Awesome Urban

Hong Kong is filled with densely-packed apartment buildings that millions of its citizens call home. DongDong Wu’s boyfriend lived in one known as the “Monster Building” and she shared this video of what life is like in one of these massive developments. About 10,000 people live in the five-block complex.

Vancouver, BC firm BLA Design took home First Prize in the 2019 Bee Breeders Microhome Competition for their nifty sustainable housing concept. Using vacant urban lots, they propose that the land be used for low-cost, tiny homes, each packing in zones for resting, bathing, cooking, living, dining, and farming.

You’d think going to a park during the pandemic would be safe, but people don’t always obey social distancing rules. To solve this, Austrian design firm Studio Precht has created “Park de la Distance,” a concept urban park where each path allows just one person at a time, and hedges keep people over 6 feet apart.

To date, TierZoo has focused its RPG-style analysis mostly on how animals survive in the wild. This time out, they’ve decided to look at their relative strengths and abilities should they make their way into cities, along with identifying which creatures are most effective in urban environments.

We like Samuel Orr’s four minute time-lapse because 1) the film was dynamically distilled from 100,000+ photos; and, frankly, 2) it’s fun to see 24 hours unfold in the greatest city in the world.

Selgascano Architects designed the Factoria Joven (youth factory), a creative space where urban youth can skateboard, rock climb, play music and even access the Internet through public computers.

Where do you go for the gold? California? Alaska? The Olympics? How about the gritty sidewalks of NYC’s diamond district? Raffi Stepanian has been cashing in with a butter knife for 27 years now.

Beno Saradzic’s glittering time lapse video of Abu Dhabi also gives us a history lesson; it takes us from the contributions Sheikh Zayed made in the past to the majestic metropolis it is now.

Ron Gabriel’s 3-Way Street thesis project tracks a camera at the Manhattan intersection of 28th and Park Avenue, where a plethora of hair-raising street traffic drama unfolds. (Thanks Mat!)

For Improv Everywhere’s latest mission, 23 actors and 2 dogs infiltrated a public space near the entrance to Prospect Park in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and went on “mute” at coordinated intervals.

These substantial steel desktop dumpsters sporting urban art from SteelPlant are conversation-grabbers. They’re cut, formed, and welded up from 14 gauge solid recycled steel. (Thanks Ryan!)

See anything out of the ordinary in the picture? Neither did the woman. She sure as hell didn’t expect what happened next. Would the mall janitors have received the same response?

Ligia Oancea’s enthusiastic musical tribute to her city has apparently sparked a debate as to whether this lady is for real; for now let’s just enjoy the new unofficial anthem of Vancouver. (Thanks Josh!)

With a mix of leather and herringbone fabric, the SPD-compatible Strasse shoe harkens to an early time of pocket watches and Fedoras; the midtop profile offers added ankle support and protection.

Inspired by the classic Harrington Jacket, Triple Aught Design’s Vanguard Jacket offers a fresh modern version, with water and stain resistant fabric and a secret stow pocket in the back hem.

Liz Hickok creates scale models of urban sites (like San Francisco here) entirely in Jell-O. Luminously glowing, the fragile medium bears odd similarities to the city’s uncertain geological landscape.

Elevator passageways at London Underground’s Notting Hill Tube Station were sealed to modernize in the 1950’s; recent work at the station has revealed a rich time capsule filled with vintage ads.

Uffie’s long time coming first album, Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans, includes classics like Pop the Glock as well as new ones, like this bangin’ single featuring Pharrell Williams. Ke$ha is f*cked.

The 2010 bike collection by Danish bicycle company Biomega for Puma includes 5 models that combine chosen aspects of continental and folding bikes, BMXes, cruisers, and fixed-wheel designs.

The 500+’ Capital Gate tower in Abu Dhabi holds the Guinness World Record for world’s furthest leaning manmade tower. It leans at 18°, more than 4 times the angle of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Mission Workshop’s weatherproof Shed Rolltop Messenger Bag is designed for the urban traveler that needs organization, with main rolltop chamber and a dedicated pocket that can hold a 17” laptop.

Japan’s Shimizu Corporation recently unveiled plans for a self sufficient floating ecotopia covered in vegetation that generates its own power, grows food, manages waste and provides clean water.

Hundreds of people in a Swiss flashmob suddenly collapsed in the street, to the horror of unwitting passersby, to mimic events in a potential nuclear meltdown and to protest nuclear power plants.