Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Cogs and Ink: Steampunk Tattoo Designs that Wow
By Marc in Gadgets & Geek Art, Technology & Futurism
Many think steampunk is a fad that will flare up and burn itself out quickly, as most fads do. If
Geek Tattoo Designs: Wish Your Social Life Goodbye
By Marc in Gadgets & Geek Art, Games & Gaming, Guerilla Action & Art 
There’s geek, and then there’s hardcore, plaster your favorite operating system’s logo on your right
There’s geek, and then there’s hardcore, plaster your favorite operating system’s logo on your right
Life-size Monopoly House: The Art Of Green Architecture
By Steve in Abandoned Places, Games & Gaming, Urban & Street Art 
If life’s a game, you’re gonna need some bigger playing pieces. When the game’s Monopoly, you can
If life’s a game, you’re gonna need some bigger playing pieces. When the game’s Monopoly, you can
12 Awesome Future Architectural Designs
By Steph in Architecture & Design, Environment & Nature 
Bold, bio-inspired, vertical and sustainable: those are the traits that architecture of the future will
7 Pencapaian Google Era Eric Schmidt
Fino Yurio Kristo - detikinet
Eric Schmidt (cc/Charles Haynes)
Jakarta - Jabatan CEO Google resmi berpindah dari Eric Schmidt ke Larry Page, pendiri Google. Selama sekitar 10 tahun masa kepemimpinannya, banyak cerita manis diukir Schmidt. Ini dia beberapa produk sukses Google yang meluncur di era Schmidt, dikutip detikINET dari PCWorld, Senin (4/4/2011):
Eric Schmidt (cc/Charles Haynes)
20 Amazing Airport, Train & Bus Station Designs
By Steve in Architecture & Design, Travel & Places, Urbanism 
Planes, trains and automobiles: these essential modes of transportation are all part of the daily grind
Strange Adaptive Reuse of Military Architecture
By Urbanist in Abandoned Places, Architecture & Design, Travel & Places 
Ocean and sea forts are few and far between and with good reason: only in fairly extreme
(Check out our complete collection of Underwater and Oceanic Oddities.)
Monday, April 4, 2011
10 Great Gas Station Designs
By Steph in Architecture & Design 
Gasoline is on its last legs. It’s a commodity we’ll soon be saying goodbye to as renewable energy takes
15 Cool High School, College and University Building Designs
By Steph in Architecture & Design 
If all high school, college and university campuses looked like this, attendance rates would skyrocket.
7 Stunningly Precarious Mountain and Cliff Dwellings: Part Two of an Eight-Part Amazing Houses Series
By Delana in Architecture & Design, Travel & Places, Urban Images 
We humans like a bit of adventure, as a rule. We drive fast, we hang glide, we even eat bacon with
(Check out our complete collection of 70 Amazing Houses from Around the World.)
(images via: Casa Pauline and Nathan Snider and BurlingameBarley)15 Immaculate Temples, Cathedrals and Churches
By Steve in Architecture & Design, History & Factoids, Travel & Places 
Regardless of your religion, temples, cathedrals and churches express mankind’s eternal desire to
Regardless of your religion, temples, cathedrals and churches express mankind’s eternal desire to
15 Amazing Monasteries, Sanctuaries and Abbies
By Steve in Architecture & Design, Environment & Nature, Travel & Places 
Monastic architecture is often spectacular, an attribute seemingly at odds with the ascetic lifestyle of its adherents. Time is a harsh mistress and after centuries of war, religious strife and natural disasters, only the strongest – and strangest – have survived. For that at least, we may be thankful.
(images via: Greek Landscapes and WebUrbanist: Cliff & Mountain Houses)
Meteora means “suspended in air” in Greek, and that’s an apt description for these centuries-old monasteries. Perched atop 1200-ft tall crags of Thessaly’s “Stone Forest”, as many as 24 separate monasteries thrived during the area’s heyday in the 14th century. Today only a half-dozen are still active. Today tourists – not rampaging Ottoman warriors – are the main visitors to this stunning setting in northern Greece.
(image via: Vytautas Bukauskas Travel)
The Taktsang monastery in mountainous Bhutan is one of Buddhism’s holiest – and most beautiful – places. Said to have been constructed in the 8th century by a holy man who flew to the site on the back of a flaming tigress. Taktsang is known as the Tiger’s Nest. Looking at the complex, perched upon a sheer cliff nearly 2,000 feet above the Paro river valley, one begins to believe the ancient legend just may be true! Taktsang can be considered a work in progress as new buildings continue to be added to the complex, the most recent in 1982.
