Kengo Kuma Designs a Dramatically Vaulted Cafe to Evoke Japan’s Sloping Tottori Sand Dunes

All images ©︎ Kawasumi-Kobayashi Kenji Photograph Office

Overlooking Japan’s vast Tottori Sand Dunes is a new two-level structure that connects earth and atmosphere. Dubbed a “staircase to the sky,” Takahama Café is one of architect Kengo Kuma’s latest projects that reflects the surrounding environment. The dramatically vaulted building, which totals 199 square meters, is constructed with cross-laminated timber and reinforced concrete and features a balcony topped with a pergola for visitors to view the region. Sand from the dunes textures the Washi paper pendant lights inside, and in honor of local craftspeople and traditions, the studio tasked the Tottori Mingei pottery workshop Nakai-gama with creating the bathroom sinks, which are cloaked in its signature blue-black glaze.

For more from Kuma (previously) and his team, visit the studio’s site. (via designboom)

 

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Photographer Masayuki Oki Focuses a Humorous Lens on Japan’s Feline Residents

All images © Masayuki Oki, shared with permission

The archipelago of Japan consists of more than 6,800 islands, of which around 280 are inhabited, and in a few places, known as neko-shima or “cat islands,” felines vastly outnumber the human residents. Fishing villages like the one on Aoshima, the most well-known of around a dozen cat islands, introduced the creatures in the early 20th century to combat rodent infestations. Their prolific progeny, perched on walls and scampering underfoot, have been a continuous source of fascination for photographer Masayuki Oki.

For the past eight years, Oki has documented clowders of cats in his home city of Tokyo and on islands around the nation, focusing on the feral animals’ interactions. Viewed through a an anthropomorphic lens, the images capture playful pounces and awkward entanglements with humor and a knack for good timing.

You can follow Oki’s feline adventures on his blog and Instagram. He releases annual calendars featuring some of the year’s best photographs, and he also updates a YouTube channel with short videos of furball shenanigans.

 

 

 

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New Year, New Plans: 2023 Calendars to Organize Your Year

2022 is quickly coming to a close, and wrapping up the year also means looking forward to the next. To start charting a course for 2023, we’ve gathered some of our favorite calendars for the months ahead. From the school-day aesthetic of an oversized notebook to a celestial chart, these planners will ring in the year with whimsical elegance, bold graphics, and good vibes.

 

Yearcalendar 2023 Classic

We’re partial to Yearcalendar’s giant wall-sized planners at Colossal—you’ll find the 2022 edition on a few of our office walls. The Swedish maker offers multiple sizes to fit your space so you can plan your full year at a glance.

 

You Are Beautiful 2023 Daily Calendar

Peel back layers of positivity and goodwill with You Are Beautiful’s daily calendar. The stacked affirmations reveal a new phrase for each day, offering a tiny dose of encouragement on colorful paper.

 

Katharine Watson 2023 Letterpress Calendar

Framed by an intricate floral design, this letterpress calendar by artist Katharine Watson nestles an entire year into a garden of botanicals.

 

Spectrum Wall Planner

This vibrant wall calendar from Poketo adds a healthy dose of color to planning. Each poster-sized page can be displayed individually, so view one at a time or the full year at once. Plus, it’s not dated, so you can start with any month.

 

Thoughts Operator 2023 Lunar Calendar

Since 2009, Alec Thibodeau has been releasing these celestial lunar calendars that chronicle the moon’s cycles within the Northern Hemisphere throughout the year. Ornate renderings of natural life frame the elegant letterpress print, which expertly melds artful illustration with timely information.

 

Stendig Art Calendar

This iconic, minimal design from Massimo Vignelli offers pared-back clarity for the days ahead. View entire months at once with this oversized tear-away calendar in classic Helvetica.

 

Lorraine Loots’ Hand-Drawn Calendars

We’ve long admired Lorraine Loots’ daily paintings in miniature, and the artist has two minimal calendars available this year. Pick up the larger wall design or the tiny desk model (or both!) for planning in her hand-drawn creations.

 

Rifle Paper Co. 2023 Appointment Wall Calendar

Rifle Paper Co. is known for its whimsical illustrations, and this spiral-bound calendar is trimmed with colorful bouquets each month. There’s also a blank section for jotting reminders, plans, and other notes.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article New Year, New Plans: 2023 Calendars to Organize Your Year appeared first on Colossal.

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The Photography Stories Colossal Readers Loved Most in 2022

As we near the end of 2022, we’re reflecting on the hundreds of articles published on Colossal this year. Today, we’re taking a look at the photographs and series readers loved most. These 12 articles capture a breadth of subject matter across continents, from uncanny doppelgängers and self-portraits in disguise to dramatic winter waves and ancient trees.

For more of 2022’s highlights, check out similar lists in art, craft, design, and our favorite books of the year.

