the amazing blur building

resembling a huge cloud hovering just above water level at the end of a jetty, the blur building was constructed for the swiss expo in 2002 by architects diller & scofidio. the massive construction was constantly shrouded in a body of thick mist, produced by 31′500 seperate high-pressure water jets which propelled lake water droplets so small that they remained suspended for an extremely long time.

3 beautiful and bizarre natural phenomena

red tide, the common name for ‘algal bloom’, is caused by high levels of phytoplankton accumulating to form dense, visible clouds near the surface of the water. due to the varying colouring of the phytoplankton’s pigments, these algae blooms range in colour too.

the forgotten sound mirrors

from 1915 onwards these huge eerie concrete structures started popping up along the uk coast, all built with one purpose: to provide the military with an early warning system in relation to incoming aircraft. their construction was pretty much limited to the uk and arrived just before radar technology as we know it became widespread.

the worlds loneliest prada store

this is ‘prada marfa’, an unusual building located in the desert near marfa, texas on an otherwise desolate stretch of highway 90. behind the glass a selection of shoes and bags, presumably more expensive than the structure itself, have sat untouched since 2005.

9 intriguing doors

call it a presumption but i’m certain we’ve all used doors before. without them life would be tough: either there’d be a lot of cold building interiors due to uncovered holes in the walls or we simply wouldn’t be able to enter the building in the first place.
what we don’t seem to come across very […]

ever been on a train this nice?

believe it or not, the photo above is of a train interior in japan.
with the results looking nicer than most nurseries, the japanese have taken the idea of ‘child-friendly public transport’ to the next level with these 2 beauties, both designed by eiji mitooka. he was the artistic force behind ‘omoden’ (toy train) and ‘ichigo […]

7 of the coolest fire stations on earth

i didn’t realise there were so many architecturally incredible fire stations until a few days ago when i lost hours looking into it. turns out there are more than a few. here are, in my humble opinion, the 7 best…
1. vitra fire station, germany
architects: zaha hadid
completed: 1993
current status: inactive
this aesthetically stunning fire station was designed […]

3 frightening flagpoles

is it just me or are these immense structures slightly scary?
the 3 largest flagpoles on earth…
gijeong-dong flagpole, north korea
in the 80s, the south koreans built a huge 328ft tall flagpole in daeseong-dong, an area extremely close to the north korean border. the north koreans then proceeded to build their own larger version about a mile […]

hi-tech wheelchairs

1. tankchair

the tankchair is a custom made off-road wheelchair designed by a guy whose wife was growing increasingly frustrated by the limits of her normal electric wheelchair. this treaded beast can wade through mud, streams, sand, snow and gravel. on his website the creator says, “turns out that other people want a tankchair so i’m […]

the old world’s tallest buildings, 1884

(click on pic for mightier version or go here for mightiest version)
this is incredible.
published in 1884, the diagram above shows the 77 tallest buildings of the old world (europe, asia and africa) at that time. strangely, the 78th and tallest structure shown is from the new world: the washington monument. it stood/stands at 555ft and […]