures that come alive and nearly dance with the play of wind and sun…but they seem to soar best of all at night when illuminated!

She has a TED talk here:  http://www.ted.com/talks/janet_echelman.html

It’s not Lichen or Fungi, it’s money. And it’s amazing.

The texture and the history on these trees is incredible.  Layered over the years, these trees tell a story more rich than their age-rings can… each coin is from a different time and carries a different wish.  It’s like a wishing wall in Florence or any wishing well with personal stories for each coin or piece of paper… So many lives intertwined into one beautiful, organic and tactile form.

_______

In several wooded areas around Cumbria and Portmeirion in the UK, people have been hammering small denomination coins intro trees for centuries. The practice is said to date back as far as the early 1700s, in Scotland, where ill people would stick florins into trees in hopes that the trees would cure their illnesses. In 1877, Queen Victoria wrote about visiting an oak tree with coins stuck in it in Scotland’s Highlands. Amazing.

via HonestlyWTF and (via TheColossal)

elaborate gem paintings

wow. i don’t even know how she does this!! impressive. every lady loves a little glitz, even if it’s trompe l’oeil!

Specimens by Carly Waito

This week Narwhal Art Projects presents Specimens: New work by Carly Waito. If you’re not already familiar with Carly Waito’s detailed paintings of gemstones, it’s time to meet her!

The even more amazing thing about her work is the detail because these paintings are only 8″x9″. The show runs September 8th through October 2, 2011.

Read more at Design Milk:
http://design-milk.com/specimens-by-carly-waito/#ixzz1XN3FGPZU

 

perfect summery get away.

…or end of summer! booo! but…

I would like to go here. Now.

 

so achingly eclectic and chill… a montage of patterns and style that scream to kick off your shoes and stay a while, a long while, with a refreshing lemondadey concoction of a beverage sweating in your happy lil hand!

take me away, chandelier surf shack!

 

 

…the surf shack is owned by Richard Christiansen of the ad agency Chandelier Creative.

(via OracleFox, images from GaranceDoré & here)