Plastic bottle car canopy

Designer Garth Britzman of  Nebraska, USA used recycled bottles to create this magical structure to shade a car. In Australia we call them car ports but we have never seen one like this before. The plastic bottles are filled with coloured water which creates the feeling of hundreds of flowers - around 1500 flowers to be more precise: old plastic bottle flowers that undulate in the air.
The project was funded to support the concept of plastic recycling to make something both practical and unique.

The great annual migration

 Migration of animals in Africa. Thanks to Positive news and stories out of Kenya 

The spectacular migration of wildebeests and other animals from Serengeti plains in Tanzania to the Mara River is considered one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.

For centuries tourists have been drawn to safari in Kenya with it's colourful and exotic tribes, spectacular natural scenery and large wildlife including elephant, hippos, lions and giraffe. 

 'Kenya comprises of wildlife, culture and the cradle of mankind – a natural paradise and land of contrasts, with world famous national parks like the Masai Mara, Samburu, Amboseli, Tsavo and Mt Kenya.' Bench International African travel experts for over 40 years

Lodges and camps in the national parks are bursting at the seams with guests at the time of the migration.

Sir Richard Branson's newest retreat opens this August in Kenya Mahali Mzuri coinciding with the start of the great migration. Branson has a long love affair with Kenya, and in 2007 was even made a tribal Maasai elder. Branson has ensured the local communities have played a play a part in the development of the 12 sleeper tent property that caters for just 24 people at one time.

The Great Migration follows a predictable route, but the exact timing varies each year and depends on the start of the dry season. The rains usually end in May forcing 2 million animals to move west on the start of their great migration.

African Animals

Modern Mumbai

THE CAPITAL a commercial complex in Mumbai, India.

Some features of the building:

• glazed facade
• cantilevered in a way that the building itself acts as a shading device
• egg shaped structure inside the sky lobby
• natural internal waterfalls that create a cooling effect
• the cladding is UV resistant
• openable windows in the office levels allow cross ventilation

James Law Cybertecture


Share on Tumblr

Winslow House in River Forest, Illinois

The Winslow House, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, was Wright's first attempt at reinventing the traditional suburban house.

Built 1894, the Winslow House was different to other homes in the area. It had a broad-eaved hip roof and a low chimney. The brick walls came straight up from a cast stone coping. The second story was covered in terra cotta stone.  At the rear of the house the studio was designed around a tree. Apparently the design was so unusual for the time that Mr Winslow stopped catching his normal train to avoid his neighbors' remarks.

Many of Wright's characteristic design elements are seen in this home including enhancing the horizontal which he achieves by dividing the facade into distinct horizontal bands and using wide bricks in the lower floor.  The house A projecting is "anchored" to the landscape by a limestone base. These features are seen in Wright's later Prairie Style homes. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 (building #70000242).

RESOURCE: Wikipedia 

A unique home

The Elrod House designed by John Lautner

This home is unique in many ways - the ultra modern design, the setting looking over Palm Springs and the fact that it was used in the 1971 James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever - you know the one with Sean Connery where he scales the walls to the top floor to confront Whyte the reclusive billionaire owner of the casino hotel. Do you remember the fight scene in and around the pool with Bambi and Thumper and James Bond? In my opinion, however, the thing that makes this home an architectural stand out is it's designer and his vision.

The architect John Lautner was an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright which is evident in Lautner's style of having the home communicate with and be in harmony with the landscape. This style of organic architecture is seen in many of Lautner's designs such as The Chemosphere and Arango Residence. Like Wright, Lautner's designs shows a strong involvement with geometric forms — the circle being evident in this home. 

In the Elrod House Lautner designed the domed roof as a shield from the hot desert sun and it fans out in nine petals as can be seen in the photo above. The house is constructed of reinforced concrete, very dramatic and very modern. The roof is curved, as are the walls. The curved glass walls open and shut like curtains to reveal the sweeping panoramic view of Mount San Jacinto, Mount San Gorgonio and the valley in which it is located. The local rock of the ridge the house is built on has been incorporated into the home's interior and exterior. The main living area has a large natural rock outcrop at the edge of the room integrating the house into its location and adding to the feeling of a flow between indoor and outdoor spaces.

In the Bond movie the Elrod House was Willard Whyte's winter retreat. It definately fits into the world of James Bond where everything is dramatic, state of the art and luxurious.  Just some of the features include:

• A massive master suite that is a world unto itself.
• Retractable glass and-aluminium sliding doors that allow the space to be opened to the view. 
• A semi-circular swimming pool  
• A large entertaining deck.  
• A spiral stair case to a large guest house with two bedroom suites each with their own private bathroom. 
• Maid's quarters.
• A gym with a view.
• 6.5 acres of land.

The home was last sold for US$5,500,000.00 in 2003 and  is currently being offered for US$13,890,000 by Expoint Realty.

This certainly is a one of a kind and unique home that has stood the test of time.

 

Share on Tumblr

Vintage Holland

International Ice and Snow Festival

People play at the Harbin Ice and Snow World in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province on Dec 23, 2012. PHOTO THANKS TO HKCH

At Harbin, in China, in 1985 a simple Ice and Snow Festival was started. lt is now the biggest winter attraction in China and one of the world's largest ice and snow festivals. Harbin is the largest of all the capitals in China and is located in northern Manchuria just across the border from Russian Siberia.

Thousands of exquisitely made ice lanterns, ice carvings and snow sculptures grace the snow-covered parks, public squares and major streets, turning the city into a dreamlike world of pure whiteness and gleaming crystal. These ice and snow art works can be as small as a mouse or as big as a bus. The designs range from life-size human figures, animals and flowers to towering castles, delicate pagodas and many other ingenious creations. Ice sculptures, made from blocks of ice chain-sawed from the Songhua River, have represented such things as the Statue of Liberty, the Great Wall of China, the Eiffel Tower and an onion-domed Russian church. These sculptures fill the city square and glow from the neon tubes of purple, pink, blue and green that shine from inside.

In the evenings, the sculptures are lit up and people tour the parks with ice lanterns to view them. Other events take place in the city at the same time as the festival including fireworks, winter swimming, skiing, speed skating, football on the snow and the ice and snow film festival.

SOURCE: Inspiration Line and Good News Network 

Flamingos in the wild

There are 6 different types of flamingos in the world and if you have a passion to see these flocks of wading birds in their natural habitat you need to travel to South America or Africa, the Caribbean or the Mediterranean or Turkey or Qatar. 

Read some fascinating facts about Flamingos