Cellograff: Wall-Free Graffiti Sprayed on Clear Cellophane

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[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

cellograff forest cellophane graffiti

Tagging is typically considered an urban art. At the very least you need walls to write on, right? Not necessarily – some clever artists have started to stretch cellophane between any available supports, making paint-ready surfaces out of thin air.

cellograff winter tree tagging

Suddenly, rural settings (sans buildings) are fair game – mountains and forests can become backdrops for spray-painted expression. The translucent nature of the plastic ‘canvas’ employed adds a fascinating layer of visual complexity for artists like Ches working in the cold winters around Moscow, Russia (above).

cellograff urban graffiti process

None of which is to say that city contexts will not work for this alternative approach. In fact, the temporary, light and portable nature of the surface material makes it an easy sell for would-be critics who might not approve of tagging on concrete, brick or other more permanent walls.

cellograff stretched plastic canvas

Sites like Cellograff feature stretched-plastic installations in impressively central places, including major urban parks, museums and monument sites in and around Paris, France. These two short time-lapse films show how the process works from start to finish.

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Ground, Up! Curved Green Sky Gardens Wrap Tower Hotel

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[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

sky garden upper levels

The best of both worlds: guests at this hotel get to enjoy skyscraper-high views and still experience layers of intensive greenery on virtually all levels.

sky garden ground up

A series of sleek towers rises up from an organic base that provides shelter and visual interest on the lower levels. These curvilinear forms support an interstitial outdoor floor, and can also be found far above, stretched between the towers at upper levels, serving as platforms for lush greenery.

sky garden concrete cloud

A grid of circular concrete columns pierces the various levels, rising up to support the towers. These provide for the structural needs of the building, but also serve as a transitional design element to bridge the heavier free-form concrete clouds below and the lighter frame-and-cladding rectangles above.

sky garden terrace level

The design by WOHA is meant to be a landmark for its city “Most of Singapore’s recent architecture – especially in and around the city centre – is nothing more than generic and can be seen anywhere in the world, regardless of climate and culture.

sky garden plans details

The concept is about balance, as is the architectural result: “An equilibrium point of architectural anonymity has been derived from a number of factors. Finally the city has a uniquely expressive urban landmark that reinterprets and reinvigorates its location”

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Algae-Fueled Building: World’s First Bio-Adaptive Facade

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[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

algae powered building

Bio-reactors and micro-algae sound like the stuff of science fiction, but this is the real deal: biomass built into panel glass is both generating heat and acting as a responsive light and sound barrier, all in one brilliant new building in Hamburg.

bio facade algae building

Arup has long been predicting incredible innovations in architecture, but they are also keen to show that their designers and engineers are actually working toward world-changing technologies.

algae biomass building design

Bright sunlight causes the bio-reactors to grow faster and supply more shade on demand. The resulting biomass captures solar heat as well, and can be harvested and used as a source of energy itself. It is, in essence, an architectural ecosystem in which all parts of the process are not only sustainable but multi-functional and fully integrated.

algae energy fuel source

There is always talk of futuristic building technologies, but few firms are able to break new ground in some of the most promising directions. If there is to be a new ‘living architecture’ movement involving micro-climates, bio-chemical processes and responsive materials, Arup continues to prove itself on the forefront of its exploration.

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Intelligent Interstates: 5 High-Tech ‘Smart Highway’ Systems

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[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

With prototypes set to hit the pavement in the Netherlands next year, these interactive  interventions take innovation back from a focus on the car and put it right on the road.

Examples include: glow-in-the-dark paints that recharge by day and illuminate by night, wind-driven roadside lamps, energy-saving motion-sensor lights, temperature- and moisture-sensitive weather- and road-condition displays with color-changing paint to warn of icing, and even dedicated induction-priority lanes to magnetically recharge electric cars.

