Archive for April, 2008

Gravity Defying Homes

Gravity Defiling Homes

Credit: Courtesy of the Telegraph

Gangster House (Archangelsk, Russia)
Though incomplete, the “Gangster House” is believed to be the world’s tallest wooden house, soaring thirteen floors to reach 144 feet (about half the size of London’s Big Ben). The homeowner or gangster, Nikolai Sutyagin, had all intentions of finishing the construction but his dream went on hold when he got locked up behind bars for his third jail sentence. Now out of jail and out of money, the ex-convict lives at the bottom of this precarious tower of wood.

Gravity Defiling Homes

Credit: Microscopiq.com

Floating Castle (Ukraine)
Supported by a single cantilever, this mysterious levitating farm house belongs in a sci-fi flick. It’s claimed to be an old bunker for the overload of mineral fertilizers but we’re sure there’s a better back story . . . alien architects probably had a hand in it.

Gravity Defiling Homes

Credit: Freshome.com

Upside-Down House (Syzmbark, Poland)
This upside down design seems totally nonsensical–but that is exactly the message the Polish philanthropist and designer, Daniel Czapiewski, was trying to send. The unstable and backward construction was built as a social commentary on Poland’s former Communist era. The monument is worth a trip be it for a lesson in history or balance.

All copy and images from Pointclickhome. Find more at the link.

{via archidose}

Changing Brooklyn as seen through Storefronts

brooklyn storefront

brooklyn storefront

brooklyn storefront

“Paul Lacy, 50, has lived in Brooklyn for all but two years since 1983. He has worked as a factory night watchman and an apprentice furniture maker. Now he does freelance page layout for publishers of science and technical books. But Mr. Lacy’s real passion — like that of so many New Yorkers who are defined as much by their hobbies as their day jobs — is street photography. He has just published his first book, “Brooklyn Storefronts,” a collection of 75 color photographs of small, independently owned stores throughout the borough.”

More at below links.

Fron the New York Times By Sewell Chan
Slideshow
Book

Visions of Heaven: The Dome in European Architecture

David Stephenson

David Stephenson

Breathtaking book by David Stephenson and Victoria Hammond. To view many more images go to Julie Saul Gallery and be sure to click on the view images link.

Visions of Heaven: The Dome in European Architecture
David Stephenson , Victoria Hammond

“There’s an ethereal magic to standing beneath a dome, neck craned, looking up at a vision of the heavens created by some long-ago figure of genius. From the Pantheon to the Hagia Sophia, the power of the dome seems transcen-dent. Photographer David Stephenson’s magnificently kaleidoscopic images of dome interiors capture this evanescent drama, and make Visions of Heaven one of the most spectacularly beautiful books we’ve ever produced.

Traveling from Italy to Spain, Turkey, England, Germany, and Russia, among other countries, and photographing churches, palaces, mosques, and synagogues from the second to the early twentieth century, Stephenson’s work amounts to a veritable typology of the cupola. His images present complex geometrical structures, rich stucco decorations, and elaborate paintings as they have never been seen before. Brilliantly calibrated exposures reveal details and colors that would otherwise remain hidden in these dimly lit spaces.”

{via papress}

Death By Blogging?

Blogging May Cost You Your Life NY Times discusses the possible “death by blogging” of two prominent Tech Bloggers, Russell Shaw and Marc Orchant, Blognation. A third, Om Malik of gigaom.com, 41, survived a heart attack in December. I am thinking twice about my late night posts.

“Global Warning” Video Made of Still Images

toronto star
Click above for High Quality version for the Toronto Star.”Twenty days. Twenty thousand still images. A single message. Toronto Star photographer Lucas Oleniuk captures the issue of global warming in a video created entirely by using still images”, Toronto Star.