Architectural Drawings Detail the Spatial Dimensions and Unique Amenities of Japanese Hotel Rooms

All images © Kei Endo, shared with permission

In preparing for her own design projects, Tokyo-based architect Kei Endo sketches elaborate diagrams of hotel rooms. The watercolor works depict overhead views of floor layouts, color schemes, lighting, and the details of special amenities from hairdryers to soap bottles paired with precise dimensions. While focused on the uniform details of spaces like Hotel Siro in Toshima-ku or The Okura Tokyo, the drawings reveal how the designer’s attention to space, comfort, and lodgers’ needs inform every inch of the room.

In addition to her travel-based works, Endo also deconstructs desserts with similar measurements, and you can find more of her renderings on her site and Instagram. (via Spoon & Tamago)

 

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Sinuous Tentacles and Intricate Spider Legs Sprout from Glass Symphony’s Miniature Creatures

All images © Glass Symphony, shared with permission

Kyiv-based artist Nikita Drachuk (previously) is behind a delicate menagerie of translucent octopuses, striped spiders, and mottled slugs exquisitely crafted in glass. Elaborately shaped with curling tentacles and segmented legs, the miniature creatures are the product of lampworking, which involves melting the colorful material with a lamp or torch. Drachuk works under the moniker Glass Symphony and has hundreds of pieces available on Etsy.

 

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A Colossal Exclusive: Squawking Grackles Cluster Together in a Limited-Edition Print by Artist Tiffany Bozic

“Oil Slick” by Tiffany Bozic

For the first time in nearly two years, Colossal is launching a limited-edition print in collaboration with artist Tiffany Bozic (previously). “Oil Slick,” which is available now in Colossal Shop, centers on a cluster of grackles in shades of deep purples and blues, colors that evoke swirling petroleum floating on the surface of the ocean. “Though few species are as polarizing as these thoroughly urbanized birds, one thing is indisputable: their sheer numbers are a sign of their success and adaptability,” says the California-based artist, whose body of work focuses on preserving the diversity of the natural world.

The giclée print is signed and available in an edition of 250, and 10% of all proceeds will be donated to Art to Acres, an artist-founded nonprofit focused on large-scale land conservation in North, South, and Central America. Pick up “Oil Slick” today in the Colossal Shop.

 

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Cheery Characters Enliven Vibrant, Whimsical Illustrations by Tania Yakunova

All images © Tania Yakunova, shared with permission

Ukrainian illustrator Tania Yakunova gravitates toward bold color palettes and clean lines to define her spirited characters. Set on monochromatic backdrops, her quirky scenes are tinged with whimsy and play with scale, surrounding the figures with low-hanging white stars, towering leaves, and oversized art supplies. Many of the Kyiv-based illustrator’s works involve a mix of digital and analog sketching with the final pieces rendered in paint.

In recent weeks, Yakunova has been creating a series of ceramics focused on mental health, alongside illustrations responding to the ongoing war in Ukraine. You can find more of her works on Behance and Instagram.

 

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Life and Death Converge in a Two-Sided Field of 17,000 Steel Flowers by Zadok Ben-David

Detail of “Blackfield” (2021) at Kew. Photo by Roger Wooldridge. All images courtesy of Kew Gardens, shared with permission

At the heart of Zadok Ben-David’s Natural Reserve on view at Kew Gardens is a low-lying plot sprouting nearly 1,000 plant species. The sprawling, ecologically diverse installation, which has traveled to multiple cities like Seoul, Tel Aviv, and Paris since 2006, is titled “Blackfield,” a name tied to the flowers’ dualistic nature: one side captures the vibrancy of life through bright, fantastical colors, while the other is painted entirely black.

Containing upwards of 17,000 steel-etched botanicals, the installation considers the precarious line between life and death and how a small shift in perspective can inspire oppositional feelings of either loss or hope. “The relationship between humanity and nature is one which is central to my work. I have always been fascinated by the idea of how humans rely on nature for survival yet seem to forget this essential fact in everyday life,” the Israeli artist says.

In addition to “Blackfield,” Natural Reserve includes a variety of intricate, sculptural pieces, some of which are based on 19th Century illustrations in the garden’s collections, and is on view through April 24. Follow Zadok Ben-David (previously) on Instagram to keep an eye on where his works are headed next.

 

Detail of “Blackfield” (2021) at Kew. Photo by Roger Wooldridge

Photos by Soupdemots

Detail of “Blackfield” (2021) at Kew. Photo by Roger Wooldridge

Photos by Soupdemots

Photos by Soupdemots

Photos by Soupdemots

“Blackfield” (2010) at Verso Arte Contemporanea in Turin, Italy

“Blackfield” (2021) at Kew. Photo by Roger Wooldridge

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Interview: The Artists Behind DRIFT Discuss the Unparalleled Potential of Technology in Cultivating Connections with Nature

“Fragile Future.” All images © DRIFT, shared with permission

Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta, the pair behind the Amsterdam-based studio DRIFT, have spent the last few decades exploring the intersection of technology and nature, an experience they recount in a new interview supported by Colossal Members. Their broad, immersive body of work harnesses the power of robotics, manufactured mechanisms, and even algorithms to visualize some of the most stunning and captivating biological phenomena and ecological cycles.

We believe that we live in a time where technology and nature are no longer opposites but are codependent entities. For DRIFT, inspiration and natural phenomena always stand at the epicenter of our works—technology is merely the means to bring our visions to life—whereas the internet allows us to share our visions with as many people as possible.

In this conversation, Colossal managing editor Grace Ebert speaks with the pair about the origins of their collaboration-driven studio, how recognizing and internalizing patterns can help us realign with the world around us, and why nature and the inevitability of change is the only guarantee.

 

“Shylight”

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Highlighting Life in Ukraine, A Print Sale is Raising Funds for People Impacted By the Crisis

“Ukraine Runs Through It,” Justyna Mielnikiewicz

A print sale from the women-led nonprofit Vital Impacts (previously) is raising money for people affected by the ongoing war in Ukraine. The month-long fundraiser, titled Impact Now, offers more than 100 images from National Geographic photographers. Taken globally and diverse in subject matter, the collection includes a variety of landscapes and wildlife, in addition to stunning underwater shots by renowned photographers Paul Nicklen (previously) and David Doubilet (previously)—and multiple shots focus specifically on life in Ukraine. David Guttenfelder documents protestors from the country’s Orange Revolution in the mid-aughts, while Justyna Mielnikiewicz spotlights young dancers from Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in 2015, the latter of which became a hub for pro-Russia rebels the year prior.

Impact Now runs through April 20, and all profits will be donated to Direct Relief, which is providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine. You can buy prints here.

 

“Ukrainian Demonstrators in the Orange Revolution,” David Guttenfelder

“Dresses,” Amy Toensing

“Polar Bear Mother with Cubs,” Norbert Rosing

“Central Park on a Foggy Night, New York,” Jim Richardson

“Emperor Reflections,” Paul Nicklen

“Merced River Yosemite Valley,” Michael Melford

“Last Bell Kyiv,” Dina Litovsky

“Chance Encounter,” David Doubilet

“Yosemite Valley after the Storm,” Jimmy Chin

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