(images via: Lights2008 and UA Zone)
Kiev Pechersk Lavra, or the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, is a huge complex of spectacular buildings in the heart of Ukraine’s capital, Kiev. Originally established in the year 1051, the monastery was destroyed by the Mongols twice: in 1240 and again in 1480. In the centuries following, the complex grew both in size and in wealth, gaining its brilliant golden domes that are its trademark.
(images via: Telegraph UK and National Geographic)
Mont Saint-Michel is a “fortified abbey”, and it sure does look the part! Construction on the site began in the year 966, when the abbey’s location was a rocky island protected from land-based marauders by Europe’s highest tides. Marsh drainage and construction of a causeway in the 19th century disrupted the natural flow of water, allowing silt to gradually surround Mont Saint-Michel on three sides, but a reclamation project now underway should restore the abbey’s isolation by the year 2015.
(images via: VRA Web and Libyan Soup)
This 150ft tall building in the ancient Nabataean city of Petra, Jordan, was laboriously carved out from the red sandstone canyons over 2,000 years ago. It resembles it’s more famous neighbor, the so-called “Treasury” so prominently featured in the 1984 film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Curiously, both the Treasury and the Monastery are nothing of the kind – their true purposes are still unknown.
(images via: India Times and Indiashots)
Nestled in the lush, monsoon-drenched foothills of the mighty Himalayas in northern India lies the Rumtek Monastery. Home to monks of all ages, even boys such as the one pictured above, Rumtek revels in bright colors set off with the glint of gold. The glorious mandala above graces the ceiling of a porch leading to Rumtek’s main temple.
(images via: Tushar and Stah)
Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii took the above (upper) color photo of the Nilov Monastery in Tver, Russia, in 1910 – before there WAS such a thing as commercial color photography. The process used by Prokudin-Gorskii to create magnificent images like this one was so complex, Czar Nicholas II gave him a fully equipped railroad car with which to travel through Russia and document its most iconic sights.
(image via: Weirdomatic)
Xuan Kong Sì was built into a cliff face near Mount Heng in Shanxi province, China, about 1,400 years ago. HOW it was built, is anyone’s guess. Although it may look rather fragile, the Hanging Temple has hung in there through dozens of severe seismic events including the deadliest earthquake in recorded history: a 1556 temblor in which up to 830,000 lost their lives.
(image via: Dark Roasted Blend)
Another cliff-hanging sanctuary, Sumela Monastery in the Turkish province of Trabzon (Trebizond to the ancient Greeks and Byzantines) dates from the year 386. As the story goes, a pair of priests journeying eastward from Athens thought the steep cliff overlooking the Alt?ndere valley would be a good place to set up a monastery. One can only imagine what they thought a BAD place would be. Nonetheless, their choice ensured that Sumela Monastery would be a tough nut for invaders to crack – much more likely they’d be cracking their skulls on the rocks below.
(images via: Tour Egypt and Igougo)
One of the oldest Christian monasteries in Egypt, if not the world, the Monastery of St. Catherine near Mount Sinai dates from the earliest years of the faith. The roots of monasticism itself can be said to have sprung from the stony soil of the Sinai. The monastery was sponsored through the ages by kings and emperors from distant lands who saw it as a foothold of faith worth protecting. Today its still formidable walls, built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian in the 6th century, are in remarkably good condition.
(images via: Skelligs Trips and O’Shea Image Gallery)
Skellig Michael, an inhospitable rocky island 10 miles off the coast of County Kerry, Ireland, is one of Ireland’s oldest and most famous monasteries. The long-suffering monks, rarely more than a dozen or so, lived in cold & gloomy “beehive” huts made of stone from the year 588 to sometime in the 12th century when they moved to the Irish mainland.
(image via: Sacred Sites)
One wonders whether the Khor Virap monastery in western Armenia has ever been used as a movie location setting. The ancient walled monastery sits alone in an otherworldly setting dominated by the massive bulk of snow-capped Mount Ararat, said to be the final resting place of Noah’s Ark. Khor Virap also houses the dungeon used to imprison Saint Gregory, considered the founding saint of Christian Armenia which dates from the year 301.
(images via: Tibet Travel and Corbis)
One of the most distinctive of the many Tibetan monasteries, Palkhor was built in the late 14th century near Gyantse, Tibet. The pagoda-style main building is 9 levels (about 100 ft) high and contains over 77 individual chapels and shrines.
