Installation of Ai Weiwei’s Snake Ceiling at the Art Gallery of Ontario (time-lapse) (by ArtGalleryofOntario)
Pop-Up Retail: Storefront Hooks Up Local Brands With Actual Physical Spaces - “The pop-up spaces trend is blowing up, especially in urban innovation hubs like the Bay Area and New York. One San Francisco-based startup, Storefront, is stepping in to fill what it sees as a void in the pop-up market: retail.
Storefront offers brands that are selling products on Etsy or other web portals an avenue to come offline—to create an experience for their customers.
It connects hot, local, e-commerce brands with brokers and space owners renting empty commercial spaces…”
via Good.
Facilitating pop-up shops. I like that it somewhat formalizes the process and creates a marketplace for renters and owners to meet up.
Plaça Major, Banyoles, Spain
The pavements, the asphalt of the streets and the sandy soil in the squares were replaced by tessellated paving in travertine slabs. This rough, light stone formed by incrustations of moss and grasses in the calcareous stone where some springs emerge, is very present in the subsoil of Banyoles and is the main material used in the construction of its medieval buildings. In the new paving, the travertine slabs fold back on themselves, making way for the canals that are open in some discontinuous sections. Eventually the uncovered parts open out into more extensive sections, forming pools of now-clean water.
A Short History of Traffic Engineering by Mikael Colville-Andersen on Flickr.
A short history of Traffic Engineering… pretty telling!
Nele Azevedo’s ice people, via Flavorwire
Brazilian artist Nele Azevedo’s ice people: 1,000 small sitting figures made from ice. The Berlin installation, intended to draw attention to climate change in the Arctic, lasted until his last figure melted in the heat of the day.
good:
NYC Will Turn 12,000 Old Parking Meters Into Bike Racks
- Adele Peters wrote in Cities, New York City and SustainabilityTwo years ago, New York City’s Department of Transportation decided to transform some of the city’s decommissioned parking meter poles into bike racks. In part, it was a way to help fix a new problem: when the city installed an electronic multi-meter parking system for cars, and took out the tops of the old parking meters, cyclists suddenly had fewer places to lock their bikes. Of course, those were never official bike racks, and weren’t ideally suited for the task. By retrofitting the poles with new circular loops, the city created many more options for bike parking, helping solve the problem of one spot for every 30 cyclists.
After the initial trial of 200 meters was deemed a success, the city has decided to continue to retrofit the rest of the poles—12,000 in total. It’s a smart idea. The city saves money on new bike racks, and makes use of something that otherwise might be torn up and thrown out. And every small step that makes biking easier, whether it’s a better light or somewhere to park, helps get more bikes on the road. Other cities, from Boulder to Sacramento, are using similar designs.
Photo via (cc) Flickr user nycstreets
nice! and i like how the ring/post design reminds me of the unique bike stands in toronto. here is the (jack layton involved) legend of how this bike stand was designed.
FIKA is a 355 sq ft residence/shop located in Toshima, Tokyo. The building was completed in 2 months by ON Design Partners.
the owners collect different household items and antiques that they use daily but become part of the store inventory on weekends. the project blurs the line between privacy and commerce and is an interesting use of privately owned space. Unique details blur that line further such as a high-rise shelf that is a functional piece of the home as well as a display shelf for all the products and the tall vertical store window.
“the whole concept seems like an interesting cross between a well-curated thrift store, cozy neighborhood hub and maybe even a bit of performance art space that somehow, from the photos at least, lacks any kind of pretense— a rarity in the world of retail.”
- read more here.
