images via: Lisa Town

I decided to light a few scented candles around the house in an effort to banish the fish smell from the awesome dinner the previous night.  I had paired three candles together into what I would later find out would become their own little cascading wax fountain.  They had burned enough that they were filled with lots of hot wax.  The tallest one, a cream color, burned right through the edge, making a hole that drained all of the wax into a lower red one and then it all flowed right down and out the sides of all three candles.  Later the light green one began to do the same thing, adding to the layers of color.  It created a really neat affect…although I did learn that I probably shouldn’t put the candles so close together next time.

Every time we turn around, there is another threat to planet.  It’s sad but at the same time, in this time of considerable loss of resources and environments, one can’t help but be in awe of the world that we live in and see the beauty even amidst the loss.

Today NOVA aired a show called Extreme Ice which takes both a scientific and artistic look into the dramatic melting of our worlds ice.  Scientists teamed up with photographer James Balog to capture the amazing features they discover along the way.

images via: NOVA and James Balog

In Greenland, the melt lakes would form on the surface of the ice and then quickly and without notice they would suddenly disappear.  They soon discovered that the lakes would all of a sudden pour right through the surface in the most beautiful and spectacular water falls.

In Iceland ice chunks can be found right on the beach in the most interesting interface between ice and sea.  The artistically sculpted shapes suggest root balls of drift wood upon the shore with the elegantly sculpted curves and twists within the brilliant blue ice.  It is a fleeting moment of beauty that is gone once the tide rises.

In a recent post over at Landscape+-Urbanism about the book Infra Structures by Malcom Wells, brought me back to the inspiration I continually find in trees. Like Antoni Gaudi who proclaimed the tree outside his window to be “his teacher”, I too find that trees are an endless source of education and inspiration.

I like this book as well, especially this sketch of the elevation of the Land Bridge concept. The idea of having green pass overtop a bridge or a freeway is a good one and should definitely be explored more often but that isn’t what caught my attention. My eyes immediately go to the columns that are like great trees holding up the green like a canopy running together.

image via: Landscape+-Urbanism

This would be quite dramatic driving through or viewed from any angle from the ground. It would perhaps be like the feeling of awe I felt when passing under the great tree-like columns of La Sagrada Familia. (please let this project be completed in my lifetime!)

Barcelona and Berlin images via: Lisa Town

I found another example while exploring the Jewish Museum in Berlin. I was in search of a certain art piece that I was particularly interested in seeing when I stumbled upon this covered courtyard.  The space is pretty massive.  

The best part is that not only are these supporting column structures reminiscent of giant trees but the style fits with the building itself, mimicking the style of the window perforations.