if you’ve ever wanted to feel like an ant, head to the library in either cardiff or kansas missouri: rather than using a traditional front to the building, both have decided to turn the premises into giant bookshelves, creating an extremely surreal experience for passers by.

(photos from flickr are linked to the user’s account) 

cardiff public library

apparently this is only a temporary feature at cardiff library until the new building is completed. if it was up to me the place would stay like this permanently.




kansas city library

local residents were asked to nominate influential books that represent kansas city, humungous versions of the winning nominations were then used as the exterior of the library car-park.

5 artists who have somehow produced the smallest art you’ll struggle to see…

1. willard wigan (website)




using a hair plucked from a dead fly as a brush, birmingham willard wigan paints miniscule sculptures he has carved from grains of rice and sugar. each ‘brushstroke’ is applied between heartbeats and he has said that the pulse in one of his fingers can ruin his work.
below is the titanic on a pin.



earlier this year a 70-piece collection he sold was insured by the new owner for £11.2million.

2. jin yin hua (website)




the slim photo above is of a 1/2 inch strand of black human hair. on it has been painted the portraits of 42 u.s. presidents. the top portrait can be seen below - click on it for a larger version which is magnified x 1′000′000.



the artist, jin yin hua from china, has painstakingly created over 100 micro-paintings and carvings during the past 10 years.

3. ee jin teo



to ee jin teo, a piece of micro-art on a grain of rice must seem cumbersome. he decided to go a few steps further and created what he calls ‘quantum art’ by reproducing william blake’s ‘ancient of days’ out of nanocrystals (really really small stuff). ‘this photoluminescent version of Blake’s painting was created in porous silicon by focused helium beam writing and subsequent electrochemical etching in hydrofluoric acid’. by the way, 1µm is 1′000th of a millimetre.

4. mykola syadristy (website)




unbelievably, the tube in which the rose above is contained is actually a hollowed out human hair, also polished inside and out. the diameter of the rose itself is a hefty 0.05mm. below is another piece by the ukrainian. the gold mosquito sculpture is life-size.



5. eduard ghazaryan 


85 year old ghazaryan is a micro-sculptor with over 600 pieces to his name, one being the world’s smallest working violin (above). the body of the 7mm violin is sculpted from gold, the fiddle from a hair, and it actually works. when challenged by conductor ohan duryan, eduard responded by playing aram khachaturyan’s ‘dance’ with duryan’s orchestra. the violin in the piece below, seen in a needle’s eye, is even smaller and carved from a golden powder granule.

[note: this list was compiled pre-i am legend]

there’s a relatively easy way to give the audience a chill during a film: slip in a shot of a deserted city centre, a city centre that’s notoriously busy in real-life, the scene preferably culminating in the camera panning out to prove the crew didn’t just manage to clear 10ft of road for 5 seconds.

it’s a guaranteed talking point. look at vanilla sky: the film was bordering on atrocious but the one thing that always gets mentioned (apart from cameron crowe losing his grip) is the ‘how the fuck did they manage to clear times square?’ bit. if i was a director i’d have a deserted city scene in every film, regardless of the movie’s plot.

here are my 5 favourite goosebump inducing ‘empty’ scenes.

5. philadelphia - twelve monkeys, 1995 (imdb)

the opening shot of terry gilliam’s top-notch ‘twelve monkeys’ is superb, bruce willis’ character coming above ground in a post-apocalyptic philadelphia to be faced with a world deserted but for wild animals roaming the streets. gilliam’s crew were given a corner of the city hall to work with, built a lip around the area to hide surrounding traffic and added snow to make it feel ‘more desolate’.



4. los angeles - omega man, 1971 (imdb)

‘omega man’ was the 2nd film based on the novel ‘i am legend’, the 1st being ‘last man on earth’ and the 3rd being ‘i am legend’, to be released in a few weeks. after coming to terms with the fact that a huge set would be too costly the producer realised prior to filming that l.a. was surprisingly quiet early in the day at weekends so all of the deserted city scenes were shot at that time of the week. the scene below even includes a pan-out for added despair and the echoes of ringing payphones.



3. madrid - abre los ojos, 1997 (imdb)

the gran via in madrid was completely closed off to film the scene below, the inspiration for vanilla sky’s big budget version in times square. it may not have the flashing billboards and an a-list star to run down the street like a maniac but the street’s architecture more than makes up for it. this clip is actually the first 10 minutes of the film, the initial 3-4 minutes being the ‘deserted’ section.



