This 2011 Calendar Scarf is a beauty. It’s almost poetic how you are supposed to pull on the yarn as time goes by. If I didn’t have kids, I’d totally put one of these on my walls. In fact, this is the first time I think I endorsed a wall calendar. I usually can’t stand them.

(photos iwan baan)

Spanish architecture firm SelgasCano has designed their own office in the middle of the forest. I have no words. Gasping for air. This is unbelievably cool. Thumbs up!

(via cielbleu)

A handy little tool for checking timezones around the world. Excellent for meeting planning. EveryTimeZone.com

(via @aaron)

Apparently, the stock boy went to town with soda cases and came out with a major victory. This might hurt sales though. How could you even think about ruining this masterpiece?

via reddit

I think our studio should invest into a few of these Suitcase Picnic Tables so we can sit out in DUMBO Park on the water and enjoy our lunch in style. No?

(Thank you Jenn)

Given the high number of views, I am obviously not the first one to talk about this stunning stop motion video.

They shot 60,000 pictures, developed 9,600 prints and then again shot over 1,800 pictures. And apparently without any post production! Stunning, right?

(thank you Markus)

The way this giant ant hill was designed will surely blow your mind...

After pouring ten tons of cement into the ground to take to the shape of all the tunnels, a team removed about 40 tons of soil to reach the ant hill. The underground network is an intense system of main tunnels and branching side routes with short connections to decrease circulation time.

The planning, as the video states, is so cohesive that it seems to have been designed by an architect. It is phenomenal that thousands of ants could design and construct this system that extends over 540 sq feet (50 sq meters) and 26 feet (8 meters) down.

via archdaily

This is one of the most powerful photojournalistic sets I've ever seen. Portuguese photographer João de Carvalho Pina positions himself so close to the action, it's feels like we're right in the middle of the drama.

"The metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro with about 10 million people is one of the most violent cities in the world where an average of 18 people a day are killed by gunfire for the past 20 years," says Pina, who started working as a photographer at the age of 18.

"A mix of indiscriminate force used by the local police, a gigantic drug trafficking market and illegal gambling, along with huge corruption levels on the police and politician community are the raw ingredients for one of the biggest security problems of the globe."

"About 3 million live on the so-called 'favelas,' the slums located on the hilltops of the city and on mainly on the northern and eastern suburbs of the city. The police operated on a daily basis in most of the most then 800 favelas of Rio, to try to arrest and kill local drug dealers, seize guns and drugs, but in the end of the day the civilians who live in the middle of this urban chaos are usually the victims of crossfire, police repression and the 'movimento' (local name for the drug trafficking business)."

"I decided to start documenting this reality because I was driven into a curiosity of what took the city to get into this extreme of violence that happens today. I had the chance to be on the side of different police units while doing their work inside the slums, I had also the opportunity to follow and document the side of young men with an average age of 18, being the bosses of communities because they are drug traffickers in a territory whee the Brazilian state simply doesn't exist, so sometimes they replace it, providing neighbors with food, medicines, amongst other basic needs."

João de Carvalho Pina's website
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I introduced this cool video above by Joan Jimenez last year on presentation zen: http://snipurl.com/zegmv Such an interesting way of capturing the feeling of the city I love, Tokyo. This kind of more abstract representation using video -- plus the practice of zooming in on the particular -- gives one more of the *feeling* (it's up to you how you interpret that feeling) of what it might be like on a particular day in Tokyo. This is worth another look.

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To this day, BLU's Muto is one of the best stop stop-motion animations I've ever seen. “BIG BANG BIG BOOM" is the latest creation from the European street artist. BLU describes it as “an unscientific point of view on the beginning and evolution of life…and how it could probably end.”

BLU's website

It's easy to feel insignificant in a big city. There are so many things to do, lots of cars, bikes, and scooters whizzing by, and tons of hectic street lights and urban noises all around us.

This series titled “People and Places” by English photographer Jasper James creates an interesting juxtaposition between the city of Beijing and its citizens. The thought-provoking photos leave the impression that although the city may be big, it is made up of thousands of individuals, who in their own unique way, make the modern metropolis special.

