MetaFilter posts tagged with design and architecture

Underground Design

brain_drain — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:22:37 -0800

If you're planning a visit to Stockholm, Munich, Bilbao, Shanghai, Dubai, Tokyo, Prague, Moscow, Toronto, and/or Barcelona, don't miss the chance to check out some of these amazing subway stations.

Who needs the Kwik-E-mart? Not me.

mullacc — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:46:14 -0800

Re-inhabited Circle Ks - an exhibit of identical storefronts abandoned by a national chain of convenience stores and re-purposed by new businesses. - The photographer's Google map of former Circle Ks. - Some commentary on the exhibit. - Previously: Not Fooling Anybody, a chronicle of bad conversions and storefronts past.

Best/Site

vronsky — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:09:53 -0800

Wonderful documentary on the art inspired chain of Best retail stores designed by Site architectural firm in the '70s and early '80s. 1::2::3::4

Gardens By The Bay

Joe Beese — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:29:42 -0800

The Gardens will put in place a pervasive garden ambience and quality living environment from which Singapore's downtown will rise, and steer Singapore to the forefront of the world's leading global cities. (via)

Long live The New flesh!

Artw — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:41:10 -0800

"All of which is a long way of saying that, to construct a new church of anatomical horror and to do so out of stone, as Al-Mehdari seems to be suggesting, is a fascinating idea. " - Body Baroque

Somethin' New From Chemistry

mattdidthat — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:59:59 -0800

Graphic Concrete is a process with which textures, patterns, typography, images, or works of art can be "printed" on concrete surfaces, with subtle and dramatic results. Invented by Finnish designer and architect Samuli Naamanka, Graphic Concrete is being used in projects all over the globe.

Shoutout To All My Eichler Homies

mattdidthat — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:05:23 -0800

Eichler homes! Most Eichlers are located in northern California, but you can find a few developments in the southland. People restore and renovate their Eichlers, write magazine articles about them, and take lots of photos of them. Even Mr. Incredible owned an Eichler. But owning an Eichler is not for everyone. Want to buy an Eichler? Join the Eichler Network or tour an open house.

Brick House

mattdidthat — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:32:37 -0800

James May built his own house with Lego.

A Fair To Remember

mattdidthat — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:35:02 -0800

Concept proposals for Seattle's Space Needle. More sketches and images, from the University of Washington's image database. Erecting The Needle, a four-part series about the Space Needle's construction: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, with a picture of the rarely-seen gas-flame beacon in action. And this morning, the Space Needle was briefly for sale!

Blowing up the Rocca Malatestiana

carsonb — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:29:00 -0800

Tetragram for Enlargement is an architectural video installation by Apparati Effimeri that decorates, distorts, and eventually explodes the fortress Rocca Malatestiana. [Italian] McFly, Lardz, and Grassivaro have put together quite a collection of projection/music videos, including at least one other entrancing architectural projection, Strade BluArte. via feuilleton

Nature's Elegant Solutions

netbros — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:12:04 -0800

Imagine nature's most elegant ideas organized by design and engineering function, so you can enter "filter salt from water" and see how mangroves, penguins, and shorebirds desalinate without fossil fuels. That's the idea behind AskNature, the online inspiration source for the biomimicry community. The featured pages are a good starting point. Cross-pollinating biology with design. Biomimicry is the science and art of emulating Nature's best biological ideas to solve human problems. Non-toxic adhesives inspired by geckos, energy efficient buildings inspired by termite mounds, and resistance-free antibiotics inspired by red seaweed are examples of biomimicry happening today.

Sliding House

Knappster — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:34:13 -0800

"The brief was simple: to build a house to retire to in order to grow food, entertain and enjoy the East Anglia landscape. The outcome was as unconventional as they come. A structure that has the ability to vary or connect the overall building's composition and character according to season, weather or simply a desire to delight. Wallpaper* took a trip to the site to capture the physical phenomenon in the only medium that serves it justice - film." via

Golf Course Architecture

Foci for Analysis — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 13:52:53 -0800

Golf course architecture goes back more than 100 years. Golf courses can be incredibly beautiful, very tough, or extreme. Which are the best golf courses? Of course, the golf course critics over at Golf Club Atlas might not agree. Want more? How about designing your own golf course? The American Society of Golf Course Architects has a practical guide for you. Or you could travel the world to play the top 100 golf courses. Also, don't miss Golf Club Atlas' interviews with golf course profiles, including one of the most respected golf course critics around, Geoff Shackelford.

