The digital marketing agency, lacuna 5, has teamed up with artsupplies.co.uk to create a series of vintage-style travel posters inspired by famous artists from around the world. Before designing the posters they posed the question: “what would travel posters look like if they were designed by a famous artist born in that place.” This concept provided the impetus for the designs, and resulted in a series of illustrations that takes viewers to a specific destination and time.
If you have ever been to Rome, you have probably noticed the proliferation of fountains dotted around the city. One of my favorites has always been a small fountain on a side street near the National Archives. The Fontana dei Libri was built in 1927 by the architect Pietro Lombardi, part of a large project of the municipality aimed at creating urban symbols that reminded of the ancient districts and the lost professions.
The Fontana dei Libri is characterized by an arched niche, and in the center you can see the head of a deer, a symbol of the Rione di Sant’Eustachio, with the water that flows from four points on the four books. Two nozzles come out from the upper books while two others from the bookmarks in the central part of the sculpture, symbols of knowledge that flows relentlessly from the size of the books.
The last time that I was in Rome the fountain was becoming quite grotty, but I was pleased to see that it has recently been restored and is looking as good as new.
The book fountain can be found in the neighborhood of Piazza Navona. From the square, walk eastwards in the direction of the Pantheon toVia degli Staderari.
Even if you have never visited Portland, Oregon, you probably have a notion of the inherent quirkiness of the Pacific Northwest city. The local tourism organization Travel Portland is capitalizing on Portland’s weirdness in it’s latest campaign.
The “Go Somewhere Different” initiative was developed by Strange Beasts productions and is a colorful animation and illustration rich riff on the city’s offbeat reputation. The centerpiece of the advertising campaign is a series of wacky short animations, which look at typical tourism topics.
A temporary holocaust monument titled Levenslicht (Lifelight) created by artist Daan Roosegaarde lights up Rotterdam with 104,000 luminescent memorial stones that represent the 104,000 Dutch holocaust victims of the Nazis during WWII. The monument, which recalls the Jewish custom of placing stones on gravestones to honor the deceased instead of flowers, comprises specially developed rocks with fluorescent pigments that can light up every few seconds by using invisible ultraviolet light. The memorial was inaugurated in Rotterdam on January 16, 2020, and will then travel from January 22 to February 2, 2020, to 170 municipalities in the Netherlands.
In these dark times it is not always easy to remember the messages of great teachers, but today we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and reflect on his guidance and wisdom.
h/t Todd Alcott
Word on the street Philadelphia:
Before his untimely death, Anthony Bourdain was working on a travel guide with his long-time assistant and coauthor Laurie Woolever. The guide was designed to distill what he learned from his travels as a TV personality and celebrity chef. Based on their notes and conversations, Woolever is completing work on World Travel: An Irreverent Guide, which will be published in October.
In World Travel, a life of experience is collected into an entertaining, practical, fun and frank travel guide that gives readers an introduction to some of his favorite places-in his own words. Featuring essential advice on how to get there, what to eat, where to stay and, in some cases, what to avoid, World Travel provides essential context that will help readers further appreciate the reasons why Bourdain found a place enchanting and memorable.
Supplementing Bourdain’s words are a handful of essays by friends, colleagues, and family that tell even deeper stories about a place.
Here’s a snippet from the book:
Skip the touristy spots, he said: “If you spend all that time waiting to get into the Eiffel Tower, you’ve completely wasted a day”; and forget the concierge: “They’re going to send you to the place with the clean bathroom. Some of the best meals I’ve had, you need a hazmat suit to go to the bathroom.”
Travel Between The Pages 