No Assembly Required

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Love it or hate it, IKEA is known the world over for its cleverly designed home furnishings, innovative marketing campaigns and big box stores. Now the global colossus has set its sights on an entirely new market—budget hotels.

Inter IKEA, the owner of the IKEA brand, has announced that it plans to build at least 100 budget boutique hotels around Europe over the next few years. The first IKEA brand hotels are set for Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and the U.K.. There’s no word on expansion to the Americas or Asia, yet.

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Encouraging Entropy

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Way back on August 27, 2010, we posted a story on a marvelous bibliographic installation in the woods of Quebec, Canada titled Jardin de la Connaissance. This joint project by artist Rodney Latourelle and landscape architects 100 Landschaftsarchitektur involved stacked walls, rooms, seating and carpets of books in a forest clearing.

As you would expect, nature took its course and decay set in. But recently, the artists have started to help nature along by cultivating additional colorful fungi and moss on the books. I can’t wait to see what it will look like in another two years.

Photos © A.R. Mongeon

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15 Tips on Writing

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

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MoMA Unadulterated

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Audio Tour Hack is a playful band of artists and communication professionals who collaborate with museums, galleries and businesses to create interactive and entertaining content. Their most recent project, MoMA Unadulterated, enlisted a gaggle of 3 to 10 year old kids to tour New York’s Museum of Modern Art’s 4th floor galleries and to record their impressions of the artwork.

Here’s a short video on the project, but be sure to visit the Audio Tour Hack website to hear all of the kids’ commentary on Giacometti, Pollock, Cy Twomby, Ed Ruscha, Warhol, Joseph Beuys and more.

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What makes Paris look like Paris

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Even if you have never had the opportunity to visit Paris, you probably have a very clear notion of what the city’s distinctive architecture looks like. Not simply the iconic sights, such as Notre Dame and the Louvre, but the apartment blocks and residential neighborhoods. Well, now a group of scholars from Carnegie Mellon University and the École Normale Supéeieure have found a way to determine “What makes Paris look like Paris”.

The project involves processing thousands of Google Street View images that help to identify the idiosyncratic architectural elements that make up the city’s unique visual identity.

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This Is Where We Live

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Many thanks to Rick Pell for the link to this captivating short animated film produced by Apt Studio and Asylum Films for the 25th anniversay celebrations of British  4th Estate Publishers. Readers in the U.K. probably know that 4th Estate publishes Doris lessing, Hilary Mantel, Nicola Barker, Sebastian Junger and about a hundred other great authors.

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Time Travel NYC

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

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A Book Is Proof…

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

This wonderful graphic paean to the printed book is the work of Australian freelance illustrator Gavin Aung Than. His entertaining and educational website, Zen Pencils, was launched earlier this year and was inspired by quotes from famous figures as diverse as Neil Gaiman and Rudyard Kipling. This cartoon was prompted by the Carl Sagan qoute, “A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic”.

Image © Gavin Aung Than

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Life’s a Beach

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Shooting from open helicopters, Hollywood-based photographer Gray Malin has been documenting beaches around the globe, from Miami Beach to Rio and from Europe to Australia. Seen from above, a crowded beach or hotel pool becomes a blank canvas that allows the viewer to see the world as art. “People and objects become patterns creating repetition, shape and form. These photographs are a visual celebration of color, light, shape—and summer bliss.”

You can see more from Malin’s terrific series “A La Plage, A La Piscine” on his website Maison Gray, where you can also purchase prints.

All photos: © Gray Malin

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The Rise of the eBook

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

I continue to be intrigued by clever, fact-filled infographics. So, here’s a well-researched one that explores the comparative details of the world’s main English language ebook markets. Who knew that there were more than 400 million ebook capable devices in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia. Or that 20% of U.S. adults have downloaded an ebook. I didn’t think 20% of U.S. adults still read books at all.

Posted in Books, Canada, ebooks, Tech, USA, Writing | Tagged , , | 3 Comments