The Dutch Design Award-winning team behind these designs comes from Studio Roosegaarde and Heijmans Infrastructure. Their work spans green technologies and safety measures that will merge with real-life lanes, providing useful feedback and assistance to drivers.

“It’s about safety, creating awareness but also making roads energy-neutral in terms of lighting … and most of all: creating the experience of an icon, the Route 66 of the future.” While we may eventually see a future where cars drive themselves, for now we live in a world where high speeds bring real dangers, and invention has not matched the acceleration of actual drivers. Time and experiments will tell how well these ideas actually work when applied to asphalt.

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Intelligent Interstates: 5 High-Tech ‘Smart Highway’ Systems

Bild

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

With prototypes set to hit the pavement in the Netherlands next year, these interactive  interventions take innovation back from a focus on the car and put it right on the road.

Examples include: glow-in-the-dark paints that recharge by day and illuminate by night, wind-driven roadside lamps, energy-saving motion-sensor lights, temperature- and moisture-sensitive weather- and road-condition displays with color-changing paint to warn of icing, and even dedicated induction-priority lanes to magnetically recharge electric cars.

The Dutch Design Award-winning team behind these designs comes from Studio Roosegaarde and Heijmans Infrastructure. Their work spans green technologies and safety measures that will merge with real-life lanes, providing useful feedback and assistance to drivers.

“It’s about safety, creating awareness but also making roads energy-neutral in terms of lighting … and most of all: creating the experience of an icon, the Route 66 of the future.” While we may eventually see a future where cars drive themselves, for now we live in a world where high speeds bring real dangers, and invention has not matched the acceleration of actual drivers. Time and experiments will tell how well these ideas actually work when applied to asphalt.

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[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

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Intelligent Interstates: 5 High-Tech ‘Smart Highway’ Systems

Bild

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

With prototypes set to hit the pavement in the Netherlands next year, these interactive  interventions take innovation back from a focus on the car and put it right on the road.

Examples include: glow-in-the-dark paints that recharge by day and illuminate by night, wind-driven roadside lamps, energy-saving motion-sensor lights, temperature- and moisture-sensitive weather- and road-condition displays with color-changing paint to warn of icing, and even dedicated induction-priority lanes to magnetically recharge electric cars.

The Dutch Design Award-winning team behind these designs comes from Studio Roosegaarde and Heijmans Infrastructure. Their work spans green technologies and safety measures that will merge with real-life lanes, providing useful feedback and assistance to drivers.

“It’s about safety, creating awareness but also making roads energy-neutral in terms of lighting … and most of all: creating the experience of an icon, the Route 66 of the future.” While we may eventually see a future where cars drive themselves, for now we live in a world where high speeds bring real dangers, and invention has not matched the acceleration of actual drivers. Time and experiments will tell how well these ideas actually work when applied to asphalt.


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Urban Green: 8 Ingenious Small-Space Window Garden Ideas

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[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

window planters

City condos often lack room for a full garden, or even a small backyard. There are box and kit solutions, sure, but these creative alternatives preserve your views and limited sill space while providing green growth and unique outdoor connections.

Magnetic Two-Piece Window Pot

window magnetic double pot

Starting with the simplest: consider pair of two half-pots designed by Kyung-Eun Oh and joined by an invisible magnetic connection – one for the inside of windows and one for the outside, one colored white (typical plastic for indoors) and one a reddish brown (typical ceramic for outdoors).

Modular Rope-and-Pulley Herb Garden

window modular herb garden

Shooting for something that adds more than decor? Rows upon rows of herbs can be planted in this more intensive option by Barreau & Charbonnet, able to be raised or lowered to optimize around rain and sun.

Rotating Two-Faced Planter Sill

window reversible garden sill

While the previous example might pose challenges during extreme weather (storms and so forth), this system by Junkyung Kim & Yonggu Do allows you to keep a solid window in place but choose which side you want your plants to be on.

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Urban Green 8 Ingenious Small Space Window Garden Ideas


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