“The Eye of Binhai”

Ever wondered what it would feel like to be inside a coral reef? Apparently MVRDV Architectural Company and the city of Tianjin have. Now, they get to experience this sensation and so can you if you visit the Tianjin Binhai Library. This library is unlike anything we have ever seen; the concavity and rippling surfaces are beautifully paired with the open-air concept. From the outside, the building has an eye-shaped window through which you can look in to see the round auditorium; this has lead viewers to call the library “the Eye of Binhai”. I see what they did there…

The Beauty of Birds

If you are an animal-lover like we are, then you will like this one. Leila Jeffreys’ most recent project has been to capture portrait images of birds in order to highlight their unique beauty. To do this, she brought several kinds of birds into her studio and photographed them on a white background. The portraits themselves are very simple, but the different colours and textures of the birds make each photograph interesting and exciting. The close-up photographs also allow viewers to see the birds’ faces, each communicating different expressions (if you ask us the cockatoo is definitely showcasing a cheeky grin). See more images on her website of this collection, titled Ornithurae Volume 1. 

One Small Step for Design, One Giant Leap for Interior Design

Colin Farrell said: “I've never seen a moon in the sky that, if it didn't take my breath away, at least misplaced it for a moment”; this beauty is what Harow is trying to hone in on. Using digital files from NASA’s archives, Harow, a French design student, wants to populate your home with his Apollo 11 table. This fiberglass slab replicates the real topography of the moon, which is covered by a layer of resin to even out the surface and allow people to still see the landscape. No detail was left unforgotten, even the legs and feet of the table are constructed of brass and aluminum alloy to pay homage to the Apollo missions. See more on this table here: http://www.harow.fr/apollo.html.

Sculpture for the Fish

Don’t go scuba diving in the waters of the British Virgin Islands unless you’re prepared to face the Kraken…a steel Kraken that is. One of Richard Branson’s most memorable ventures of 2017 was building and sinking an 80-foot, steel octopus on top of the boat, the Kodiak Queen. The Kodiak Queen is one of the only remaining naval boats from the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack and lies off the coast of Virgin Gorda; now, it is born again as an underwater art installation and marine life habitat. This steel octopus is not the only sculpture that lives beneath the waves, though, it is part of the BVI Art Reef’s underwater exhibit. Experience art in a totally different way by swimming through and past art like this one in the warm waters of BVI!

Saving the World, One Less Drop of Water at a Time

All over the world millions of products are shipped from Point A to Point B. Each of these products has a set size and weight that contributes to how much gasoline is used in transportation, how many materials are used in packaging, and ultimately how much pollution is produced. What if we could reduce the size and weight of a single unit? This is what Mirjam de Bruijn has proposed with her project: Twenty. This project proposes to remove all the water from products and sell them as solids instead, so that when you bring the product home you can add your own water; this would greatly reduce the weight of a single unit and the materials used to package a unit. Great idea Mirjam!