Jasper James's website

For their latest mission, Improv Everywhere staged a reenactment of the first Princess Leia / Darth Vader scene from Star Wars on a New York City subway car.

29-year-old Mark Tipple decided to shoot surfers underwater when he became frustrated with “normal” surf photography, and wanted to capture the action from a different perspective. "I guess it's transformed from a simple idea of seeing how the waves look underwater to how people adapt and what they go through when diving under waves," he says.

The Sydney-based photographer shoots with a specially adapted camera housed in a waterproof container the size of a shoebox, with a rig that weighs about 11 pounds. “Heavy enough to hurt when it hits me in the head,” says Tipple.

Shot of the Australian coast, Tipple’s photos showcase both the ocean’s beauty and its potentially frightening power; crisp, clear waters mix with crashing white plumes as his subjects navigate their way in the underwater world. He’s quick to note that he’s often the one getting thrashed around. “Most of the time I come off worse than the people I’m shooting,” he says. “Generally I’m looking sidewards to track where they are in relation to where the wave is, and tend to pay more attention to them than the wave; which can rock me pretty hard.”

Mark Tipple's website
via telegraph, blackbookmag

I am tempted to buy a new bike just so that I can use this bike basket by Faris Elmasu. (My Strida doesn’t allow for a contraption like this) The Bent Basket is a minimalistic beauty. Totally, entirely, utterly #wishlisted.

(thank you Keren)

Awesome.

thedailywhat:

Functional Street Art of the Day: NYC The Blog is reporting that someone has been busy helpfully tagging up various subway stations with compass roses to help patrons reclaim their orientation upon arrival. Sightings have been reported all across town, and a Facebook page has been set up to track this highly-welcome stencil’s permeation.

[nyctheblog.]

Andy Murray brings his tennis magic to the streets of London in preparation for the 2010 Wimbledon tournament. You can download the song for free at www.head.com/tennis.

This made me realize HOW MUCH I miss playing tennis. #mustfindapartner #mustmaketime

(via ideasareawesome)

This is so insanely cool. Filmmaker Yassine Ouhilal took four top professional surfers to the northern coast of Norway and Russia, a few thousand kilometers from the North Pole, to film them surfing in the extreme winter conditions of the Arctic Ocean.

While planning the trip, charts showed that waves would be better in the winter, but it was deemed suicide to try surfing during the coldest and darkest part of the year. Even the spring temperatures hovered between 20 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit; not exactly the most ideal surfing weather.

When asked what prompted surfers from California and Australia to travel to the arctic to surf, Millin replied, “I guess it’s the isolation. That’s why I wanted to come here. How many people are surfing in Hawaii right now? How many thousands?”

Be sure to check out the video at the end. It's the best part...

via super tight stuff

This is one of the most epic ads I've ever seen. Crush partnered with Sons and Daughters to create a lavish journey though Japan’s rich cultural heritage that reveals the brewing process behind Sapporo beer. Co-directed by Mark Zibert (Sons and Daughters) and Gary Thomas (Crush).

Shared by Dan
So very true.

Here is a cool campaign that promotes walking to create a greener environment. DDB China Group took over a busy pedestrian crossing and placed a large canvas featuring a leafless tree on the road. On either side of the crossing were sponge cushions soaked in green environmentally-friendly washable and quick dry paint. As pedestrians walked towards the crossing they stepped on the sponges and the soles of their feet made footprints on the tree. Each green footprint added to the canvas like leaves growing on a bare tree.

Credits - CCO: Michael Dee. CD: Jody Xiong. Art Directors: Jody Xiong, Jerry Cao. Copywriter: Jason Jin. Illustrators: Jody Xiong, Super Zhang. Producers: George Ooi, James Chen, Gemini Wong(Greenspot Shanghai). Director: Qiu Bo (Greenspot Shanghai). Photographers: Keno Zhao (Refine Images), King Zhang (WIN Shanghai)

via GOOD, archinect