Gazebo by Creative Carpentry

This gazebo by Creative Carpentry is full of awesome, that all I'm sayin'. I, personally, would either put a hot tub in this baby or turn it into a drawing/creative daydreaming space.

What would you do?

Gazebo by Creative Carpentry

Gazebo by Creative Carpentry

Gazebo by Creative Carpentry

Gazebo by Creative Carpentry

Cave Digging with Ra Paulette

I've long been a fan of James Hubbell's statement "A house is a piece of sculpture that you live in" and I'm adding a second quote to that from Ra Paulette "I want to create a space that's transformative".

This is exactly what draws me to organic architecture - transformative spaces. Maybe it's just me, but I don't find boxes transformative. They're just boxes that hold your stuff. The curves and softness of organic shapes is what I find transformative. 

I find beauty transformative. 

I find artistry and craftsmanship transformative. 

I hope you find Ra Paulette's work as transformative as I did.

The caves are carved by hand into the sandstone cliffs of Northern New Mexico by Ra himself. 

Art Caves Carved by Ra Paulette

Art Caves Carved by Ra Paulette

Art Caves Carved by Ra Paulette

Art Caves Carved by Ra Paulette

Creative Stone Mason - Thea Alvin

I LIKE ROCKS; I LIKE WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY, AND I LIKE HOW THEY SAY IT.

- Stone artist Thea Alvin 

I'm on a "rock" mission lately while I design a pebble mosaic for my front yard, so my ideation travels brought me to the work of stone mason Thea Alvin. She makes the most amazing arches out of stone, which are shown in her video below. 

I love it when I can find video of an artist talking about their creative process - about why the love the medium in which they work. The essence of art is love; love of the creative, love of the making, love of ambiance, and most of all the love of the medium in which they work. 

Home Studio in Vermont -  Artist Thea Alvin

Pool Fountain at Tarr Steps House, UK - Artist Thea Alvin

Arch at Duke, Nicholas School for the Environment, NC - Artist Thea Alvin

Bioluminescent Caves of Waitomo

As a prelude to my showing off a bioluminescent build in Second Life that I've been working on, how about we tour some bioluminescent caves?

These strike me both beautiful and creepy at the same time. The light is emitted by a living organism and the idea of all those living things over my head in a cave is more than a little disconcerting. They could FALL! On me!  Yikes....

It also might be that I've seen too many nature-out-of-control horror movies ;) It's all fun and games until Glowworms are exposed to random nuclear radiation and grow to enormous size with a taste for humans ... Actually, I don't think anyone's made THAT movie, yet.

Waitomo Glowworm Caves on the North Island of New Zealand

Waitomo Glowworm Caves on the North Island of New Zealand

Waitomo Glowworm Caves on the North Island of New Zealand

Waitomo Glowworm Caves on the North Island of New Zealand

The Silent Evolution - an Underwater Art Installation by Jason deCaires Taylor

This is such a great idea - help rebuild coral reefs that human activity is destroying  AND create some groovy art. The symbolism of Jason deCaires Taylor's The Silent Evolution underwater sculpture installation is pretty obvious - people are why coral reefs are threatened and it is people who will rebuild them.

The first set of photos is from when the sculptures were first installed, over time you can see the figures attract corals and provide infrastructure to rebuild reefs.

Silent Evolution by Jason deCaires Taylor

Silent Evolution by Jason deCaires Taylor

Silent Evolution by Jason deCaires Taylor

Silent Evolution by Jason deCaires Taylor

Silent Evolution by Jason deCaires Taylor

Tree Faces Projection - Craig Walsh

In the events world, many of us are students of the "use the gifts your venue gives you" school (translation: stop just covering up the good stuff with pipe & drape...)

An artist less clever than Craig Walsh would have gone to great expense to put up screens to project on or just uplit the trees in dramatic colors. I've seen projection onto buildings before (and lots of it) but using trees is just pure genius. Bravo.

Craig Walsh - Humannature

Craig Walsh - Humannature

Craig Walsh - Humannature

Six Tables on Water by Gaetano Pesce

I'm not sure that having little figurines in my table is a concept that works for me on a practicality level, but I absolutely LOVE the idea of these artistic tables as bodies of water.

I'm linking to the artist's website, but I do have to warn that's it's a train wreck and impossible to find information on. Mini-rant: if you are an artist and want people to promote your work you really need to invest in a clean website with easily shareable links. End of mini-rant.

Six Tables on Water, Gaetano Pesce   "Ocean Table"

Six Tables on Water, Gaetano Pesce   "Lagoon Table"

Six Tables on Water, Gaetano Pesce   "River Table"

Six Tables on Water, Gaetano Pesce   "Lake Table"

Six Tables on Water, Gaetano Pesce   "Pond Table"

Singing Ringing Tree - Musical Sculpture

More Earth Day specials of lovely things that interact with nature to make art...