100 years of the roundel

salishsea — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:09:14 -0800

London's iconic transportation symbol, the roundel, is 100 years old this year and a new online exhibit at the London Transport Museum features some amazing galleries of architecture, promotional material, livery and a great illustrated history of the mark.

Art Deco

Kattullus — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:59:33 -0800

Art Deco was the dominant style of the interwar era, coming out of Paris in the 1920's and ruling the roost until World War II broke out. Randy Juster's Decopix - The Art Deco Resource has enough pictures of Art Deco architecture to send one hurtling into The Gernsback Continuum. If that's not enough then there's always the 11000+ images of the Flickr Art Deco Pool. But Art Deco wasn't just about architecture. On the Victoria and Albert Musem's Art Deco site one can view Art Deco objects in great detail, rotating them and listening to audio lectures on each object. But before Art Deco was a design aesthetic it was an art-style. Illustrations for the Art Deco Book in France has more than 170 images from the proponents of that then-new style (some images are not safe for work, especially in the George Barbier section).

World's Biggest and Most Expensive Ship

kliuless — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:03:19 -0800

Project Genesis - "It's destined to be the world's largest cruise ship—when launched next year, Royal Caribbean's US$1.24 billion Project Genesis will be 1,180 feet long, and carry 5400 passengers (6,400 at a pinch). It's the most expensive ship in history, and it's longer, wider and taller than the largest ocean liner ever built, (Cunard's QE II), 43 per cent larger in size than the world's largest cruise ship, (Freedom of the Seas [previously]) and remarkably, bigger than any military ship ever built, aircraft carriers included. In a world where choice of amenities count, Project Genesis has yet another trump card—in the the center of the ship is a lush, tropical park which opens to the sky." cf. The Lilypad

Remembering Tony Wilson

MrMerlot — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:46:01 -0800

The late, great Tony Wilson is being honoured today with a 24-hour long "intelligent" conversation in Manchester, England. Wilson was a musical Svengali par excellence. He co-founded Factory Records, helped discover both Joy Division and the Happy Mondays and has been credited with reviving the city that was cradle to the industrial revolution. The Tony Wilson Experience is a 24-hour long conversation being held today at Urbis in Manchester. It celebrates the life and work of Tony Wilson, who would have been 58 today, had he not died of cancer in August 2007. Speakers today include Peter Hook, Irvine Welsh, Paul Morley, Alan McGhee and Steve Coogan (who played Wilson in the movie adaptation 24-hour Party People).

"Everyone can be constructive even in tiny ways"

nthdegx — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:07:05 -0800

Humble abode: Loftcube // Rucksack House // Micro-Compact Home // Superadobe // Zigzag Cabin // Tree Sphere // Mirador // La Petite Maison du Weekend _ all via.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

hadjiboy — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:03:38 -0800

Come, take a ride and look at some of the Islamic Art of the past. Or, you could call it Art of the Islamic World if you're so inclined. If not, then how about taking into account some of the major milestones of Islam throughout the centuries, from past till present (more examples here), including the art of Calligraphy and Architecture. Not to mention the Arab world's contribution to music, both old and new. [Previously mentioned, here, here, here, and here, with a wonderful comment from nickyskye as usual]

Dan Dare and the Birth of Hi-Tech Britain

Artw — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:39:53 -0800

Dan Dare, pilot of the future, scourge of the Venusian Mekon menace, and modernist architectural inspiration?

Skyscrapers or Souks?

Non Prosequitur — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 09:16:20 -0800

Two visions of the ideal city rise in the Persian Gulf: "Waterfront City will probably be where a lot of Middle Eastern investors will put their money—and where international architectural stars will build their putative landmarks—but if little Masdar develops successfully, it may hold much more important lessons for us all."

Interactive Architecture

desjardins — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:32:13 -0800

Interactive Architecture is for both geeks and design freaks. Lots of interesting and WTF stuff here, like SandScapes, Funky Forests, Swarming Structures, Colour Responsive Chairs, and Jelly Architecture. Not to mention the amazing Touch, a tower with 4200 windows equipped with RGB color LEDs that can be controlled by passersby.

ArkiBlog

dobbs — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:40:17 -0800

Tokyo By Night - Just one of the posts on ArkiBlog, a blog about architecture and design. {via}

materialicious

Fuzzy Skinner — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 17:39:44 -0800

Lust after some stair porn (don't miss the details of the hanging box stairs), visit some glass igloos, and get comfy in some iconic furniture. That and much more is at materialicious, a blog about "architecture + design + materials + products."

Unclassified Dubya library designs

Gyan — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:39:27 -0800

The George W. Bush Presidential Library : visualizations