Jeff

These majestic, bird’s eye view images are of the remote Yuanyang Hani Rice Terraces located in China’s Yunnan province. Small bodies of water are punctuated by the bold lines that create the terraces, and they signify the harmony of man and nature. Their brilliant colors and complex designs give them the appearance of abstract paintings rather than natural splendor.

The 1,300-year-old terraces cover 461 square kilometers, and are said to display the best-developed in three valleys. And although it’s hard to tell from these photos, they cascade from a summit of 2,000 meters above sea level to the base of the Ailao mountain range.

From late April to late September, the Hani people grow red rice. The water from brooks, springs, and rain is collected by forests and distributed through the gravitational system. This accounts for the vibrant grounds we see here. (Via China Discovery Blog and Dana Boulos)

The post The Brilliant, Natural Colors Of The Yuanyang Rice Terraces appeared first on Beautiful/Decay Artist & Design.

When I packed my stuff last weekend for a classic sunday sauna day, fine, reddish desert sand and warm thoughts of a short trip to Abu Dhabi trickled down my flip-flops. The sand stems from the desert Rub Al-Khali, also called 'Empty Quarter', which can be reached by jeep from the center of the emirate in one and a half hours. And just like it's nickname suggests, it's reaaally empty.

Apart from the impressive area around the Anantara Qasr al Sarah Desert Resort, it's air-conditioned villa for hawks, a large horse and camel barn and a big family of green palms there really is nothing, except loads of sand. The temperatures in the shade can keep up with a shallow 60 degree bio-sauna, but to my surprised the relaxing factor is similar to that of a juicy spa visit. Whoever has been in the desert, knows the feeling you get when you look into the endless dunes or eat your way up to the sunrise in the morning. For everyone else, I will try to use photo, paper and pen to explain it to you:

The desert in worm's-eye view

Echo in desert equals zero.

Hmmm, did i turn off the heating at home?

Footprint of a sheik

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ABU DHABI DESERT-WONDERLAND

Thanks to Air Berlin for inviting me to this trip, now I know what it means to fly lying in a luxury bed/seat. A six hours flight and a short jeep ride later and we were in the middle of the desert of Abu Dhabi on the border to Oman and Saudi Arabia the next morning. During an afternoon excursion into the dunes (driving a jeep in the sand feels just as phat as skiing in fresh snow), I got to know the culture of flying hawks and saw desert dogs running faster than my instagram-finger could react.

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ABU DHABI CITY

After two days in the desert we got a taste of the city that surprised me with green mangrooves, kayaking (with the opportunity to see dolphins! Perhaps we should have been a bit more silent whilst paddling) as well as hidden flower and fruit markets next to the mandatory skyscrapers. Visiting the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates and the eighth largest mosque in the world, was very impressive. Its design and construction aims to "unify the world", using artisans and materials from many countries like Italy, Germany, Morocco, India, Turkey, Iran, China, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Greece and United Arab Emirates. During the audio guide tour I got the impression that it's the mosque of superlative: the weight of this carpet is 35 tons, just to name one fact. In Abu Dhabi you always take a taxi from A to B which is rather unusual for me but once we left the main roads, I was standing in an exciting, to me so far unknown world, which I just loved to explore (never not wearing my shade-giving head guard).

The culinary part of the journey was also quite something special: Tabbouleh, falafel and hummus, delicious which I kinda know as the typical arabic food from Berlin, only just better. Tea and dried dates accompany any cultural experience or meeting. Also the Camelcino, cappuccino with camel milk, is definitely worth a try.

Abu Dhabi, I will come back and I will tell everybody that you are much more than a stop-over for transfer flights.

Text and images by Monja Gentschow

Gif by Scott Gelber

Tumblr has compiled their 2014 Year In Review and even though there’s a lot of content I could care less about, it is interesting to see who and what (in a variety of categories) was shared the most this year.

View the whole post: Tumblr’s 2014 Year In Review over on BOOOOOOOM!.

theleoisallinthemind:

patrizia guerresi maïmouna

Christians across the globe are currently up in arms about a new phallus necklace from fashion designer Tom Ford which takes its inspiration from the design of traditional crucifixes. The design, named the "Penis Pendant Necklace", has been around since London Collections: Men in June, but has only just been made available to buy, with a price tag of $790 USD (approx. £500). It comes in both gold and silver and in three sizes - small, medium and large.

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the first new release in 14 years from trevor jackson, F O R M A T, charts the legacy of the physical music format.

The post FORMAT by trevor jackson – 12 tracks on 12 formats appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

maliara:

Yohji Yamamoto

Noomi Rapace by Sølve Sundsbø for Dazed & Confused June 2012

the wooden framework has been installed to weave throughout the interior and exterior of the brick home, taking home buyers on a physical and fun journey through the various rooms.

