Using a “water printer” to control the droplets, this fountain not only displays time and station information, but shows a wide range of artistic patterns and visual tricks to sustain the interest while waiting for your metro to arrive. This has to be one of the coolest clocks to ever… Read more »
Providing many of the features of a slick big-city or national park kiosk, is this modest homemade information stand seen in rural Oregon. It has a map, destination lists, visuals and explanations of local attractions, a place to post notices – even a trash can. The humble structure embodies many… Read more »
Worth the wait is this surprisingly good taco stand in Santa Barbara. Hand-made tortillas, unique spices and flavors and funky style combine to make a great dining experience. You can take out, but most of the many aficionados prefer to eat in, under the covered patio out back. The eclectic… Read more »
Creative and profitable re-use of underutilized commercial property is all the rage these days, but seldom do you see examples as literal and successful as this gas station-now-taco stand in Pasadena. The design is smart and minimal – just add tables and colorful umbrellas. Sitting among the gas pumps with… Read more »
A dozen top theme park art directors could not come up with a place like this beloved and wacky restaurant. Festooned wall to wall and front to back with posters, photos, historic objects, menu suggestions and colorful objects, the ‘delly’ is the Main Street delight of historic Annapolis, Maryland. Tight,… Read more »
The City of Ventura sign code prevents this local cafe from using an existing signpost and panel to advertise its little shop. Like many cities, Ventura often restricts the size of a sign to be commensurate with the shop it represents. Likely, this sign was built prior to a city code barring… Read more »
We’ll line up for almost anything, but seldom for art. Here, on New York’s High Line, artist Richard Galpin has ‘em waiting in line to look through his clever stencil-cut panel that aligns architectural features in the background with cut-out forms in the art (foreground).
Isabelle Hayeur was tired of seeing the wonderfully beautiful, if not slowly decaying, Vancouver architecture constantly be demolished by uninspired real estate developers. In the darker streets of Canada’s home of the 2010 Olympics, she sparks the imagination of visitors with her piece, Fire with Fire. The fire-lit windows intend… Read more »
They’re everywhere. On walls, in the sidewalk, on bridges, in parks and on statues. Bronze plaques commemorating somebody or something are familiar and friendly elements of the streetscape. Easy to overlook, and sometimes boring to read, these cast metal panels tell the stories of a place’s past. Who did what… Read more »
Oracle Bones By Peter Hessler (Harper Perennial) If you want to understand what’s happening in China – the single greatest urban migration and most massive urban development in history – this book is for you. In this rich first-person account about a handful of young educated Chinese who leave their… Read more »