Simian Design

The Wilkinson Residence, designed by Robert Harvey Oshatz, is in Portland Oregon. It’s gorgeous, and breathtaking. It also is awful. This sort of high-profile, self-indulgent  project, which I LOVE, is what architects are drawn too. And why most houses look like they do; there is no money there.  I mean this took some serious cash.

Plus can you imagine the upkeep of this house? Already you can see issues with some dripping and mold it looks like in some of the photos.

But at the same time, this is EXACTLY the type of Space-Age Bachelor Pad I’d want when I hit the lotto. It really is gorgeous. I just wish we had elements of this in normal, day-to-day architecture. If we had stuff like this that the majority of people lived in, how could we not, as a society, have jet-packs? It’s simply demand it, wouldn’t it?

NOW THIS is a motorcycle. I mean, sign me up. If you own and ride one of these, it automatically makes you cooler than 99% of the people out there. This is the 1949 MOTO MAJOR 350.

Torinese engineer Salvatore Majorca created the revolutionary Moto Major straight after WWII. Apparently it was an engineering rather than styling exercise, but 60 years on, its shape is still breathtaking. The wheels, in particular, would not look out of place on many modern motorcycle

Wow.  I’m totally in love with the work of Chow Martin.  Amazing stuff.

If this isn’t camera porn, I don’t know what is.  It’s a stunningly complex photo of  a Nikon D3 cut in half.  The detail shown is amazing.  Just look at all the glass in that lens.

I love this.

Ran across this from Make.  The GeoEye-1 (Google’s satellite) took pictures of President Obama’s inauguration the other day. Luckily it was a clear day, and the pictures, taken from 423 miles up, look great.

(via Make)

Ultimate House is a tv show produced for Discovery.  It follows the story of two projects, one self-build and one restoration that are have high aspirations.  Through the series they will take you inside some extraordinary homes they could find. 

The real gem is in the gallery.  While I like the design, it’s not super-clear on how to get to the static images of the amazing spaces.  Click on the main top graphic to go to the image gallery.

The Villa Kaleidoscope treehouse, the lighthouse, the house of spiritual retreat, bow wow japan are just a few stunning examples that are to be found in here.

Looks like the show might be worth checking out.

I found this post from Instructables (via Make) about all the different types of screws.  I had NO IDEA there were this many different types. The Phillips II and the Pozidriv are probably my favorite.  But then again, there are so many.  

“Pozidriv is similar in appearance to the classic Phillips crosshead, but in fact is substantially different. On close examination you will notice a second set of cross-blades at the root of the large cross-blades. These added blades are for identification and match the additional makings on the head of Pozidriv screws, known as “tick” marks, single lines at 45 degrees to the cross recess. So, the marks are for identification purpose. Pozidriv also does not have the rounded corners that the Phillips screw drive has. The tip or the driver is blunt which also helps it to seat better into the recess in the screw, unlike the Phillips which comes to a sharper point.”

I LOVE the kid rocking out to Stevie. Why we don’t have music like this on kids shows today I just don’t know. But this is classic, great stuff.

Yet I can’t help thinking that this belongs on the Muppets more than Sesame Street. Maybe the Animal effect?

This is straight out of a Lovecraftian nightmare. It even looks like Shub-Niggurath.

Shub-Niggurath here, or Shub as I like to call him, is comprised of several different, totally individual organisms that have decided to basically live all up in each others shit. They take on the characteristics of a single large organism. It’s like a hive mind taken to the next step.