Manifest Destiny! is a temporary rustic cabin occupying on of the last remaining unclaimed spaces in downtown San Francisco. Positioned above and between well established city buildings the tiny cabin can be seen affixed to the side of the Hotel des Arts, floating above the restaurant Le Central like an anomalous outgrowth of the contemporary streetscape.

Created by Jenny Chapman and Mark Reigelman, Manifest Destiny  is a commentary/critique on the unwavering perseverance of San Francisco’s early settlers.  During the mid 19th century, as the eastern United States became over-crowded and expensive, the West offered limitless possibilities for those willing and able to make the journey.  The drive to seek new possibilities and establish a better life at any cost is the conceptual motivation for this project. See more photos of this piece and some installation shots after the jump.

Daniel Arsham’s structural interventions cause walls to appear in a state of flux, as if they are melting or dripping, reverse the notion of architectural rigidity and of a partition’s standard presentation. His aestheticized sculpture and installations realize hypothetical architectural elements and counter intuitive designs, queuing possibilities and coercing material to behave atypically.

Some ideas are so ridiculous that you have to make them a reality. For instance Berlin’s Open Urban Space design team Topotek1, asked the question “what if we dug a hole all the way to china?” This simple but absurd question lead to the creation of The Big Dig, an overzealous dig whose opening emerges  in the 2011 XI’AN garden show. This massive installation not only looks amazing but also had a clever audio component that further drove home the concept. Riffing off the megaphone like shape of the hole Topotek1 created a soundtrack of sounds from Argentina, The United States, Sweden, and Germany that would emit from the hole creating the feeling that you could hear sounds from the other end of the hole. These soundtracks piqued the imagination of the visitors, transferring them away from china, away from the garden, away from the hole, and to the other side of the world. ( via jobs wife)

As a result of Moebius‘ recent death, the interent has exploded with the man’s masterful works, and surely the sci-fi and art community is in need of great talents to fill this void. While not at Moebius’ level (which seems nearly unattainable), Kilian Eng is nonetheless incredibly imaginative and prolific, and it is certainly possible that he may one day too become a master of his own sort. He brings his own brand of funkiness to these far-off worlds, and each image holds either countless narrative avenues, or mind-clearing abstract pleasures. The future, his future, his futuristic future, is a bright and promising one (a past interview and a world of goods and greats).

Olafur Eliasson’s  dazzling “Your Rainbow Panorama” is a permanent installation on the rooftop of the ARoS Museum in Aarhus, Denmark.  The spectacular work of art has a diameter of 52 metres and is mounted on slender columns 3.5 metres above the roof  of the museum. Visitors can literally walk through the entire color spectrum viewing the world for the first time in all pink, green, blue and yellow tones.

“Your rainbow panorama enters into a dialogue with the existing architecture and reinforces what is assured beforehand, that is to say the view of the city. I have created a space which virtually erases the boundaries between inside and outside – where people become a little uncertain as to whether they have stepped into a work or into part of the museum. This uncertainty is important to me, as it encourages people to think and sense beyond the limits within which they are accustomed to moving”. -Olafur Eliasson

(via gaks)
 

Welcome to the hotel Au Vieux Panier in Marseille, France where graffiti artist Tilt has literally painted graffiti on half of the room. Covering every square inch of exactly half of the room with a mix of tags, throw ups, and more drips than your last DIY paint project,  I cant help but think that Tilt’s room is a metaphor for the double lives that most graffiti artists lead. By day they are a minimalist going to work and paying your taxes and by night you are busy climbing billboards and vandalizing everything in sight.  (images big addict, via my modern met)

I absolutely love it when architecture thinks outside the box. That’s why the work of I-Beam Design on this NYC loft is so brilliant. The home owners wanted to bring a bit of their 10 year old sons personality into the lofts design so what better way than with staircase built out of 20,000 LEGO’s! Collaborating with LEGO master Sean Kenney the staircase is inspired by the paintings of Mondrian with the artists signature colors cheme and cut out holes with a flow of intensifying color going up and down the staircase. (via intralld)

Lace Fence is a design of Dutch Design House Demakersvan. It is a high-end metal fabric that gives new insights in how you can create unique environments. It combines the ancient craft of lace making with the industrial chainlink fence. Every fence is unique in its design by its craft and assembled patterns, which come in a variety of themes. From antique lace floral to contemporary designs and custom art patterns. Lace Fence shows how something which was meant purely functional can also be decorative. Hostility versus kindness, industry versus craft.