By Steve in Architecture & Design , Environment & Nature , Urban & Street Art The word “library” doesn’t immediately conjure up a sense of coolness but these libraries are much more than just book storage depots. From public archives of knowledge to centers of learning at colleges and universities, libraries can be amazing places – so why shouldn’t they look the part? From alien blob monster buildings to futuristic steel-and-glass mega-structures, here fifteen libraries that prove books can be very cool. (image via: Treehugger ) The new national library of the Czech Republic is still in its initial design stages but from the look of the plans, it’s anything but bookish. Materials to be used include unpolished white marble, mirror-finished stainless steel and an abundance of new greenery. A three dimensional construct for the third millennium, the library will have a working capacity of 10 million volumes when completed. (image via: Treeh
About a month ago my brother and his girlfriend took my husband and I to Busboys and Poets on 14th and V streets in D.C. http://www.busboysandpoets.com/about.php The store/restaurant is small, crowded, and intimate. They had many of the Chris Abani and Ruth Forman books in stock I want to buy when I have some money. The day we went they were having Rita Dove the next week. People I live out in the suburbs, and we don't have poets like Dove stopping by. As you can see, on this day they had Ruth Forman. Video provided by Hedgebrook on Youtube. http://blog.hedgebrook.org/ Poetry Should Ride the Bus By Ruth Forman poetry should hopscotch in a polka dot dress wheel cartwheels n hold your hand when you walk past the yellow crack house poetry should wear bright red lipstick n practice kisses in the mirror for all the fine young men with fades shootin craps around the corner poetry should dress in fine plum linen suits n not be so educated that it don't stop in every now n the
By Steve in Architecture & Design , Graffiti & Drawing , Urban & Street Art , Urbanism Seeing is believing… or is it? Aided by high-tech materials, today’s amazing 3D street graffiti artists , 3D mural painters and other clever geek artists. designers and architects are finding that if it can be imagined, it can also be built. This selection of architectural optical illusions showcases 20 more very public ways to fool the eye, please the mind and satisfy the soul. (image via: Big Illusion ) Artists like Felice Varini like to think big, and this installation is so vast it requires the aid of distance to complete the illusion. “Three Ellipses for Three Locks” in Cardiff, Wales, was completed in 2007 and proves that with a small amount of material – in this case, some yellow paint – something grand can emerge. (image via: BBC ) The piece is a classic “anamorphic illusion” in that to view Varini’s art as intended, one must be in a certain position where the sight