Wave deck

Project: Simcoe Wave deck
Location: Ontario, Canada
Architect: West 8
Completion date: 2008

Coming from an island surrounded by water yet with very few available beaches, I found this project very interesting. It is a great way to create a lively and fun public space as a waterfront with having to reclaim large amounts of sea water, destroying the few marine life we have left.

This is Simcoe Wave Deck, one of four unique decks planned for the Waterfront Toronto. It is a wooden wave deck that features an informal public amphitheatre-style space with impressive curves that soar as high as 2.6 metres above the lake. Inspired by the Canadian cottage experience and the shorelines of Ontario’s great lakes, the wave deck is meant to give urban dwellers a feel for life at the lake.

More pics can be found here.

Broken Promises

"Broken Promises", Damian Ucieda Cortes, 2007. Scanned from Portfolio.


My parents always told my that I have a really weak memory of my childhood, since I can't remember most of the stories they say about me when I was young. But I can't help but seeing myself in this picture, as I remember many times being in this little kid's position.

Just look at the position and direction of the bodies of the mother and daughter, opposing each other in incredible intensity that can be seen all over their facial expressions, more so in the kid's face. I can only imagine the silent treatment that these two are going to give each other for hours after this moment!

W

Project: Walter Towers
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Architect: BIG

As a person very fond of calligraphy and graphic design generally, I was really thrilled when I stumbled upon this building. The "W" may stand for the name of the tower, but according to this blog post here, the Danish architects leaves the interpretation of the letter to us, which I find very amusing. Does it stand for wow just like the luxurious W Hotels? Does it stand for weird? Wonderful?

Nevertheless, as beautiful as the graphics of the letter "W" may appear on that building, there are technical reasons backing up the shape of the building. The cut on ground level allows pedestrians to cross the site, an important factor since the first four floors are for commercial use. The cuts in the top levels, which are residential in use, allow for air and views. With 27 floors the ‘W’ should reach a height of 80 meters. I couldn't find when is this building going to be completed or if even they started its construction, but this is one building I'd like to visit when it's done.

Living Fabrics

New York-based Vienna-born photographer Bela Borsodi has breathed life into product photography. His unique method transforms products from what could be called lifeless objects into fun characters that can speak out to the viewer. He works with all sorts of products, and in some cases mixes his photography with animation and caricatures. I only chose the works that I found from this website, with the theme of shaping clothes into faces and animals. To me, this is really inspiring because now I see clothes as a new medium that can be experimented with. Instead of giving away old clothes now I see them as a source for sculptures, or better yet, toys for children. For more of his work check this out.

Here are some in the wilderness:

Papers

Peter Callesen is a Danish artist who started his education in an architecture school before venturing into an arts school. His most interesting works, which have been dominating his art lately, is with white paper in different objects, paper cuts, installations and performances. As the artist's puts it:

"A large part of my work is made from A4 sheets of paper. It is probably the most common and consumed media used for carrying information today. This is why we rarely notice the actual materiality of the A4 paper. By taking away all the information and starting from scratch using the blank white A4 paper sheet for my creations, I feel I have found a material that we are all able to relate to, and at the same time the A4 paper sheet is neutral and open to fill with different meaning...

The paper cut sculptures explore the probable and magical transformation of the flat sheet of paper into figures that expand into the space surrounding them. The negative and absent 2 dimensional space left by the cut, points out the contrast to the 3 dimensional reality it creates, even though the figures still stick to their origin without the possibility of escaping. In that sense there is also an aspect of something tragic in many of the cuts."

I really enjoy the beauty in the different scales that these works take on. As well as the variations in the complexities of the cuts; where some works consist of a simple shape cut, others are far more complicated than that. I leave you with pictures of some of his works.





White Hand, 2007 (A4)



Traces in Snow, 2005 (A4)



The Impossible Meeting, 2005 (A4)




Nature's Maze, 2005


My God, My God, 2009 ( Framed A4)


The Core of Everything, 2006


The Roots of Heaven, 2009

Roberto Cavialli

I was looking at "Architecture Interieure Cree" magazine, the "Maisons 2009" edition, when I stumbled upon this beautiful house titled, "Lanterne florentine... magique". Of course not being able to understand French, I had to google it and that is when I found that it was Roberto Cavalli's.









Project: Roberto Cavalli Residence
Location: Florence, Italy
Architect: Italo Rota

The villa was designed for the Italian fashion designer with the colors of the home being able to change to match the personality of the home owner. Located on the hills of Florence, the villa's screen's floral pattern blends the light with the plants creating a beautiful colorful landscape. Check out the magazine for better pictures.

As I looked up Cavalli's designs out of curiosity I also noticed that he had an interesting yacht designed for him by Cantieri Baglietto. The yacht, purple in color as is the villa, is 41 meters long with a top speed of 35 knots and priced as 20 million British pounds. Eight guests can sleep comfortably in this beautiful yacht which has a crew of 4 people.

Info about the yacht is copied from here, where you can see Sharon Stone caught by a paparazzi enjoying Cavalli's yacht.

Its another world in there!

Well no matter how many people have said it before, you will never really understand that there is a completely different planet under the water surface until you explore that wonderful planet. I guess the thing I really enjoyed is this special bond that forms between us, the visitors, and those curious welcoming creatures in all of their forms. That and the sensation of breathing underwater, seeing colorful organisms like never before, and so many other things made me find in diving what I couldn’t find in any art or sport. Well, I just got my PADI Open Water diving license and didn't get to go to any exotic places yet. I only managed to dive here in Bahrain where the visibility is a little more that 2 meters. I saw a little jellyfish, a turtle, baby sharks (Nowa'eer as we call them in Bahrain and some say ther are baby sharks) and few other fishes that I recognized from Finding Nemo. But I still had an unforgettable experience. I can't wait until I get some real diving fun!

Here are some pictures from flickr, I thank all divers out there who shared their photos with the rest of the world.




Brain corals. Obviously called that because of their texture and spherical shape. If only buildings were built with materials as fun as that.



Moon jellyfish. They are often thought of as scary poisonous eewy geewy creatures that are associated with peeing, but they can be really beautiful too.


Curiosity is one of the traits I find really attractive about those little fish, which we found some in Bahrain. I don't know about curious sharks though.


I definitely don't want to be in a position to take a photo like that ever. Ever! However, sharks are not as scary as the media made us believe. As my instructor told me before I began the course, there are more deaths caused by toaster electrocution per year than there are shark attacks!


Caves and underwater forests are few example of the breathtaking landscape you will encounter.