It reminded me of a recent post earlier this month from Abitare regarding some bikers who decided to throw a several gallons of colorful paint at the entrances to the intersection at the busy Rosenthaler Platz in Berlin. The cars then would drive through these massive puddles of color and make lines with their tires through the intersection that would trace their movement as they went on their way. While this doesn’t trace the total movement of cars, it makes for a pretty intersection piece at least that helps to gain a feel for the specific traffic intersections and flow.

This reminds me of a previous post on active paths and desire lines which referenced a little invention for the bicycle called the Contrail. The idea behind this invention is to have a device that stays with the bike to map out it’s path in real time versus being place specific and requiring the user to pass through. Instead the Contrail helps to map the path instead of the space.

What I think would be really interesting is to map out vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian in a manner like the Contrail in a way that could be stored as data but seen visually, even if only online, to help understand how the different modes interact, where problem areas are and where it looks and feels as though the three work together harmoniously. That and it would be really nifty to look at.

images via Abitare

Tara Donovan, installation artist out of Brooklyn, New York, creates pieces made out of everyday ordinary objects like drinking straws, cups, fishing wire and paper. These simple objects when are then transformed into amazing textural and topographical works of art. The individual object then is almost no longer recognizable in it’s original form but has taken on a new life form. The installation in the image above feels like some sort of life form bubbling out of the ceiling, reflecting light in different ways throughout the form. But the piece is made simply with a sea of styrofoam cups and hot glue. A detail shot is below.

Below are images of an untitled piece from 2003 that uses paper plates held together by hot glue to form highly texture spheres the look almost soft and fuzzy from a distance.

“Haze” was made in 2005 from stacking an amazing amount of clear drinking straw to create a sensual wall that bubbles up in places that gives it an almost liquid look.

The following piece uses ripped up tarpaper that has been stacked into an undulating landform titled “Transplanted”. It was firt exhibited outdoors in the IBM Exhibition Space on 57th and Madison Ave. in New York City in the fall of 2003. Following it’s time in the outdoors, it was moved into the Ace Gallery indoor exhibition space.

images via Ace Gallery

Amsterdam-based photographer Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk has created a series titled The Andromeda Strain that focuses more on the notion of discovery than the place itself. The images conjure up thoughts of a space or time perhaps untouched or undiscovered by humans. I personally found some of the imagery, shapes, patterns and colors to be incredibly intriguing and thought provoking. Words from the artist about this series, via featureshoot:

After making many landscape photographs I realized the search for special places is more important than the place itself. The notion of discovery has been always intimately linked to photography. The cliche of the photographer as an explorer of unknown and rough places became a starting point to construct images. I played with the “National Geographic:-language essentially without leaving my hometown. I searched for locations that, after small interventions, can fit in an imaginary travelogue. Using low-budget special effects and lighting I staged natural phenomena and imagery. To this work made on location I added still-lives constructed in the studio. Referring to nature and scientific photography, the tabletop landscapes create confusion on the overall status of the series. I often choose material that has a perishable or unpredictable quality, like foam or spaghetti. No Photoshop is used to achieve the effects. The artificial and the real, and the different sources the image is based on, should be present simultaneously.

images via Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk

There’s heaps of information out there about roots and their functionality but what I’ve always been drawn to are the amazing forms and patterns roots can make….sprawling, weaving, splitting, curling. They can take on both a sense of strength and delicacy at the same time.

I’ve always thought it would be most interesting to have the ability to essentially exercise a type of x-ray vision and view living roots under the soil so when I came across this flower pot concept called “Flowerpot EYE” by industrial designer Olga Kalugina, I immediately wanted one. This is indeed quite cool. Also looks helpful for people like me who have the worst time remembering to water house plants.

Description from designer: “EYE is a flowerpot which allows seeing root system of plant. EYE itself defines humidity of soil, light level, soil conditions and an ambient temperature, and then deduces them on the display. It is possible to see all development of a plant and to estimate influence on it of various factors. EYE will teach us to understand a plant better. In EYE for reception of energy uses chemical reaction, between the substances, which roots allocate in soil and the reagents containing in the case of a pot.”

Or, a non-technical way of going about it would be to place some plants in clear glass containers so that you could clearly see the actual root structure of the plant. Artistic yet simple.

images via martin labar, troposphere, squamish, olga kalugina, michele aka zimza

Designed by Kristine Jensen and winner of the 5th Rosa Barba European Landscape award, the Nicolai Kulturcenter in Kolding, Denmark is transformed from the alley-like outdoor space of the former educational center into an integrated and inviting cultural space for activities in music, cinema, literature and art.

The circular amphitheater, a signature piece in the space, is used for outdoor theater performances, cinema and concerts blends new materials with old, introducing a Cor-Ten steel wall surround.