 

Image © Dmitry Kokh

Arresting Photos Document the Polar Bears Occupying an Abandoned Weather Station in Russia

Set against a backdrop of dried grass, rusted tanks, and debris, a photo series by Dmitry Kokh centers on a small group of polar bears that took over an abandoned meteorological station.

 

Image © François Brunelle

I’m Not a Look-Alike: Hundreds of Unrelated Doppelgängers Sit for François Brunelle’s Uncanny Portraits

In I’m Not a Look-Alike, Montréal-based photographer François Brunelle brings together two unrelated people who resemble each other so much that they could be twins.

 

Image © Sriram Murali

Billions of Fireflies Light Up an Indian Wildlife Reserve in Rare Footage Captured by Sriram Murali

Sriram Murali captured a rare gathering of billions of these insects at the Anamalai Tiger Reserve in western Tamil Nadu, India.

 

Image © Joshua Nowicki

Strong Winds Sculpt Frozen Sand into Otherworldly Pillars on a Lake Michigan Beach

Photographer Joshua Nowicki captured dozens ice-laden pillars, created by powerful winds eroding frozen sand and carving dozens of towering shapes haphazardly placed along the shore.

 

Image © Bernhard Lang

Aerial Photos by Bernhard Lang Capture the Largest Aircraft Boneyard in the World

Housing the largest aircraft and missile facility around the globe, the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson is a trove of aviation history, and photographer Bernhard Lang visited the site to document the aircraft from above.

 

Carina Nebula

NASA’s Webb Space Telescope Reveals Astounding, Unprecedented Views of the Universe

Back in July, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope unveiled its first-ever collection of high-resolution color images capturing an exceptional amount of detail about the universe.

 

Image © Trevor Pottelberg

Forceful Waves Rip Across Lake Erie in Tempestuous Photos by Trevor Pottelberg

When fall and winter storms send turbulent waves across Lake Erie, Canadian photographer Trevor Pottelberg documents the volatile eruptions that burst from the water’s surface.

 

Image © Thandiwe Muriu

Vibrant Textiles and Repurposed Eyewear Camouflage the Subjects of Thandiwe Muriu’s Celebratory Portraiture

From chunky hair beads and rollers to sink strainers and brake pedals, Nairobi-based photographer Thandiwe Muriu finds fashionable use for ordinary objects.

 

Image © Beth Moon

Majestic Photos Capture the Dwindling Population of Madagascar’s Ancient Baobab Trees

Bay Area photographer Beth Moon has been documenting baobabs since 2006, capturing the magnificent trees throughout Madagascar, Senegal, and South Africa.

 

Image © Dhritiman Mukherjee

Over 100 Young Crocodiles Find Refuge on Their Father’s Back in India’s Chambal River

Photographer and conservationist Dhritiman Mukherjee visited the National Chambal Sanctuary southeast of New Dehli where he captured striking images of a father swimming through the murky river with more than 100 young clinging to his back.

 

Image © Stéphan Gladieu

Photographer Stéphan Gladieu Documents the Congolese Street Children Turning Waste into Wonder

In the face of this ecological disaster, the young people of Kinshasa began to repurpose waste into traditional religious costumes, which artist Stéphan Gladieu documents in the Homo Détritus series.

 

Image © Neil Burnell

Moss Drapes from Trees in Ethereal Photographs of England’s Forests by Neil Burnell

The remarkable atmosphere of Dartmoor’s forests are captured by Devon-based photographer Neil Burnell, who focuses on the mystical, otherworldly environments through all four seasons.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article The Photography Stories Colossal Readers Loved Most in 2022 appeared first on Colossal.

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Urban Landscapes Merge with Intricately Rendered Figures in Ed Fairburn’s Portraits on Vintage Maps

“Plymouth.” All images © Ed Fairburn, shared with permission

Along the contours of roads, property boundaries, and shorelines, English artist Ed Fairburn draws inspiration for his detailed cross-hatched portraits. As an avid map collector, he is fascinated by the urban landscape and cartographic design. “The more maps I collect, the more I want to create,” he tells Colossal, sharing that transportation routes like roads and bridges can be likened to the veins or arteries of the body.

Fairburn’s intricate drawings directly respond to the layout of the original map. “I allow the composition of each map to inform the composition of each portrait,” he explains. An interest in the body as metaphorical landscape and vice versa also informs how he approaches each piece. “In a wider sense, I hope that my work pushes viewers to think about those similarities, and perhaps offers a reminder that we’re shaped by the landscape around us, which we in turn are also shaping.”

You can find more of Fairburn’s work on his website, and follow updates on Instagram, where he often shares videos of his process.

 

“River Thames; Staines to Richmond”

“Singapore”

“Aberdeen Harbour”

“Paris II”

“Paris”

Detail of “Plymouth”

Detail of “River Thames; Staines to Richmond” 

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Urban Landscapes Merge with Intricately Rendered Figures in Ed Fairburn’s Portraits on Vintage Maps appeared first on Colossal.