The post homebuyers roller coaster their way through dutch residence appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Selon la propagande en place en Corée du Nord lors du règne de Kim Jong-Il, celui-ci aurait inventé le hamburger en 2000, serait champion de golf en réussissant 5 trous en 1 coup et aurait sauvé son peuple de la famine avec des lapins géants.

New cover Suddeutsche Zeitung Magazin Artwork Jean Julien Art-director Thomas Kartsolis Deputy art-director Birthe Steinbeck Design David Henne, Daniel Schnitterbaum and Anna Meyer

Paintings by artist Alexander Tinei. More below.

View the whole post: Alexander Tinei over on BOOOOOOOM!.

the scalable building raises awareness about the number of workers who have died during the construction of stadiums for the 2022 event.

The post qatar world cup memorial by 1week1project honors deceased construction workers appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

by adding additional holes to standard buttons, the configuration of thread can create new interpretations of the typical cross-stitch.

The post typo buttons let you stitch a story onto your shirt + sleeve appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

The 24th film in the James Bond film franchise, which started with Dr. No in 1962, has officially been announced. Entitled Spectre, the film will be directed by Sam Mendes (Skyfall) and will star Daniel Craig as Bond alongside Christoph Waltz, who will play a character called Oberhause.

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L'origine du doigt d'honneur est incertaine, mais celui-ci est très ancien. Déjà utilisé dans la Rome antique, il était appelé digitus impudicus ("doigt insolent"). On y fait référence dans la littérature romaine et certaines comédies.

Christoph Soeder 

Certains vieux immeubles ont des fausses fenêtres murées car après la Révolution française on mis en place un impôt sur les portes et fenêtres. Les propriétaires des maisons étaient taxés en fonction du nombre et de la taille des ouvertures

Faig Ahmed

In the December issue of CR, we speak to the founder of The Unseen, an "exploration house" using science, technology and traditional craft to create products that change colour in response to the environment. The company has now launched an emporium at London's Somerset House, housing bespoke designs, colour-changing gifts and accessories and a piece of clothing that can read your aura...

The Unseen was founded this year by 28-year-old Lauren Bowker, who developed a pollution sensing ink which changed colour in response to carbon dioxide while studying at Manchester School of Art. Bowker developed further colour-changing inks while studying textiles at the Royal College of Art, which responded to environmental changes such as heat, light and wind. After running her own consultancy for two years, decided to launch a business that would allow her to apply the technology to a range of textiles.

Located in the New Wing of Somerset House, the emporium offers a look at some of The Unseen's one-off creations and the science behind its products. Items on display include 'Air' (pictured top), a series of colour-changing hand crafted leather garments that change colour in response to environmental changes such as touch and wind, as demonstrated in the film below:

 

A headpiece made out of 4,000 spinel gemstones for Swarovski, which change colour in response to the wearer's brain activity:

And the Eighth Sense: a new garment (viewed by appointment only) which uses digital technology to read human EEG and biodata and project its wearer's state of mind. The garment is made out of hundreds of hand painted fins, which change colour in response to emotions - red indicates anger or anxiety, for example, while blue reflects a sense of calm. As well as being a beautiful product, Bowker hopes the technology could, in the future, be used by healthcare professionals to monitor pain, distress or anxiety in patients:

pic via @_seetheunseen

Also on display at the emporium is Artefact: a range of colour-changing gifts and accessories for sale, priced between £25 and £75. There's a calf leather-bound colour changing notebook, hand poured candles which change colour as they burn, quills which change colour as users write and feathers painted with the same reactive ink, known as Magick. Elsewhere, display cabinets house product catalogues, swatches and Unseen postcards and merchandise.

The space is beautifully decorated, with vintage furnishings, aged textbooks and scientific specimens adding a touch of theatre, and it's a real treat to see The Unseen's amazing products up close.

The emporium is open until 2015 and The Unseen is also hosting a series of hands-on workshops and events, including a series this weekend where visitors can paint their own colour-changing feather (tickets are priced at £45, details here).

pic via @unseenemporium

 

The Unseen Emporium is open 10am-6pm Mon-Sun, and until 9pm on Thursdays until May 2015 - for details, see theunseenemporium.co.uk or seetheunseen.co.uk.

Read our interview with Bowker in the December issue of Creative Review, out now.

There’s not a pie in the cultural world that James Franco isn’t ready and willing to stick a finger into, and to prove it the actor, director, poet and musician has just announced a new exhibition of his artworks, entitled Fat Squirrel, which is to be held at London’s Siegfried Contemporary gallery. The show is an undeniably eclectic collection, including a number of self portraits of the artist in the guise of various famous historical figures, a deer orgy entitled Triple Team, and some bright painterly collages, not to mention the eponymous overweight rodents which are undoubtedly our favourites.

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a natural, undulating terrain spills out from the entrance and presses up against the surrounding windows and walls.

The post per kristian nygård grows grass landscape in oslo gallery appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.