This wind-powered sound sculpture was created by architects Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu and installed in Lancashire, England. It creates these lovely sounds in the wind that you can hear in the video below. One thing I found interesting was the scale of the build, in the pictures the Singing Ringing Tree looks HUGE but the video shows it with people next to it and it's much smaller than it appears.

Singing Ringing Tree - Tonkin Liu Architects

Singing Ringing Tree - Tonkin Liu Architects

Wisteria Tunnel - Kawachi Fuji Gardens, Japan

When this popped up in my feed the other day I rushed to show it to a friend in the landscaping business and it sparked a 20 minute discussion of the pros/cons of Wisteria for home landscaping.

I covet Wisteria vines but jeesh you need a lot of space and a nuclear bunker support system for the weight and I already have a massive bougainvillea vine about to swallow my yard & house.

So, bask in the loveliness of what you can do with Wisteria in the landscape when you have lots of room and structural support.

Wisteria Tunnel - Kawachi Fuji Gardens, in Kitakyushu, Japan

Wisteria Tunnel - Kawachi Fuji Gardens, in Kitakyushu, Japan

Wisteria Tunnel - Kawachi Fuji Gardens, in Kitakyushu, Japan

Wisteria Tunnel - Kawachi Fuji Gardens, in Kitakyushu, Japan

Wisteria Tunnel - Kawachi Fuji Gardens, in Kitakyushu, Japan

Original images found here.

Art Photography - Alexandre Deschaumes

I've been falling down on the job of blogging, haven't I?  Eye candy for today in the form of stunning art photography from French photographer Alexandre Deschaumes.

I love his eye for natural beauty and texture. Especially something as simple as water droplets on a leaf.

Art photography from Alexandre Deschaumes

Art photography from Alexandre Deschaumes

Art photography from Alexandre Deschaumes

Art photography from Alexandre Deschaumes

Wood Sculpture - Henrique Oliveira, Artist

Today we venture into the world of organic art displays - with a "green" element.  This wood sculpture is created using sections of weathered fence from around Henrique Oliveira's native Sao Paulo. The artist (originally a painter) uses the peeling wood as brush strokes to add color and depth to his sculpture.  The pieces erupt from walls and ceilings.

I've always loved vines and the look of creative entanglement that is a hallmark of Art Nouveau style, so this wood sculpture really caught my eye.

Tridimensional Wood Sculpture - Henrique Oliveira

Tridimensional Wood Sculpture - Henrique Oliveira

Tridimensional Wood Sculpture - Henrique Oliveira

Artist website here.

Vertical Gardens - Yoyogi Village, Tokyo

I think what I find so intriguing about vertical gardens is that they appeal to my desire for 360 degree immersion.  Creating spaces is, for me, about ambiance.  What I want out of a space (especially a creative one) is the attention to detail that a designer thought about more than just what was at eye level.  I want the sounds, lighting, textiles and entire design sensibility to take me someplace, to define a moment/experience for me.

The vertical garden designed for Yoyogi Village defines a lush and peaceful space and also provides a scenic backdrop from the Code Kurrku restaurant and conference spaces. Not only does the vertical garden provide fresher, moister air to the facility, it also creates a noise buffer to make the space more relaxing.

Vertical Garden - Yoyogi Village

Vertical Garden - Yoyogi Village

Vertical Garden - Yoyogi Village

Boston Treepods - Decarbonize Beautifully

Because I (a) am a sucker for beautifully lit sculptural art and (b) love "green" technologies -- these decarbonizing trees designed for SHIFTboston really appeal to me.  The design challenge called for a tree-like product that would perform the same functions (carbon dioxide removal, oxygen release) as natural trees but be usable in locations unfriendly to real trees (lacking soil and water.) Designers Mario Caceres and Cristian Canonico grew Treepods in the collective imaginations to fill the need.

Not only do the Treepods decarbonize, they also generate solar energy and harvest kinetic energy from integrated see-saws.

Treepods - Boston 

Treepods - Boston 

Treepods - Boston

Found on Inhabitat.
More info here.

Flylight - Lighting Art

My future home will not be complete without an interactive lighting display like this breathtaking sculpture in light designed by Studio Drift in Amsterdam. Flylight is composed of over 180 glass tubes that light up in what seem to be random patterns ...but are not at all random.  Flylight contains a computer simulation that reacts to a viewer drawing close, adapting flock behavior into spectacular patterns.

Video of a Flylight installation:

Images:

Flylight by Studio DRIFT

Flylight by Studio DRIFT

Studio DRIFT website.