(images via: GlastonburyAbbey.com and The Isle of Avalon)
Glastonbury Abbey was already more than 350 years old when William the Conqueror won the Battle of Hastings and by 1186 was the richest abbey in the realm. King Arthur and Queen Guinevere were said to be buried in a place of honor before the church altar.
(images via: GlastonburyAbbey.com and The Isle of Avalon)
In the 1530s when King Henry VIII solidified his position as head of the new Anglican Church, Glastonbury Abbey was looted and destroyed – the greatest and final act in what is now referred to as the Great Dissolution of the Monasteries. Though little remains of Glastonbury Abbey and its associated buildings today, enough still stands to hint strongly at its former glory.
(images via: Sanctuary of Truth and Visit Thai Sea)
The Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya, Thailand, is made entirely of wood and is styled to resemble ancient Buddhist temples such as Cambodia’s Angkor Wat. Though it may look old, it isn’t – the sanctuary was begun in 1981 and the entire complex is expected to be complete by the year 2025. What kind of person decides to build a 315ft tall religious sanctuary? Lek Viriyaphant, for one, a Thai millionaire said to be somewhat eccentric.
As for the future, who can say? As long as humanity seeks answers that his own science, logic and common sense cannot provide, there will be a need for monasteries, abbeys and sanctuaries where such things may be contemplated in peace, quiet and inspirational surroundings.
Meteora and The Stone Forest
(images via: Greek Landscapes and WebUrbanist: Cliff & Mountain Houses)Meteora means “suspended in air” in Greek, and that’s an apt description for these centuries-old monasteries. Perched atop 1200-ft tall crags of Thessaly’s “Stone Forest”, as many as 24 separate monasteries thrived during the area’s heyday in the 14th century. Today only a half-dozen are still active. Today tourists – not rampaging Ottoman warriors – are the main visitors to this stunning setting in northern Greece.
Taktsang, the “Tiger’s Nest”
(image via: Vytautas Bukauskas Travel)The Taktsang monastery in mountainous Bhutan is one of Buddhism’s holiest – and most beautiful – places. Said to have been constructed in the 8th century by a holy man who flew to the site on the back of a flaming tigress. Taktsang is known as the Tiger’s Nest. Looking at the complex, perched upon a sheer cliff nearly 2,000 feet above the Paro river valley, one begins to believe the ancient legend just may be true! Taktsang can be considered a work in progress as new buildings continue to be added to the complex, the most recent in 1982.
Pechersk Lavra Monastery, Kiev
(images via: Lights2008 and UA Zone)Kiev Pechersk Lavra, or the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, is a huge complex of spectacular buildings in the heart of Ukraine’s capital, Kiev. Originally established in the year 1051, the monastery was destroyed by the Mongols twice: in 1240 and again in 1480. In the centuries following, the complex grew both in size and in wealth, gaining its brilliant golden domes that are its trademark.
Mont Saint-Michel, a Mountain in the Sea
(images via: Telegraph UK and National Geographic)Mont Saint-Michel is a “fortified abbey”, and it sure does look the part! Construction on the site began in the year 966, when the abbey’s location was a rocky island protected from land-based marauders by Europe’s highest tides. Marsh drainage and construction of a causeway in the 19th century disrupted the natural flow of water, allowing silt to gradually surround Mont Saint-Michel on three sides, but a reclamation project now underway should restore the abbey’s isolation by the year 2015.
The Monastery at Petra
(images via: VRA Web and Libyan Soup)This 150ft tall building in the ancient Nabataean city of Petra, Jordan, was laboriously carved out from the red sandstone canyons over 2,000 years ago. It resembles it’s more famous neighbor, the so-called “Treasury” so prominently featured in the 1984 film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Curiously, both the Treasury and the Monastery are nothing of the kind – their true purposes are still unknown.
Rumtek Monastery, a Riot of Color
(images via: India Times and Indiashots)Nestled in the lush, monsoon-drenched foothills of the mighty Himalayas in northern India lies the Rumtek Monastery. Home to monks of all ages, even boys such as the one pictured above, Rumtek revels in bright colors set off with the glint of gold. The glorious mandala above graces the ceiling of a porch leading to Rumtek’s main temple.
