The World According to Concrete

"The World According to Concrete" is a compilation of the most prominent work by Concrete Architectural Associates. This book is definitely going on my wish list for this Christmas. They do so many interesting things as a firm; architecture, interior design, landscapping, installations etc. I was first introduced to them through a friend who showed me the interior design of the Mazzo restaurant in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

 This project is considerable tame in comparison to some of their other ones, but still so clean and well put together.

Other stuff by them:

Sleep...how I wish I got more of it.

Finding a post like this only 5 minutes into starting my CAD work for the night clearly is a sign that I should just drop it and sleep, like I desperately want to.

Making Future Magic - Dentsu London

Dentsu London is a creative communications agency. Some really creative stuff I've seen by them are the "Making Future Magic" exploration into using the iPad and 3D Animation to create stop action films:



Making Future Magic: iPad light painting from Dentsu London on Vimeo.

Another interesting thing, that I found after looking into them more was Sound Sculptures. Considerably more "hand-on" effort but also very interesting and beautiful:


Canon Pixma: Bringing colour to life from Dentsu London on Vimeo.

Parataxic Distortion (aka. Projecting)

Parataxic distortion is a psychiatric term first used by Harry S. Sullivan to explain the inclination to skew perceptions of others based on fantasy. The "distortion" is in the perception of others, based not on actual experience with the individual but from a projected fantasy personality. For example: when one falls in love they can create an image of the person as the “perfect match” or “soul mate” only to find out later the person did not match the original perception. The fantasy personality is created in part from experience and from emotional stress. The stress of forming a new relationship or finding a life mate, where one contemplates reproduction, can be seen as stress, although it is perceived as pleasurable. “Falling in love” can create the atmosphere where parataxic distortion is primarily involved in the perception of the object of affection. It is possible in these situations chemical influence play a role in the “falling in love” process. This could explain why divorce rates are high in the short term.

Cool huh? Found on Wiki :P

Human Dummy - Vventriloquist Act

I donno what it is about this, I think its the guy he chose from the audience, but still, its just so funny. 
And so unique. Why haven't anyone else thought of this? It's awesome :)

CIRCULARES, DILATACIONES Y CONFLUENCIAS.

I have no idea how to describe these works. They are just cool.

By Nadir Figueroa Mena. Check out more works and showings :)

More of Toronto (Downtown by &Co)

Sweeny Sterling Finlayson &Co. Architects, more commonly called &Co have a cureent project in Toronto of  a 11 story condo project called "Downtown" at Wellington and Portland St.

 Check out more of &Co here :)

Hewitt Ave House by Altius Architecture

A new residential house to take notice of in Toronto. Makes me smile to know that even my city, which doesnt hold all that much interest to me cause I live here, can have interesting things once in a while.

Check out the specifics of the Hewitt Ave House here!

Paper into Architecture - Polish Pavilion for Expo 2010

Polish Pavilion for Expo 2010 designed by Wojciech Kakowski, Natalia Paszkowska, and Marcin Mostafa. The Polish pavilion is based on traditional folk art cut-outs of Poland. The "paper cut-out" inspiratoin has been translated literally into the design: the outer envelope of the building is actually a kind of incised wrapper, capable of unfolding to form a flat surface again.

Bella Sky Hotel

Bella Sky Hotel is designed by 3XN, and currently under construction in Copenhagen, Denmark. Visually the hotel will be characterized by the two leaning towers, creating a  unspoiled view over the surrounding meadows, the sea, and the Copenhagen skyline.
The two towers incline 15 degrees, amounting to a 20 meter slope difference between the ground and top floor.

Overall, a pretty cool place to spend a night or two :)

Knobs

Walking around Toronto, I found a couple interesting doorways. Going to look for more. Let me know if you have any suggestions :)

A fish and chips place on King St.

"Yak Yaks" a stand-up comedy place on Queen St.