A Bench by Akasaki Vanhuyse on the River Thames Buoyantly Nods to London’s Maritime History

All images © Akasaki Vanhuyse, shared with permission

Once the largest enclosed docks in the world, London’s Royal Docks span around 2.5 miles of waterway along the River Thames, encompassing about 250 acres. Today the home of numerous repurposed spaces and contemporary living developments, the area remains flush with industrial and maritime heritage, with historic architecture characterized by red brick. For design studio Akasaki Vanhuyse, founded by Japanese architect Kenta Akasaki and French designer Astrid Vanhuyse, Royal Albert Wharf provided the perfect platform for “FLOAT,” a curvaceous brick bench perched on the quayside.

Working with specialty brickmaker Mishelmersh, the designers tapped into the company’s deadstock, plucking 360 pieces that were expertly cut into 13 unit types with specific angles and dimensions so that they could be precisely puzzled together into the final shape. The shape of the seat nods to the recognizable ring shape of the life preservers dotting the river’s edge, and users can sit around the perimeter or sink into the middle as if in an inner tube. “By connecting the bench design to its immediate surroundings, we wanted to create a symbol for the town,” the studio says.

See more work on Akasaki Vanhuyse’s website and Instagram. (via designboom)

 

 

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From Dawn to Dusk and Back Again, Stephen Wilkes Pursues Natural Drama in Remarkably Detailed Panoramas

All images © Stephen Wilkes, courtesy of Taschen, shared with permission

Whether atop a 40-foot lift truck in the center of Paris, in a small house on a far-flung island, or perched beside a Serengeti watering hole, photographer Stephen Wilkes certainly has patience on his side. Sitting in one spot for hours on end, he sets up his camera to capture a single scene over the course of a full day or more, tracking the dramatic movement of weather and the sun over expansive landscapes. Day to Night, a forthcoming book published by Taschen, highlights 60 of the artist’s most compelling images, from U.S. National Parks to iconic international landmarks to remote wildernesses brimming with wildlife.

Wilkes carefully selects his location and takes more than 1,500 exposures from a fixed angle to follow the gradual changes in light and the bustling activity of humans and animals. To get the scene of visitors at the Grand Canyon just right, for example, he slept in a watchtower during a 36-hour shoot. “There was, of course, no artificial light, so I had to wait for the moon to light the canyon. I had only one hour of exposure to get this right,” he says. When he returns to the studio, he painstakingly filters all of the images into a single composition, producing pieces akin to distilled timelapses.

Day to Night will be released next month and features panoramas taken between 2009 and 2022, many with hidden stories that Wilkes describes throughout. You can pre-order a copy on Bookshop, and see more of his work on his website.

 

 

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Immense Biomorphic Sculptures Snake from Floor to Ceiling at Hamburger Bahnhof in Eva Fàbregas’ ‘Devouring Lovers’

All photos by Jacopo La Forgia, courtesy of Eva Fàbregas, National Museums in Berlin, and Hamburger Bahnhof–National Gallery of the Present

Bulbous, biomorphic sculptures in lavender, tangerine, and blush pink rove throughout the airy Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin. The largest solo exhibition to date of Barcelona-born artist Eva Fàbregas, Devouring Lovers brings massive, bulging works to the industrial hall, juxtaposing the cold iron structures with soft, pudgy forms. Inviting in color and grotesque in shape, the organic, monstrous sculptures appear alive, as if they could grow and swallow up the remaining space, viewers and all.

In a recent interview, Fàbregas shares that the interactions between space and the body continually inform her thinking and how she conceptualizes a piece. “It’s about the architecture. It’s about those masses that you put inside the architecture. It’s about the humans moving around the architecture,” she says. “For me, my sculptures are not just themselves, it’s all the things that happen in the same space that affect that installation.”

Devouring Lovers is on view through January 14, 2024. You can find more from Fàbregas on Instagram.

 

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Delightful Wooden Nesting Dolls by Salakauppa Playfully Reimagine Traditional Designs

“The Bears (polar bear, brown bear, panda, moon bear, and Misha)” (2014), linden, paint, and lacquer, 210 x 120 millimeters. All designs by Aamu Song / COMPANY, produced in Semenov, Russia. Images © Salakauppa, shared with permission

A saltwater food chain, a collection of vegetables, and an acorn maturing through its development stages are just a few of Helsinki-based Salakauppa’s custom nesting dolls. The brainchild of Aamu Song and Johan Olin, Salakauppa—sala means “secret” and kauppa means “shop” in Finnish—was founded a little over 15 years ago to showcase the duo’s contemporary take on traditional matryoshkas. Using linden wood, which is soft and easily worked, each doll is designed by Song, then produced by expert craftspeople in Semenov, Russia, who meticulously turn the pieces on a lathe.