Nilov Monastery on Stolbnyi Island
(images via: Tushar and Stah)Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii took the above (upper) color photo of the Nilov Monastery in Tver, Russia, in 1910 – before there WAS such a thing as commercial color photography. The process used by Prokudin-Gorskii to create magnificent images like this one was so complex, Czar Nicholas II gave him a fully equipped railroad car with which to travel through Russia and document its most iconic sights.
Xuan Kong Si “Hanging” Temple, near Datong, China
(image via: Weirdomatic)Xuan Kong Sì was built into a cliff face near Mount Heng in Shanxi province, China, about 1,400 years ago. HOW it was built, is anyone’s guess. Although it may look rather fragile, the Hanging Temple has hung in there through dozens of severe seismic events including the deadliest earthquake in recorded history: a 1556 temblor in which up to 830,000 lost their lives.
Sumela Monastery: Another Cliffhanger
(image via: Dark Roasted Blend)Another cliff-hanging sanctuary, Sumela Monastery in the Turkish province of Trabzon (Trebizond to the ancient Greeks and Byzantines) dates from the year 386. As the story goes, a pair of priests journeying eastward from Athens thought the steep cliff overlooking the Alt?ndere valley would be a good place to set up a monastery. One can only imagine what they thought a BAD place would be. Nonetheless, their choice ensured that Sumela Monastery would be a tough nut for invaders to crack – much more likely they’d be cracking their skulls on the rocks below.
Monastery of St. Catherine, near Mount Sinai
(images via: Tour Egypt and Igougo)One of the oldest Christian monasteries in Egypt, if not the world, the Monastery of St. Catherine near Mount Sinai dates from the earliest years of the faith. The roots of monasticism itself can be said to have sprung from the stony soil of the Sinai. The monastery was sponsored through the ages by kings and emperors from distant lands who saw it as a foothold of faith worth protecting. Today its still formidable walls, built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian in the 6th century, are in remarkably good condition.
Skellig Michael, Ireland
(images via: Skelligs Trips and O’Shea Image Gallery)Skellig Michael, an inhospitable rocky island 10 miles off the coast of County Kerry, Ireland, is one of Ireland’s oldest and most famous monasteries. The long-suffering monks, rarely more than a dozen or so, lived in cold & gloomy “beehive” huts made of stone from the year 588 to sometime in the 12th century when they moved to the Irish mainland.
Khor Virap monastery and Mt. Ararat
(image via: Sacred Sites)One wonders whether the Khor Virap monastery in western Armenia has ever been used as a movie location setting. The ancient walled monastery sits alone in an otherworldly setting dominated by the massive bulk of snow-capped Mount Ararat, said to be the final resting place of Noah’s Ark. Khor Virap also houses the dungeon used to imprison Saint Gregory, considered the founding saint of Christian Armenia which dates from the year 301.
Palkhor Monastery, Tibet
(images via: Tibet Travel and Corbis)One of the most distinctive of the many Tibetan monasteries, Palkhor was built in the late 14th century near Gyantse, Tibet. The pagoda-style main building is 9 levels (about 100 ft) high and contains over 77 individual chapels and shrines.
The Legend of Glastonbury Abbey
(images via: GlastonburyAbbey.com and The Isle of Avalon)Glastonbury Abbey was already more than 350 years old when William the Conqueror won the Battle of Hastings and by 1186 was the richest abbey in the realm. King Arthur and Queen Guinevere were said to be buried in a place of honor before the church altar.
(images via: GlastonburyAbbey.com and The Isle of Avalon)In the 1530s when King Henry VIII solidified his position as head of the new Anglican Church, Glastonbury Abbey was looted and destroyed – the greatest and final act in what is now referred to as the Great Dissolution of the Monasteries. Though little remains of Glastonbury Abbey and its associated buildings today, enough still stands to hint strongly at its former glory.
Sanctuary of Truth, a Wooden Wonder
(images via: Sanctuary of Truth and Visit Thai Sea)The Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya, Thailand, is made entirely of wood and is styled to resemble ancient Buddhist temples such as Cambodia’s Angkor Wat. Though it may look old, it isn’t – the sanctuary was begun in 1981 and the entire complex is expected to be complete by the year 2025. What kind of person decides to build a 315ft tall religious sanctuary? Lek Viriyaphant, for one, a Thai millionaire said to be somewhat eccentric.
As for the future, who can say? As long as humanity seeks answers that his own science, logic and common sense cannot provide, there will be a need for monasteries, abbeys and sanctuaries where such things may be contemplated in peace, quiet and inspirational surroundings.