2. manhattan - vanilla sky, 2001 (imdb)

this remake of ‘open your eyes’ was largely disappointing, this scene being the best part of it. the crew were given 3 hours to shoot the times square sequence early on a sunday morning and crowe was determined not to use cg to remove any signs of life. the whole process included lenghty discussions with the new york mayor’s office, the new york film commission and the police department. the result is incredible.



1. london - 28 days later, 2002 (imdb)
it took 6 days to shoot the ‘deserted’ sections of this brilliant film on mini-dv cameras, the crew only able to get permission to close off entire streets in london for minutes at a time, and the effort was worth it. for the empty motorway scenes, they even managed to persuade the traffic police to close off a 10 mile stretch of the m1 for a very short period of time. warning: the clip below has been subjected to a shit soundtrack by the youtube user. turn the volume down.



sources: 1, 2, 3

the maeslant barrier (maeslantkering), a huge storm surge barrier at the mouth of the port of rotterdam in the netherlands, is the largest hydraulic engineering structure on earth and, according to hard-fact bible wikipedia, ‘the largest moving structure on earth’. it was opened in 1997 as the final part of the delta works, an enormous project undertaken in order to protect certain coastal areas of the country from the sea after a flood in 1953 killed more than 1800 people in the area.



the barrier consists of 2 incredible movable gates which automatically sweep across the water, meeting in the middle of the waterway to form a temporary wall, each of the gates rotating on 680-ton steel ball joints which, with a diameter of 35ft, are also the largest in the world. the barrier’s movable design was chosen as the waterway it guards is far too valuable in terms of trade to shut off permanently: this single barrier cost $700m and has absolutely no effect on ship traffic.



a few weeks ago (november 8th) the barriers were used for the first time prior to fierce storms and succeeded in protecting the port from flooding. the gates, weighing the equivalent of 4 eiffel towers, took 30 minutes to close.



below is the barrier as seen on google maps, the direct link is here.



sources: 1, 2, 3

would you be willing to pay more per journey if all taxis looked like these?

maybe i was crap in this arena but when i could be bothered making a snowman the process was relatively simple and took a few hours at most. a couple of huge snowballs for the body, some coal for the eyes, carrot for the nose and then if i was feeling adventurous some accessories (hat, scarf, pipe, cucumber penis) to add some personality.

as the season of frostbite and soggy socks is upon us i present to you some examples of ’snow art’ that deserve a viewing. any photos from flickr link to the user’s page.

i’m gonna start with the easier designs and work my way up to the hardcore ’snow sculptures’…
















bonus:

real or fake, one of the funniest photos i’ve seen for a while…

obviously, construction technologies are advancing extremely quickly. couple that with multi-billionnaires / deep-pocketed companies trying to outdo each other in the quest for the next standout design and you have a near-future filled with mile-high skyscrapers and buildings that no longer look like buildings. below are 9 strange and unique structures which have either been approved or are in the final stages of approval. some have already been partially constructed.

welcome to the future landscape.

1. aqua, usa (website)




from a distance this skyscraper, to be completed in 2009 in chicago, will seem quite traditional. it’ll only be when you get close and look up that you can appreciate the ripple/jelly effect created by variously sized balconies from top to bottom.



2. chicago spire, usa (website)




the phenomenal chicago spire, when completed in 2010, will be the world’s tallest residential building and the tallest building of any kind in the western world. seemingly modelled on the image of a giant drill poking through the ground, the 609m structure will dominate the chicago skyline.



3. cctv headquarters, china (website)



at a modest 234m the cctv building isn’t going to stand out from a distance. however the design and shape is a crowdstopper to say the least and will be another incredible addition to beijing’s skyline in time for the 2008 olympics. the shape, described as a ‘z criss-cross’ results in a very high, seemingly unsupported corner at the front. let’s hope there’s a glass floor up there.



4. regatta hotel, jakarta (website)




taking on a nautical theme, the developers say the 10 smaller towers represent sailing boats whilst the larger building is ‘the lighthouse’. it’s the lighthouse that steals the show for me, possibly the most incredible looking structure i’ve seen for a long time. if it ends up looking anything close to these pictures i’ll be impressed.