The decorative toys date back to the late 19th century when the first set was conceived by folk artist Sergey Malyutin with the assistance of a wood carver named Vasily Zvyozdochkin. The basic design consists of a set of pieces that decrease in size, fitting into one another, and traditionally depict a mother doll whose children, including a baby, fit inside. Song and Olin playfully reimagine the possibilities of matryoshka sets by portraying a diverse range of families, flora, and fauna, emphasizing the joy of discovery as each set is opened to reveal its inner dwellers.

Located for more than a decade in a kiosk in central Helsinki, Salakauppa just relocated to a new storefront, which they describe as a “home and temple” for their ongoing Secrets series. You can find more on the shop’s website. (via Present & Correct)

 

“Green Vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, artichoke, asparagus, cucumber, and green peas)” (2023), linden, paint, and lacquer, 120 x 180 millimeters

Salakauppa display. Photo by Paavo Lehtonen

“Sea Matryoshka (A whale eats a seal that eats a penguin that eats a fish that eats a calamari that eats a sea cucumber, and finally, there’s a plankton)” (2013), linden, paint, and lacquer, 250 x 120 millimeters

Onion matryoshka display in Salakauppa. Photo by Paavo Lehtonen

“Kärpässieni (A set of four nesting Fly Agaric mushrooms)” (2015), linden, paint, and lacquer, 140 x 160 millimeters

“Oaknut Matryoshka (Tiny green oak nuts become big brown ones, then squirrel is happy)” (2013), linden, paint, and lacquer, 120 x 100 millimeters

“Sauna Family (A peaceful löyly moment in the hot sauna)” (2022), linden, paint, and lacquer, 120 x 245 millimeters

“Apple Matryoshka (As apple flower falls like white rain in the late summer, tiny apple start to grow),” linden, paint, and lacquer, 120 x 110 millimeters

“Trees Lehmusto (Linden forest)” (2017), linden, paint, and lacquer, 260 x 150 millimeters

Aamu Song and Johan Olin in Sarakauppa. Photo by Paavo Lehtonen 

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In an Ecuadorian Cloud Forest, Two Mycologists Catalogue Hundreds of Fantastical Fungi

Marasmius

Scientists believe that less than .04 percent (check out that decimal point!) of the world’s fungi has been documented, which adds up to only a little over 120,000 species out of a conservatively estimated 3.2 million worldwide. Mycologists Danny Newman and Roo Vandegrift have spent the last 12 years focusing on locations impacted by the climate crisis and increasing human interference, like Ecuador’s Reserva Los Cedros. Their stunning photographs (previously) capture the vibrant hues, delicate gills, and thin stems of a vast range of fungi in the mountainous cloud forest.

In 2018, the Ecuadorian government declared the Los Cedros reserve—one of the last unlogged watersheds on the western slope of the Andes—open for mining, putting countless flora and fauna at risk. “In a stunning legal upset, the mining concessions which threatened to turn Los Cedros into a toxic, barren wasteland were rescinded by the Ecuadorian supreme court, who specifically cited…our fungal diversity research in their ruling,” Newman says.

Spanning six expeditions, the duo recently published an in-depth survey of their findings, cataloguing a wealth of previously unknown species and providing what Newman calls “one of the most comprehensive contributions to Ecuadorian mycology in the country’s history.” Vandegrift is also the producer of a visually stunning upcoming documentary titled Marrow of the Mountain, filmed during an expedition in 2018 and 2019. 

Explore more images and descriptions on Mushroom Observer and both Newman and Vandegrift’s Instagrams.

 

Aurapex penicilliata

Favolaschia

Mycenaceae

Fibulostilbum phylaciicola

Agaricales

Ceriporia

Trichopeziza

Physalacriaceae

Physalacriaceae

Longisetae

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Four Medicinal Plants ‘Rewild’ Mumbai in a New Mural Series by Mona Caron

All images courtesy of Pranav Gohil and St+art India Foundation, shared with permission

Four hardy plants soar toward the Mumbai skyline in a new series of murals by Swiss artist Mona Caron (previously). Known for her stunning portrayals of weeds and botanicals thought of as ugly or undesirable, Caron celebrates the resilient specimens native to India that are often found poking through the concrete and along dusty roadsides.

Taking its title from the name of the vegetation, Kurdu, Takla, Chhota Kalpa, Kantakari brings together four medicinal plants that burst through the urban environment despite the harsh conditions. “Unflinching, Kurdu won’t even bother to pick a sheltered spot. No matter how destroyed the terrain, right in everyone’s way, like a cow ambling across a busy Mumbai street, it gently floats the sacred into the midst of our daily chaos, mostly skirted unnoticed,” Caron shares.

The works celebrate this strength and determination and advocate for recognizing their worth. “It takes closeness to the earth to harvest its blessings; it takes traditional knowledge to know the best way to. Let’s honor this wisdom which persists at the grassroots of this bursting metropolis, against all pressures to uproot,” she says.

These murals were created as part of this year’s Mumbai Urban Art Festival organized by St+art India Foundation. Find more from Caron on her site and Instagram.

 

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