10 Musisi dengan Permintaan Paling Konyol Saat Konser
Adhie Ichsan - detikhot
(ist.)
Jakarta Musisi dunia seperti Mariah Carey dan Celine Dion dikenal sebagai penyanyi besar yang memiliki suara emas. Namun di balik bakat alaminya itu, keduanya juga dikenal sebagai penyanyi yang memiliki permintaan konyol saat menggelar konser.
(ist.)
The Past, Present and Future of Your Favorite Urban Weblog
By Urbanist in Urban Images, Various Uncategorized
More extreme urban sports, skateboardable signage c/o Christof Damian
Regular readers know by now that there isn’t much self-conscious metablogging on WebUrbanist. The site is
More extreme urban sports, skateboardable signage c/o Christof Damian
Regular readers know by now that there isn’t much self-conscious metablogging on WebUrbanist. The site is
Amazing Program Turns Sketches into Photo Montages
By Steph in Architecture & Design, Gadgets & Geek Art, Graffiti & Drawing 
What if you could create a fairly convincing image montage in mere minutes, using an online tool that
The Biggest [Blanks] in the World!
By Marc in Architecture & Design, History & Factoids, Travel & Places 
Bigger is better and biggest is best! Some people take size very seriously and when it comes down to
Bigger is better and biggest is best! Some people take size very seriously and when it comes down to
10 Man-Made Skull Rocks, Mountains & Islands
By Steve in Architecture & Design, History & Factoids, Travel & Places 
Looking to get a head in the housing market? Think location matters less than gray matters? From
Looking to get a head in the housing market? Think location matters less than gray matters? From
Bigger and Better: The World’s Largest
By Marc in Gadgets & Geek Art, History & Factoids, Travel & Places 
Giant objects are fascinating. The amount of time, effort, and expense that goes into something as banal and fantastic as a pencil
Giant objects are fascinating. The amount of time, effort, and expense that goes into something as banal and fantastic as a pencil 25 (More!) Unique Book Shelving & Storage Solutions
By Delana in Architecture & Design, Furniture & Interiors, Gadgets & Geek Art 
Ten years ago, many of us assumed that ebooks would make traditional books obsolete.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Simple and Sustainable Clay-Fired Desert Architecture: Innovative Buildings from Local Materials
By Urbanist in Architecture & Design, Environment & Nature, Green Technologies 
Imagine a sustainable building system that requires only the skills of a potter to complete. A basic
3 Incredible Gatherings: The Largest, Strangest and Scariest Collective Activities in the World
By Urbanist in Guerilla Action & Art, Travel & Places, Urban Images, Various Uncategorized 
As humans we have a difficult time comprehending large numbers, and vast collections of people
14 Spectacular Home Storage Design Solutions
By Mike in Architecture & Design, Furniture & Interiors, Various Uncategorized 
When the clutter gets too much to handle, you need somewhere to store it away, out of sight and
The World’s 10 Scariest Airports
By Steve in Architecture & Design, Travel & Places, Urbanism 
Flying may be one of the safest methods of transportation but it doesn’t always look that way,
Let’s Enjoy Gas! Japan’s Artistic Gas Storage Tanks
By Steve in Architecture & Design, Travel & Places, Urbanism 
Though Japan’s troubled nuclear plants have hogged the spotlight of late, atomic power only provides
Though Japan’s troubled nuclear plants have hogged the spotlight of late, atomic power only provides
Amazing Homes & Oasis-Oriented Architecture
By Steph in Architecture & Design, Environment & Nature 
Once built purely for practicality in the face of some of the world’s most extreme climactic conditions,
Once built purely for practicality in the face of some of the world’s most extreme climactic conditions,
Greenwich Village’s Amazing Folk Art Building
By Delana in Architecture & Design, Gadgets & Geek Art, Urban Images 
If you live in or near Greenwich Village in New York, you have no doubt passed by Greenwich Safe &
If you live in or near Greenwich Village in New York, you have no doubt passed by Greenwich Safe &
34 Innovative Wine Racks and Cellars
By Marc in Architecture & Design, Furniture & Interiors 
Thankfully, wine racks and cellars have evolved a lot over time, as a wine is only as good as the
Thankfully, wine racks and cellars have evolved a lot over time, as a wine is only as good as the
New View of Vincent: Tilt-Shift Perspective on Masterpieces
The art of fake tilt-shift photography has become something of a phenomenon in the last several years.
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