5. residence antilia, india (architects’ website)




construction has begun on residence antilia despite opposition from those who see it as an ‘excessive’ design in a city where more than 65% of the population live in slums. politics aside and after you recover from the initial shock of seeing a skyscraper that resembles an ikea cd rack, the building actually looks like it may succeed as a stunning, unique, green piece of architecture.

6. russia tower, russia (architects’ website) 



topped with an observation deck over the city of moscow, russia tower will become the tallest building in europe when completed in 2012 and twice the height of the eiffel tower. construction has already started on this angular beast which was designed by foster & partners, also responsible for the gherkin and spaceport america, currently in development.



7. penang global city centre, malaysia (website)



following months of speculation and sturdy opposition, this humungous project is in the final stages of approval and apparently construction will start very soon. even so, due to the size of the plan it will take at least 15 years to complete. resembling a sci-fi city, the area will be crowned by 2 x 200m towers and completely transform the small island of penang.



8. gazprom headquarters, russia (architects’ website)



this gigantic, 300m tall glass flame of a building will house the gazprom headquarters in st. petersburg, dwarfing all structures in its vicinity. it will apparently change colour up to 10 times per day depending on the position of the sun. the building has already been nicknamed ‘corn on the cob’ by unhappy locals.



9. burj dubai, dubai (website) 



this is the big one. when completed next year it will be the tallest man-made structure in the world and the tallest building by a long shot with a predicted height of 818m. note: currently the tallest building on earth, excluding an antenna, is taipei 101 in taiwan which stands at 509m. the photo below is the building’s current state: the skyscrapers below the burj dubai used to look tall.



sources: 1, 2, 3

it seems that mensa is for simpletons.

it recently came to my attention that the most well known high-iq society on earth is actually at the bottom of the pile when it comes to intelligence based clubs, a world presumably filled with a huge amount of back-slapping and cryptic in-jokes, and is probably scoffed at by members of other clubs whose mere existence is baffling to normal humans.

let’s first take a look at the statistics for our slightly stupid friend:

name: mensa
iq required for entry: 132
percentage of the population who would fail: 98%
number of members: approx. 100′000

at first glance the numbers look impressive. an iq of 132 is more than respectable and to be in the top 2% is good going.

until you look at these (click on the society’s name to go their website and apply for membership)…

8. ultranet
iq required: 164
percentile: 99.997%
members: <100

7. prometheus society
iq required: 164
percentile: 99.997%
members: 65

6. helliq society
iq required: 164
percentile: 99.997%
members: 39

5. mega society
iq required: 176
percentile: 99.9999%
members: 26

4. pi society
iq required: 176
percentile: 99.9999%
members: 8

3. pars society
iq required: 180
percentile: 99.99997%
members: 37

2. olympiq society
iq required: 180
percentile: 99.99997%
members: 12

1. giga society
iq required: 196
percentile: 99.9999999%
members: 7

incredible. to put that into some kind of perspective, the giga society is so difficult to gain entry to that approximately 6 out of every 6 billion people on earth are eligible.

at present there’s no high-iq society with a stricter entrance requirement and the club’s founder, paul cooijmans, says the aim of giga is

“to honor the efforts of the very highest scorers, who are of great importance to the development of ultra-high-ceiling tests for mental abilities. a secondary goal is to make members of other iq societies realize they’re not all that, although they may think they are“.
source

the pumps which power king fahd’s fountain in jeddah, saudi arabia, are so powerful that the water plume produced is taller than the eiffel tower (excluding its antenna).



the maximum height achieved by the water is 1023ft and each of the 3 huge pumps deliver 625 litres of water per second. the water leaves the 126mm nozzles at an incredible 375kmh.



here’s the beast in action…

if you ever visit the cliffs of sagada in the philippines you’ll be confronted by dozens of coffins, either perched on cliff faces above you, resting on iron bars jutting from the rock, or piled high in the caves of the cliff. for at least 2000yrs these cliffs were the traditional resting place of locals but for some reason, over the last few decades especially, those numbers have fallen and the large majority of people in the area are now buried in the ground.



each of the hanging coffins you see in these photos were carved by the elderly themselves before their death, the corpses inside smoked out in order to preserve them for the traditional sagadan 5 day pre-burial feast. apart from centuries of tradition and the bodies being ‘closer to heaven’ on the cliffs, some say the reason for hanging coffins is to stop frequent monsoons washing the deceased away.

there’s a very brief video clip below of some of the hanging coffins in sagada.



the photo below is of some of the many hanging coffins found in southern china. read more about them here.

the second photo for each landmark may surprise you.

