Awesome Art & Design

As an adjunct to their fascinating History of Time print, Calm the Ham has created a limited run of just 200 sets of these laser-cut rosewood coasters. Each one is engraved with a detailed image of the inner workings of a timepiece.

For a recent display at Lehi, Utah’s Thanksgiving Point, the talented artists of Balloon Guy Entertainment created this impressive inflatable replica of India’s Taj Mahal, using their balloon animal techniques on a grand scale.

Since it opened in 1962 the main wing of Hotel Okura’s Tokyo branch has largely remained the same, and as such stands as a living relic of modernist Japanese art. Sadly, the building will be demolished this month. More at Monocle.

Every year, Japan’s Niigata Prefecture takes leftover straw from the rice harvest into art. The Wara Art Festival showcases these impressive creations, which take the form of huge animals and monsters. Photos by @amymauscd, @kiyukatawani, and @waraartmatsuri.

This incredible 4K time-lapse by Toby Smith was taken aboard the Gunhilde Maersk, a large container ship, as it makes its way from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to Ningbo, China. The visual spectacle that plays out before us more than makes up for the lack of sound.

French automaker Peugeot’s Fractal concept roadster packs a 204hp all-wheel drive electric drivetrain, height-adjustable suspension, and an interior loaded with audio gear that envelops passengers with sound. We’re especially enamored of the exposed carbon fiber.

As with its transparent hood, Land Rover used cameras on its Range Rover and prototype trailer to make the latter appear see-through and eliminate blind spots. The trailer also has sensors and a camera inside to monitor cargo.

9″x 9″ relief sculptures of Major League Baseball stadiums laser cut from oak veneer. For now only Wrigley Field, Dodger Stadium, Fenway Park, AT&T Park, Busch Stadium and Kauffman Stadium are available; the rest will be made after the product launches.

LEGO Ideas member Alex Paschoaletto’s proposal for an official LEGO set based on the new Ford GT. It’s around 1:17 scale and is made of about 950 pieces. Alex got the car’s engine wrong, but Ford still approved of his work.

There are tons of tilt-shifted, time-lapse videos out there, but the tiny toy effect is especially effective in this video by Darwinfish105, as he makes the airplanes and ground crews at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport look like living miniatures.

Thabto London reinvents the pushpin board with these self-adhesive rolls of natural cork. Cuts easily so you can make your own custom memo board in any shape. Comes in a 10-foot roll, includes 20 pushpins, and design ideas to get you started.

Zelf Koelman’s Ferrolic Clock uses ferrofluid suspended in clear liquid and electromagnets to steer the fluid into place to display the current time as well as abstract patterns. Zelf will produce a limited run, for a whopping $8500 ea.

We saw a ceiling fan that looked like a chopper a while back, but we’ve never seen one in action. The Big Ass Fan above isn’t actually attached to this helicopter, but the working tail rotor on this one really completes the effect. (Thanks Frenk!)

While it doesn’t have the precision of other 3D printers, MIT Mediated Matter Group’s and Glass Lab’s molten glass printer is still amazing, producing optically-transparent glass shapes that would be very difficult to make by hand.

Passover may be long since gone, but this stitched, stop-motion animation of Passover folk song Chad Gadya by Nina Paley and Theodore Gray was just too impressive to pass over. Buy the matzoh cover animation cells here.

Set in a closed seafront lido, Banksy’s parody theme park Dismaland is both an art gallery and an artwork itself. He says the park “offers an escape from mindless escapism”, featuring art by himself and others. On-site photos on Colossal.

London, England’s Embassy Gardens housing development will be home to this 90 foot-long, 8 inch-thick glass swimming pool which will span two of the complexes 10-story apartment buildings, floating 115 feet off the ground.

This motion graphic by Nejc Polovsak aka Twistedpoly is just 22 seconds long, but we’re totally transfixed by the tiny cars driving around this impossibly twisted coil of roadway. Also watch his twisted lamps and flipping skateboard.

Canadian studio Gagan Design handcrafts these modern, minimal lamps from wood. Warm white LEDs provide a long-lasting, energy-efficient light source that would look great on any desk. The floor lamp makes an awesome statement piece.

On 7/15/15 artist Cai Guo­-Qiang and locals in Quanzhou, China launched and lit the Sky Ladder, a 1640ft. tall firework. Cai says it’s a symbol of hope and affection for his hometown and loved ones. More here.

Hero Design has created what could best be described as the world’s largest (and best) Lite-Brite. The wall-mounted grid is loaded with RGB LED dots which can be set to any color by simply turning them. Shut up and take our money.

We’re going to go out on a limb and guess that many talking birds have been taught to swear by their owners. Swearing Budgies has documented some of these foul-mouthed pets. Available on mugs and shirts from Shot Dead in the Head.

Rlon Wang makes large, incredibly detailed and amazingly colored illustrations based on East Asian folklore and art. We don’t know how he colors his work, but he does at least the base sketch by hand.