Friday Finds 07.20.12

Kelsey: Shipping Container Commune

Blurring the lines between performance art, installation, sociology, and shipping container architecture, students at the Geneva University of Art and Design have formed a roving commune that travels around Switzerland as part of a study on domestic rituals. Bureau A designer Daniel Zamarbide helped the students flesh out the performative aspects of the installation: a dining room demonstrating "habits of gluttony and lust," a meeting room where attendees stick only their heads and arms inside a fabric tube, and a bedroom where they test the effects of napping while wearing foam "sleep suits."

Jaime: Old San Francisco

Click on a red dot on the map to see archival photographs of that location through the years, from 1850 to 2000. For example, this Mission District park is now a soccer field and hangout for daytime drunks, street-side gamblers, and hipsters walking their dogs.

Diana: An Apartment for Motorcycles

The clever space-saving tricks found in Japanese architecture never cease to interest. Squeezing in as much indoor space as possible, this eight-unit building in Tokyo is oriented around a central courtyard based off of the turning radius of the average motorcycle. 

Tammy: Jellied Jams

Whipping up music gets literal with two French students' sound-sensored chemistry lab. Ensci-Les Ateliers alumni Marianne Cauvard and Raphael Pluvinage created a game called "Noisy Jelly," in which the player molds jelly and uses the shapes on a game board to create different sounds.

Kathryn: Paper 53's Watercolor iPad App

As the resident perfectionist here at Dwell, it has always been with tremendous struggle that I even consider endeavoring to attempt watercolor painting. Once that brush touches the paper, the line is committed. There is no undo. Naturally, then, it would be the sketching form I envy most. After countless attempts and classes, I finally gave up trying and left that to the land of things I just can't do.

A few weeks ago, I purchased the pens and colors set in Paper, 53's iPad sketching app, and my desire was immediately reborn. Finally I can paint with watercolor and there is an undo! While my first sketches reveal the need for renewed study and practice (painful truths), I imagine that all of you architects, designers, and dreamers will find a happy new companion with this app, and wonder what amazing visions you'll realize with it. You might also enjoy surfing through the results of other artists results on 53's blog.

If the sheer joy of being able to draw is not enough, consider this: #lunatikonpaper is hosting a competition through June 25 to get a Touch Pen, their super cool stylus/pen combo, into your hands -- and they're throwing in an Ipad to the best of the best.

Julia: Solar Sinter Project

The first time I watched this video of Markus Kayser's Solar Sinter project, I was truly amazed. Such an interesting, creative, and beautiful project.