1. the statue of liberty…



…in tokyo, japan…



2. the eiffel tower… 



…in shenzhen, china…



3. the leaning tower of pisa…



…in chicago niles, u.s.a…

i’ve been meaning to finish this for quite some time but the huge amount of lighthouses on earth made it a slow process. the examples below have been chosen for different reasons (e.g. design, location, history) and, as always, they’re what i consider to be the best in the world. if you disagree, let me know.

many of the photos are from flickr and link to the user’s page where you can hopefully see larger versions. as for the google maps links, some of them i had to search for myself. that means some of them may be slightly incorrect due to the team at google maps selfishly not labelling every single structure on earth. again, if you notice a mistake, let me know and i’ll change the link.

first of all, i’m assuming you all know what a lighthouse is. just in case, here’s a quick definition from wikipedia…

‘an aid for navigation and pilot at sea, a lighthouse is a tower building or framework sending out light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire. lighthouses are used to mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, safe entries to harbors and can also assist in aerial navigation.’

also, i’m only including lighthouses which are still standing. unfortunately that immediately excludes the pharos lighthouse of alexandria, at one time the tallest building in the world. check it out here.

so, in no particular order…

1. enoshima lighthouse, japan



google maps link

in 2003 the enoshima lighthouse in japan was renovated, the stunning results of which you can see in the photo above. the spiral staircase to the top is surrounded only by a steel frame which is lit in different colours that change throughout the night, making it pretty hard to ignore. it sits on enoshima island, a tiny peice of land just off the coast of japan

2. torre de hercules, spain




google maps link

the torre de hercules (tower of hercules) is the only roman lighthouse still in use and holds the title of ‘oldest active lighthouse in the world’. it was built by the romans in the 2nd century and renovated in 1791 by a team led by engineer eustaquio giannini. the 185ft lighthouse still stands today and looks as sturdy as ever.

3. madang lighthouse, papua new guinea 



google maps link 

this still active lighthouse, also known as the coastwatchers monument, was built in 1959 as a memorial to the coastwatchers during the 2nd world war. apparently intended to resemble a giant torch, the four-finned base makes it look more like a rocket. either way, it’s an incredible look. as for the light itself, the ‘flame’ encased lamp at the top can produce an impressive 1,000,000 candlepower beam.

4. yokohama marine tower, japan




google maps link

at a height of 348ft, the yokohama marine tower was, prior to its ‘temporary closure’, the tallest lighthouse in the world and could be seen by ships 20 miles away. built in 1958 as part of the 100th anniversary commemoration of the opening of the port of yokohama, the lighthouse immediately became a landmark, many people not realising it was actually a lighthouse due to it’s unconventional lattice tower design.

5. pigeon point lighthouse, u.s.



google maps link

pigeon point lighthouse is perched on the edge of a cliff in california and at 115ft is one of the tallest in the united states. each november the picturesque lighthouse is visited by photographers eager to capture the annual lighting of the lens, seen in the photo above, a spectacle which shows off an extremely powerful lens composed of 1008 hand-polished lenses and prisms which help in providing 500,000 candlepower illumination.


6. low lighthouse, u.k.




google maps link

at only 9 metres tall, the stunning ‘low lighthouse’ in burnham-on-sea is one of the smallest you’ll find. it was built in 1832 and is still used as a navigation tool, providing a white flash every 7.5 seconds from the window at the front in addition to a red, white or blue light, the colour differing depending on which direction it’s viewed from.


7. kiz kulezi, turkey




the 2500 year old kiz kulesi (maiden’s tower) is one of the most beautiful lighthouses in the world and sits on a tiny islet off the coast of istanbul. over the years the small piece of land on which it sits has been used as a burial chamber, customs area, quarantine area and more - these days the lighthouse is a hugely popular tourist destination with the body of the tower now housing a cafe.


8. cape hatteras light, u.s.



google maps link

around 1.25 million bricks were used to build the tallest lighthouse in america, a huge structure which lights up every 7 seconds to assist ships through the ‘graveyard of the atlantic’, the diamond shoals. on clear days it has been visible from 50 miles and just before the millenium was moved, in one piece, 2870ft inland to escape the eroding shore. photos of the mammoth operation can be seen here.


