1. The Mysterious Tianzi Hotel, China
I found a photograph of these giant buildings on Pinterest, labelled “The Tianzi Hotel, Beijing”. There’s very little up to date information on the internet (even in Chinese) but this account from Asia Obscura written in 2009 seems to be the best bet:
An hour east of Beijing on the 930 bus, you’ll pass a couple of ominous industrial (nuclear?) chimneys. They’re real big. Hop off the bus, and sneak behind them. That’s where you’ll find the most charmingly bizarre guesthouse, The Tianzi Hotel.
Apparently, business was bad. The receptionist told us they’d hoped to draw more of a crowd by resurfacing the hotel to look like the iconic Chinese superstars, Fu (the lucky guy), Lu (rich man) and Shou (Mr Immortality, himself.) I’ve been seeing the characters everywhere in China — in temples, shrines, gift shops, restaurants. Sadly, after a few more questions, she finally admitted that, 10 years later they still don’t have so many visitors.
My gut feeling is that the hotel has since ceased to operate. I couldn’t find any official website or any online hotel site where I could possible reserve a room. Any tips, please leave them in the comments!
The room inside the giant fruit must have had quite the view! Photos via here, here.
2. A Book Bed
Image found here
3. Miniature Bookcase Necklaces
Shop Coryographies on Etsy.
4. The Teeth of a Crabeater Seal
Found on Pinterest.
5. Yangste, ‘The Long River’, where more people live long its banks than in the USA
The Yangtze River, which forms the premise to this body of work, is the main artery that flows 4,100 miles (6,500 km) across China, travelling from its furthest westerly point in Qinghai Province to Shanghai in the east. The river is embedded in the consciousness of the Chinese, even those who live thousands of miles from the river. It plays such an important role in both the spiritual and physical life of the people.
More people live long its banks than live in the USA, one in every eighteen people on the planet.Using the river as a metaphor for constant change, I have photographed the landscape and people along its banks from mouth to source.
–Photography by Nadav Kander
Find the breathtaking full photo story here.
6. A Cherry Tree Moat somewhere in Japan
Found on Twitter via This isn’t Happiness
7. The Old Farris “Wedding Cake” Motel in Reno, Nevada
The Farris Motel, now the Farris Apartments, was built in 1949. The office features a wedding cake style canopy over the entrance.
Found on Roadside Archicture.
8. The World’s Largest Solar Thermal Plant, California
In a few weeks, the largest solar plant of its kind in the world will start producing power in California’s Mojave Desert. The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System will supply both Northern and Southern California, inching the state one step closer to its ambitious renewable energy goal.
But like many of the large solar projects being built in the Mojave, Ivanpah ran into delays and controversy over its environmental impact.
9. The French Zebra cruiser Gloire in dazzle camouflage
The patterns were not intended to hide the ship, but rather to disrupt the outline so that size, range, speed and heading would be difficult to determine – preventing the enemy from accurately targeting the vessel.
Found on Imgur
10. A project illustrating all 118 Subway Station Signs in Manhattan
Discover The Train Project
11. Abandoned Parisian Railway station to be converted to a Bar/ Restaurant, imagined through Illustration
French website, My Little Paris and their talented illustrator recently posted this charming series of images of what they imagine might be the city’s most exciting new venue to come. La Recyclerie is a future café, restaurant opening this summer, converted from the old Gare Ornano, closed since 1939, part of the city’s abandoned inner city railway, the Petite Ceinture. While they’re still finishing off the station’s restoration, My Little Paris’ illustrator, Kanako, had a go at painting us a better picture of what awaits us…
More images & illustrations found on My Little Paris
12. Les Halles, Paris, Before & After Destruction (1960s-1970s)
Sorrow mixed with outrage at the assaults on “the heart”–and belly– of the capital. Les Halles was nothing less than quintessential Paris for many lovers of the traditional city. The market district was “the center of centers”, containing “the essential of Paris” … It’s destruction meant the doom of all the adjoining quarters and thus the entire city center, maintained the shocked and angry historian Louis Chevalier in his book, L’Assasinat de Paris, (1977).
More photographs found on Paris Unplugged.
13. This is Eddie Murphy eating a steak frites off the back of a naked model somewhere in Paris in the 80’s. That is all, carry on.
Found here.
