Awesome Art & Design

This unique bridge allows pedestrians to cross a river or canal, and lets ships pass underneath by rolling over to increase its clearance. It uses a hand-cranked cable system to flip the bridge along a rippled track. The concept was turned into a real bridge by Thomas Randall-Page.

Photographer Joerg Daiber takes us on a vibrant visual tour of The Netherlands’ capital city. Using tilt-shift and time-lapse techniques, the enlightened Dutch city’s historic canals, charming neighborhoods, and countless bicycles appear even more magical than they do in real life.

Maker DiesInEveryFilm wanted to see a sword with a flexible blade could be as effective as a straight blade. He created his unusual weapon by machining a custom blade, cutting it into segments, sliding them onto a length of aircraft cable, and welding them into place. The result is a bit floppy but still dishes out damage.

Portuguese street artist Vhils creates incredible large-scale portraits by chipping away at the surface of concrete walls with an electric hammer drill. This short video gives us a glimpse of the artist working on a giant face. His Instagram is packed with similarly impressive works.

Artist Uri Tuchman is an expert at building unique devices with a Steampunk aesthetic. This time, he built a pair of mechanical wooden hands that appear to type on an imaginary keyboard. It’s part of a larger installation headed to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Ironically, Uri broke his hand after he completed the project.

Filmmaker and world traveler Brandon Li takes us on a captivating and colorful journey through Morocco. The short film is packed with exciting motion shots that put us in the middle of the action and capture the energy of the country and its people. Learn about Brandon’s inspirations and process in the director’s commentary.

Hedron Rockworks handmakes dice from gemstones. In this video, he transformed a hunk of amethyst into a stunning purple D20. He started by scanning a 3D model of the stone to identify the best orientation, carefully cut and polished its facets, then sandblasted its numerals. Those frosted edges and star facets are gorgeous.

British Colombia artist Kevin Stone creates large-scale metal sculptures. Among his works is this massive steel dragon inspired by Drogon from Game of Thrones. It took him two years to complete the 15,000-pound metal beast, which even breathes fire. Coolest Thing met the artist and got a look at some of his incredible works.

South Korea-based artist Drawholic wows us with a colored-pencil portrait of Din Djarin and Grogu. The time-lapse video lets us observe the entire process from start to finish, as the rough outlines give way to color, shading, and a background that makes the image pop off of the page.

In LEGO terminology, “GBC” stands for Great Ball Contraption, and Berthil van Beek is an expert at building these complex LEGO machines which connect to other GBC modules. His latest build is an enormous Ferris wheel that picks up tiny basketballs and soccer balls, takes them on a trip, and delivers them to the next station’s inbox.

Luke Adams Glass offers an extensive selection of miniature glass objects, from tiny cocktails to thumb-sized skulls. These teeny balloon animal dogs are some of our favorites. Not only do they fit in the palm of your hand, but they’re also way more affordable than Jeff Koons’ iconic balloon dog sculptures.

Shanghai, China firm 100 Architects designed this vibrant outdoor space inspired by hot lava. Instead of drab concrete, it’s been decorated in brilliant shades of red, orange, and yellow. The park includes lots of play areas, including an obstacle course, see-saw, and merry-go-round, along with a jogging path for adults.

With the advent of computers, typewriters became pretty much obsolete. But it’s still amazing to see the incredible engineering that went into this once ubiquitous office equipment. Jake from Animagraffs takes us deep into the inner workings of a mechanical typewriter using a detailed 3D model of an early 20th-century Underwood.

UK artists Two Brass Monkeys make wonderfully challenging sculptural puzzles from brass and stainless steel. Among their tricky designs are the spherical Gob Stopper, the hexagonal Joy of Hex, and log-shaped Pygmy and Marmoset. Each one will flex your brain as you attempt to separate and put together their geometry.

The Kokoni Sota aims to improve upon three shortcomings of 3D printers: speed, noise, and color. Its makers claim it can output at up to 600mm/s at a whisper-quiet 30dB and can incorporate up to seven materials with the optional external filament tower. It’s also the first FDM printer we’ve seen that works inverted.

If we had to pick our favorite character from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, it would have to be Rocket Racoon. So we loved watching this video from artist Steven Richter building a picture-perfect sculpture of the furry little badass. Every detail is there, from his sad brown eyes to his boop-able nose.

ElectroBOOM’s Mehdi Sadaghdar often makes videos about electricity and ends up shocking himself. But in this clip, he uses his powers to create something beautiful. His magical fairyland lantern is filled with LED “fireflies” that dance around on a cushion of air and are powered wirelessly via induction.

There have been lots of memorable battles in the Star Wars universe. To celebrate his love for these action sequences, Boylei Hobby Time created a diorama with a trio of tiny battle scenes. He used miniatures from Star Wars Legion to recreate moments from A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.

These unique serving bowls from Pendulux feature an embossed design inspired by the lines and icons used to identify flying objects on radar screens. The pattern looks like it came from some ancient alien civilization. The set includes 13″, 9″ and 6.75″ diameter bowls, and comes in nickel-plated brass or natural brass.

There’s no question that Wes Anderson has a distinctive visual style. Curious Refuge envisions what sort of movie we might get if the auteur filmmaker was invited to direct a Star Wars movie, titled The Galactic Menagerie. Though we’re disappointed that Jason Schwarzman isn’t playing C-3PO. (Thanks, Rob!)

Filmmaker Conner Griffith scanned more than 1400 vintage engravings to create this meditative short film. It tells a series of abstract stories by isolating objects into individual frames. Conner’s effective sound design helps drive it along. The entire library of public domain images is available for download here.

This 208-page reference book is packed with tips and tricks you can use to build your DIY abilities. You’ll pick up skills like building your own metal forge, working with glass, wiring basic circuits, screenprinting, and more. It’s also got a section on organizing your workshop for efficiency.

Belgian filmmaker Gilles Havet sets our screens on fire by capturing an epic stage performance inspired by Norse mythology. The professional fire artists of Pyronix Production portray fire-wielding warriors in a eye-popping nighttime ballet of flame.