9. middle bay lighthouse, u.s.




google maps link 

built in 1885, the middle bay lighthouse in alabama is an example of a screwpile lighthouse - those which are screwed into piles which sit on sea or riverbeds. this hexagonal beauty was recently refurbished, improvements including a new slate roof and a solar-powered red light on top.

10. promthep cape lighthouse, thailand




google maps link

one of the world’s newest lighthouses is this strange looking, gold topped example in thailand, built in 1996 to honour the reign of king bhumibol adulyadej. it can be found on the southern coast of phuket, a major tourist spot in thailand. i have no idea how much the construction cost but i’m guessing it wasn’t cheap.

11. sullivan’s island lighthouse, u.s.




google maps link 

this incredible modern lighthouse originally contained a lamp capable of producing a whopping 28,000,000 candlepower. however this apparently proved too dangerous and was replaced with one with a comparitively modest 1′000′000 candlepower maximum. compared to other lighthouses, this is practically space-age, facilities inside including air-conditioning and an elevator.

12. knarrarós lighthouse, iceland



google maps link

in my opinion one of the most aesthetically brilliant lighthouses you’ll find, the stark white knarrarós lighthouse was built in 1938 and is the tallest building in southern iceland at 86ft. perched on top of a white base, the building is surrounded by grass, the colour contrast just adding to its mystical appearance. the light is still active and flashes for a 3 second period every 1/2 minute.

extra:

- the structure itself isn’t one of the best looking in the world but it had to be included purely for this photo. the building in the middle of the picture is seltjarnarnes lighthouse in iceland. of course, the beautiful light show is aurora borealis.




- the following photo is by jean guichard of the jument lighthouse in france. frightening.



sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

…if i was slightly smaller.

seriously, some of these are nicer than my flat. soon dogs will be driving cars.
(some of these are available to buy. if you’re slightly mental and want to purchase one, follow the source links at the bottom)

1.

value: unknown

complete with storm windows and air-conditioning…



2.

value: unknown

for the oriental dog…



3.

value: $15-20,000

this house comes with a cat-butler…




4.

value: $6-10,000

check out the porch…



5.

value: $8,000

how many windows? no wonder he looks smug…



6.

value: $8,000

an ideal house to retire in…



7.

value: $10,500

river view, flatscreen tv, air-conditioning…




8.

value: unknown

the dogvilla…



9.

value: unknown

for the dog on the move…



10.

value: $7,000

the minimalist doghouse…



sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

sick of reading the same old magazines month in, month out? fancy a subscription to something a bit more riveting for christmas?

i’ve done some of the leg-work for you…

1. miniature donkey talk

‘the talk of the donkey world’




2. sheep!

‘the voice of the independent flockmaster’



3. a bear’s life

‘celebrating the masculine lifestyle’ 



4. the girl watcher

‘a guide to girl watching’ 



5. girls and corpses

‘dreams and nightmares do come true’



website links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

warning: musical road ahead.

a few years ago in japan, members of the hokkaido industrial research institute started carving thousands of very precise grooves into nearby roads. the slightly loopy brainwave belonged to a mr. shinoda, a guy who accidentally cut a road in several places with a digger and then later drove over the damage in his car.
he realised that with some planning and time to kill he could create rows of grooves which, when driven over at a certain speed, would ‘play a tune’.



the results, the ‘melody road’, can be seen above and the grooves are between 6 and 12mm apart: the narrower the interval, the higher the pitch. these stretches of road, each playing a different tune, can currently be found in 3 places in japan - hokkaido, wakayama and gunma - with the optimum musical speed being a depressingly slow 28mph.

don’t expect a virtual orchestra - from what i’ve heard, it’s not exactly beautiful music, but it’s unique and it’s mental. a winning combination.

until they create roads which can sing, you can either listen to a recording of one the ‘tunes’ here or watch the video below for an example.



sources: 1, 2

the ‘maha kumbh mela’ takes place once every 12 years in allahabad, india, and is the largest of 4 gatherings which make up the hindu pilgrimage known as kumbh mela. pilgrims travel from all over the world in order to bathe in the sacred ganges river as they believe that doing so frees them from past sins.

in 2001 the most recent maha kumbh mela took place and over a period of 6 weeks 70 million people attended, 30 million alone on january 24th. below is an incredible satellite image of the 2001 gathering, the dark red specks being the thousands waiting to bathe in the ganges, the white dots boats.

click on the photo for a bigger, zoomed-out version.

the title was just too tempting. sorry.