To offset the rather industrial nature of asphalt, old buildings and steel, a bit of whimsy is introduced into the space through neon flowers decorating the side of one of the buildings and white thermoplastic detailing graphic patterns in the asphalt and surrounding trees. This detail helps to bring in an element of playfullness as this courtyard will be used for the multidiscplinary acts of play while at the same time instilling a subtle sense of order to the otherwise vast, open space.

From Bustler: “It consists of various elements that are connected to areas designated for outdoor activities: the entrance; a garden where children can play and relax on the grass; a terrace for patrons of the cinema cafés; a large circular stage used for outdoor cinema in summer and for theater performances and concerts; a shopping area; a small garden next to the music hall; and a multifunctional square. A Cor-Ten steel wall and a Cor-Ten steel stage/platform have been built along the two terraces situated on the west side. The playground’s sloping terrain is prevalent in the project, and a new blacktop has been installed, which delimits the area with thermoplastic patterns and street paint.”

images via Kristine Jensens Tegnestue

I find the pattern of fingerprints fascinating. No two people in the world have exactly the same print and not even the fingers on your own hand may all have the same style of swooping ridges. This makes for an endless number of patterns. Some cultures believe that ones prints are indicators of thier personality or even their destiny.

image via fbi.gov

image via fingerprints

The way the lines ebb and flow like the currents of a stream are very interesting to study. Features resembling natural topography can even be identified like a ridge, valley, fork or delta. But with as many different prints as there are in the world, they can be broken down into basic categories and are often classified into the following: loop, whorl and arch. These patterns can be used in design like the picture at the top of the Fingermaze by Chris Drury in Hove Park in the UK which used stone set into the turf. Another artist inspired by the swirling lines isKevin Van Aelst who designed his finger prints into some typical objects as if seeing fingerprints appear in things like spilt suger in everyday life.

images via Kevin Van Aelst

There are a lot of interesting building forms, skin patterns and use of materials going on lately, like the AQUA tower that uses balconies to create an interesting wave pattern from any angle or the Zilverparkkade D that used concrete to create a seamless textile pattern reminiscent of branches. Here are a couple more interesting examples…

The first was designed by architect David Bravo Salva and is a skin that is used to provide interest to an existing building in order to help regenerate the urban space on the Rambla de Brazil in Barcelona. The skin design is seen as a work of urban landscape, providing a rich textural form in vertical space that changes depending on the viewers position, direction of movement and speed. The effect is different for a pedestrian versus someone in a car. The ten swelling elements are seen as representing the ten districts of Barcelona.

image via ArchDaily

Saxo Bank headquarters in Copenhagen, designed by Danish architects 3XN. From 3XN via ArchDaily: “The architectural design is based on Saxo’s cutting-edge profile and branding. The lines of the building design define a sharp balance between reliability and dynamic expressivity in dialogue with the local plan. The building is shaped like two blocks with the end walls pointing towards the canal, joined together by facades that are withdrawn from the end walls. The facades are shaped like double curved glass that wave like a piece of textile.”

image via ArchDaily

image via ArchDaily

The Miyi Tower by Studio SHIFT is part of the master plan with SWA Group for China’s developing Sichuan Province. The tower sits resides on the edge of the Anning River, a position between the agricultural and the newly developed and terminates a cultural and sustainable public promenade featuring photovoltaic fields and wind turbines.

image via ArchDaily

More about the tower from ArchDaily: “The temperate climate of the region allows the tower’s programmatic elements to be interspersed between enclosed and open spaces. Double height enclosed spaces, such as an auditorium, exhibition space and restaurants, alternate with open spaces, such as gardens, an observation deck, and event areas, around the vertical core of the tower. A porous, yet continuous skin, gives the various programs their unified form. The skin is designed as a patterning of objects that are mounted to a light frame, rather than a series of perforations. This enables the appropriate panels on the skin to be lined with photovoltaic cells.”

image via Plataforma Arquitectura

The Talca Hotel in Talca, Chile was designed by architects Rodrigo Duque Motta and Rafael Hevia García-Huidobro. The design of this building presented three challenges early on. The first was the multiple pieces to the program the defined the plan layout and surface areas which easily could’ve ended up looking fragmented. The second was the importance of maintaining views toward the broader context as well as the immediate vicinty. And third, the building needed to maintain maximum climate control efficiency due to the high generation of heat from the casino and large crowds.

images via Plataforma Arquitectura

The designers chose to create a skin that could act as a unifying element and pull the pieces together into one shape and create a better sense of order, maintain an open quality and acts as a ventilated facade to diminish direct sunlight exposure to improve thermal performance.

image via ArchDaily

This unique five-story building in the Czech Republic is the Research Library designed by Projektil architekti out of Prague. It was designed like the shape of an X, cut through the middle and expanded, creating an open middle entry section allowing the public to enter the building without entering the library itself. The interior and exterior is made from in situ cast concrete with a unique hole punch-like pattern providing natural light throughout.