2nd hand clothing never looked so good

unfortunately the surreal scene above was actually an art installation by kaarina kaikkonen on the streets of helsinki, simply rows and rows of clothing suspended above the roads. i hope it stayed. kaikkonen seems to have a thing for 2nd hand clothing: she also assembled 3000 men’s jackets and placed them neatly on the steps of helsinki cathedral in 2000

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.

12 stunning lighthouses

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 […]

11 phenomenal images of earth

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 […]

deceiving reflections

(click for massive version)

a stunning photo of tokyo from inside a skyscraper.
(the photo was sent to me by ‘gummy’. cheers to ‘anewname’, the photo now links to the source’s flickr account)

berlin’s holocaust memorial

opened in 2005 after years of disagreements, the ‘monument to the murdered jews of europe’ is a stunning sea of concrete blocks situated in the heart of berlin.

the memorial was designed by american architect peter eisenman and each of the 2711 stones, all without plaques or inscriptions, is unique in size, the design intended to […]

optical illusions and architecture

some of these are deliberate, others aren’t.
however each illusion relies on some form of architecture and all create an effect which deserves to be mentioned.
1.
this incredible picture was captured by a flickr user in california whilst at work. a fog descended just as the sun set behind the building in shot. the result - one […]

that’s a bus stop?

i’m missing something here.
never have i been so confused by a bus stop.

it’s a fully functioning bus stop in ventura, california and it looks like some kind of mutant house snake. it’s very possible that i’d be too scared to sit on a bench in the middle of that and calmly wait for a bus.
turns […]

the growth of dubai

‘monster x’ (thanks - unlucky with the name) sent me these brilliant aerial shots illustrating the rapid growth of dubai over the last few decades. it’s not surprising at all but pretty cool nonetheless.
notice the man-made islands in the last shot.

dubai, 1973

dubai, 1990

dubai, 2006
i think a photo for each of the last 15 years would’ve […]

kawazu loop bridge

trust the japanese to make a bridge look like a rollercoaster.
built in 1981, the kawazu loop bridge is possibly the only double loop bridge in the world.
at 45 meters high, 1.1 km long and with a diameter of 80 metres this apparently earthquake-proof construction is something of a tourist attraction in kawazu, japan.
i wonder how […]