1. meoto iwa

situated just off the coast of mie, japan, meoto iwa (wedded rocks) are meant to signify marriage, the larger being male and the smaller female. the rope connecting the rocks (the shimenawa) weighs over a ton and is replaced throughout the year during various ceremonies.



2. kjeragbolten

wedged between the walls of a mountain crevice in norway is a rock called kjeragbolten. the rock is often stood on by tourists for a crafty photograph whilst attempting not to look down at the 3000ft+ drop. i’m assuming the sheep/goat in the picture below was a local.



3. the idol rock

this precarious little bugger is a member of the brimham rocks family in north yorkshire, 50 acres of strange rock formations visited regularly by members of the public. the idol rock pictured weighs 200 tonnes and balances on a rock a fraction of its size.



4. kyaiktiyo pagoda

situated in burma, the rock at this incredible buddhist pilgrimage site was (according to locals) placed on the cliff edge by spirits and the pagoda resting on top apparently contains a hair belonging to the buddha.



5. mushroom rock

this brilliantly eroded mushroom rock formation resides in the aptly named mushroom rock state park in kansas. the park doesn’t just contain rocks shaped like mushrooms though, apparently there’s one that resembles a giant shoe.



6. rockall

rockall is an unsurprisingly uninhabited sea-rock in the north atlantic ocean and is also the most isolated part of the british isles. numerous landings have been made on the rock and various disputes have arisen over its ownership, a matter which is still unresolved.



7. piedra del peñol

i couldn’t find much information on the intertubes about this beast so forgive me. all i know is that you have to pay to get to the top and that the stairway that sits in the rock’s crevice must’ve been an absolute ball-ache to construct. click on the pic for a larger version and you’ll realise just how mental it is.



sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

stairs are generally pretty boring.

don’t get me wrong: if the staircase gets me from one level to another, it’s succeeded as a design. i just wish they were a bit more exciting.

here are a few examples that might actually keep me amused for a few minutes before i realise i’m wheezing.

1. storage staircase



designer: unicraft joinery

i can’t believe this type of staircase isn’t already widely used in homes - for people with very little storage space this could be extremely valuable. simply use each step as a drawer and no-one will even notice.

2. musical stairs

information about the musical staircase in the sony building in ginza, tokyo seems to be sparse. check out the video below for a demo. to actually make a tune on these steps would involve jumping up and down like a mental case trying to hit the correct note, possibly breaking bones on the way. it’s like a hardcore version of the king-size piano in ‘big’.



3. crooked stairs


designers: gabriella gustafson and mattias ståhlbom

these abstract stairs look brilliant but i can’t help thinking that the chances of falling down them would be significantly higher than normal. if i woke up crusty-eyed in the morning with these in my house i’m pretty sure i’d attempt to walk down the middle and quickly become unconcious again.

4. slide staircase


designer: rodney miller @ wood innovations

multi-millionnaire scott jones decided to splash his cash on a spiral staircase-slide and instantly made a lot of people jealous. local craftsman rodney miller was called upon to create this 17 ft mahogany toy, a job which took a whopping 15 months to finish. the slide also includes fibre-optic lights which can change to 8 different colours.

5. internal log staircase




designer: dave stewart

thought to be the world’s only internal log staircase, this beauty has been carved from one giant 140 ton kauri log. the beast took a total of 500 man hours to carve and finish and can be found at ‘ancient kauri kingdom’ in new zealand.

6. retractable staircase


designer: aaron tang

industrial designer aaron tang created these futuristic retractable stairs using ’simple hinges and pistons’. they could be used where living space is limited or where access to a certain level of a building needs to be restricted.

7. steel ribbon stairs



designer: thomas heatherwick

london-based designer thomas heatherwick created this amazing 55 ton steel staircase for the opening of the new longchamps store in new york last year and has since recieved praise from all angles. the construction of the staircase was apparently a logistical nightmare, each of the 17 seperate units having to be installed precisely, stretching up to the ceiling.