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The Design Stories Colossal Readers Loved Most in 2022

This year on Colossal, we published hundreds of articles across disciplines, and as we look back at those in the design world, we’re finding that readers gravitated toward stories about the world’s largest sheet of chainmail, geometric pastries, and tiny homes for bees. Be sure to take a look at 2022’s top articles across art and craft, and check out our favorite books of the year. You can always take a trip back in time by diving into the Colossal archive.

 

A Massive Chainmail Shelter Prevents a Renowned Scottish Mansion from Dissolving in the Rain

English YouTuber and educator Tom Scott visits the largest sheet of chainmail in the world in a short documentary that reveals how the uniquely designed mesh structure has become a landmark of sustainability.

 

Image © Dinara Kasko

Impeccably Precise Geometries Are Baked into Dinara Kasko’s Bold Cakes and Tarts

Ukrainian pastry chef Dinara Kasko brings a healthy dose of geometry to her meticulously designed cakes.

 

Image © Catie Newell

Reimagining an Iconic Midwestern Structure, Catie Newell Cuts a Slice of Sky Out of a Michigan Barn

Conceived by Detroit-based architect and educator Catie Newell, this project reworks the iconic framework of an aging farm building to allow light through an unexpected aperture.

 

Image courtesy of A24

Production Designer Liz Toonkel Describes Creating the Adorable Universe Behind the New ‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On’

A tiny mollusk with a big personality, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On captivated audiences more than a decade ago with his quirky antics and endlessly entertaining use of human-sized objects. The adorable character returned this summer for a feature-length mockumentary with brilliant world-building by Liz Toonkel.

 

Image © Vertical Panorama Pavilion at the Donum Estate (2022), Studio Other Spaces, Olafur Eliasson and Sebastian Behmann, by Adam Potts

Olafur Eliasson Designs a Conical Structure with 832 Vibrant Glass Panels That Reflect Sonoma’s Weather

A bold, conical structure by artist Olafur Eliasson and architect Sebastian Behmann casts a vibrant kaleidoscope of 24 colors underneath its canopy.

 

Image © Ulf Mejergren and Antti Laitinen

In a Remote Swedish Forest, A Nest of Branches and Hay Encircles a Tree with a Cozy Hideout

In April of this year, Swedish architect and artist Ulf Mejergren and Finnish artist Antti Laitinen gathered fallen branches from a forested area outside of Nykvarn and wove a structure around a tree, building a cozy refuge among the thawing spring landscape.

 

Image by Hiroyuki Oki, courtesy of Vo Trong Nghia Architects

42,000 Bamboo Shoots Construct an Illuminated, Latticed Welcome Center in Vietnam

The project of Vo Trong Nghia Architects, a glowing welcome center of interlaced bamboo stands at the entrance of the resort Grand World Phu Quoc in Vietnam.

 

Image © Green&Blue

Tiny Holes Drilled into Bricks Provide Miniature Homes for Solitary Bees

An innovative creation of Cornwall-based Green&Blue, Bee Bricks are designed to establish homes for fuzzy, winged insects.

 

Image © World of WearableArt

In the World of WearableArt, 88 Dramatic Garments Grace the Stage in a Spectacular Performance

Every year in Wellington, dozens of extravagant garments explode onto the stage for three weeks as part of the World of WearableArt competition.

 

All images © Noritaka Minami

Photos by Noritaka Minami Document the Famed Nakagin Capsule Tower Prior to Demolition

Artist Noritaka Minami documented the icon of Japanese Metabolism, the Nakagin Capsule Tower, that stood in the Ginza neighborhood of Tokyo from 1972 until it was demolished earlier this year.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article The Design Stories Colossal Readers Loved Most in 2022 appeared first on Colossal.

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Georgian Culture and Ukrainian Pride Highlight the 2022 Tbilisi Mural Fest

By Sasha Korban. All images courtesy of Tbilisi Mural Fest, shared with permission

For the last four years, Tbilisi Mural Fest has facilitated more than 40 public artworks around the Georgian capital, and the 2022 event brought a spate of new projects to the city. Given the nation’s proximity to Russia and that country’s groundless war against Ukraine, festival organizers highlighted renowned Ukrainian muralist Sasha Korban who painted a large-scale portrait of a woman in customary clothing facing the Russian embassy. Other works include celebrations of Georgian culture and history, like a large-scale tablecloth with traditional motifs by Chertova Tina and Mohamed l’Ghacham’s dreamlike rendering of the living room of Georgian thinker and author Ilia Chavchavadze.

See some of the 2022 additions below and those from previous years on Instagram.

 

By Chertova Tina

By Fintan Magee

“Circus” by Luis Gomez de Teran

“Illia’s Room” by Mohamed l’Ghacham

“Growth” by Artez

“Luis Gomez de Teran” by Kera

“M3D3A” by Vesod

By Dato Machavariani and Irakli Qadeishvili

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Georgian Culture and Ukrainian Pride Highlight the 2022 Tbilisi Mural Fest appeared first on Colossal.

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