8. suspended stairs



designers: jürg conzett and rolf bachofner

it’s not often you see a stairway used to bridge a gorge. swiss designers jurg conzett and rolf bachofner decided this would be the best way to cross the traversinertobel in switzerland as the only safe opposing points were at different elevations, meaning a traditional bridge could cause a few problems. the incredible staircase-bridge measures 56 metres in length.

9. ‘impossible’ spiral staircase



designer: unknown

there are many mysteries surrounding the construction of the spiral staircase at loretto chapel and many believe the appearance of it to be a miracle. design-wise, the staircase is extremely impressive - there is no visible central beam to hold the staircase up and no nails have been used during its creation. however the central spiral is so narrow that it does indeed act as a support beam for the staircase.

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

just came across a picture of a huge jesus christ sitting in some water outside the ’solid rock church’ in ohio.
it’s incredible. and hilarious. and frightening.
62ft tall and 8 tonnes.





[update]

thanks to madmolecule, here’s another fantastically surreal statue that can be found outside the ‘world overcomers outreach ministries church’ in memphis…



incredible.
anyone know of any more?

this photo just made my day.

i’m not sure of the name of this road but i’m told by ’sirend’ that it’s in north korea. i’d have thought a road this wide would only have been built to accomodate huge amounts of traffic but people are seemingly able to walk across it at a leisurely pace.

maybe it’s a sunday.

below are 11 incredible photos taken from space which illustrate just a few of earth’s fascinating geographical features and nature’s frightening unpredictability.
click on all pictures for humongous versions.

1. sri lankan coast, 26th december 2004


(above) the ocean rapidly retreats 400 metres on the south-western coast of sri lanka, just 5 minutes prior to the arrival of a devastating tsunami.


(above) the swirling waters continue to batter the coast just moments after the main wall of water has hit.

2. an alluvial fan, xinjiang province, china


(above) covering an area 56.6 x 61.3 km and taken on may 2nd, 2002, this photo shows an alluvial fan that formed on the southern border of the taklimakan desert in china. an alluvial fan usually forms as water leaves a canyon, each new stream eventually closing up due to sediment - the result being a triangle of active and inactive channels. the blue ones on the left are currently active.

3. retreating glaciers in the bhutan-himalaya 


(above) a beautiful but clear sign that glaciers are slowly melting due to global warming. easily visible are the ends of most of these glacial valleys’ surfaces turning to water to form lakes, a trend which has been noticed only in the last few decades.

4. hurricane isabel, 2003


(above) this terrifying photo of hurricane isabel was taken on the international space station in 2003 and illustrates the immense size of the hurricane’s eye. this particular hurricane was the deadliest of 2003 and winds reached 165 mph at its peak.

5. greenland’s eastern coast, august 21st, 2003 


(above) the fractal coastline of greenland and its numerous fjords as seen from space.
‘little spots of white in the water seem to be ice originating from the deeper fjords that reach all the way to the icecap covering most of the island.’ link

6. aurora borealis


(above) an astounding and spooky photo of the natural phenomenon known as aurora borealis, taken on-board space shuttle atlantis during the sts-117 mission.

7. a total solar eclipse from space, 1999 


(above) the shadow of the moon covers part of earth on august 11th, 1999 in this photo taken from mir space station. this shadow raced across earth at 2000 km/h, all areas under the centre of it plunged into darkness during a total solar eclipse. this was apparently one the final photos taken from mir.

8. egmont national park, new zealand


(above) mt. egmont volcano last erupted in 1755 and is now situated at the centre of egmont national park. park regulations have ensured the survival of a forest which extends at a 9.5 km radius from the summit of the volcano, the result of which can be seen from space in the form of huge dark green disc. this photo was taken during the sts-110 mission, april 2002.
 
9. mt. etna eruption, october 2001 


(above) taken from the international space station in 2001, this is a photo of a particularly violent eruption on the island of sicily which produced a cloud of ash that travelled as far as libya. on the humongous version of the photo lighter coloured smoke can be seen near the volcano - this was caused by lava igniting nearby forests.

10. richat structure, mauritania 


(above) the cause of the richat structure in the sahara desert of mauritania has been debated for many years. at first it was thought to be a meteor impact crater due to its circularity but this has since been disproven due to the lack of shock-altered rock in its vicinity. this massive (30 mile diameter) oddity is now believed to have been a rock dome sculpted over time by erosion. this incredible image was taken by the advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer (aster) on october 7th, 2000.

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7