leeeena's blog

Chris Anderson sent us this interesting screenshot from Columbia Pictures’ “Quantum of Solace” intro. I had some problems spotting the hidden face at first, but when I finally found it I was convinced it couldn’t appear there by accident. I’m certain Columbia pictures integrated this guy on purpose, but what I can’t be sure is whether the face can be seen in all of the Columbia movies, or was it only supposed to be some kind of Easter egg reserved only for newest James Bond flick? Further, does this guy remind you of someone? Is it the famous “Stay Puft” Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters? Would be logical if Columbia owns rights for Ghostbusters, but this shouldn’t be too hard to investigate. Let us suppose this was true, then probably its just a hidden advertisement for newest Ghostbusters sequel (in production). Before I log out, this is what Chris wrote me:

“I discovered your website a few days ago and have enjoyed looking at hundreds of illusions by now. I guess my mind has been in ‘optical illusion’ mode, as when I sat down to watch the “Quantum of Solace” James Bond movie today, I saw an extra face in the “Columbia” film intro. I’ve attached a screenshot. I’m
new to this but surely someone else has noticed the illusion.”

Here’s another apropriate illusion, just in time for the Da Vinci Code movie! Previously I posted Ambigrams Illusion, so check our archive or use the search box. This one is also amazing! Look at this fliped image of Mona Lisa. There are two of them – they appear exactly the same, and nothng looks strange about them. O, how wrong you are… Jump inside this post to see what happens if you rotate the image 180 degrees. Amazing!

What started out as a dream by Dave Longaberger, Founder of The Longaberger Company, has been built Home Office into a giant basket to house the entire corporate offices of the company. Dave believed the idea was one of his best and would draw attention to the company, while simultaneously helping to build our brand. However, when he started spreading the idea of building a Home Office that was really a basket, he found that most people just thought that Dave was making a joke as Dave was a notorious practical joker. Not only did the bankers, architects and construction companies not take Dave seriously, neither did many of the employees who worked for The Longaberger Company, but Dave persevered. The dream was achieved on December 17, 1997 when the Home Office that is designed to resemble a basket finally opened for business.

This unique piano house was built recently in An Hui Province, China. Inside of the violin is the escalator to the building. The building displays various city plans and development prospects in an effort to draw interest into the recently developed area.

Maria Sharapova attends the T-Mobile and Sony Ericsson Maria Sharapova Look-a-like contest the new T-Mobile store on October 31, 2009 in Canoga Park, California.

Project: The Cloud - Olympics 2012
Location: London, United Kingdom
Architects and engineers develop energy producing 'Cloud' to celebrate 2012 Olympics

A team of leading architects and engineers has just unveiled designs for The Cloud - a landmark structure to commemorate London's role as host of the 2012 Olympics. The lightweight transparent tower, composed of a "cloud" of inflatable, light-emitting spheres, would create a spatial, three-dimensional display in the skies of London, fed by real time information from all over the world.

The structure is "a new form of collective expression and experience and an updated symbol of our dawning age: code rather than carbon," said Carlo Ratti, head of the MIT SENSEable Cities Laboratory and one of the project leaders.

Other members of the design team include artist Tomas Saraceno, digital designer Alex Haw, lightweight-structures expert Joerg Schleich, engineering group Arup, landscape architects Agence Ter and the Internet company Google. Those advising the team include writer Umberto Eco and and MIT professor and artist Antoni Muntadas.

"Our main idea is to apply to architecture some of the distributed processes that are currently revolutionizing the digital world," says Professor Ratti. "For instance, we would like the Cloud to become a symbol of global ownership built through a bottom up fundraising effort."

The size of the Cloud will not be set in advance, but it will evolve based on the level of contributions received. The global "cloudraising" effort will be supported by platforms such as Facebook and Twitter; Google will provide advertising on YouTube and in search results.

"We look forward to applying lessons learned from the Obama campaign to involve the global community in support of the Cloud", said Margo Miller, immediate past Chair of Democrats Abroad UK.

The Cloud will also be "a vast, collective energy-harvesting effort," explains Alex Haw. People can choose to ascend the Cloud on foot or bicycle; the energy that it would take to descend the Cloud is converted, on the way down, into electricity through elevators with regenerative braking, similar to those that are present in hybrid cars.

"The people's energy, coupled with solar energy collected through on-site and off-site photovoltaic cells and various energy saving strategies will allow us to reach carbon neutrality, whereby the Cloud produces all the energy it uses."

The structure of the Cloud is an innovation in and of itself. "Many tall towers have preceded this, but our achievement is the high degree of transparency, the minimal use of material and the vast volume created by the sphere - all on exceedingly slender columns, stabilized by a cable net such as the one I built in Stuttgart in 2001", commented professor Joerg Schleich. "The Cloud is a delicate yet robust filigree of reliable high-tech components, its ingredients familiar, their composition radically new."

The LEDs in the Cloud, fed by real time information, will be viewable from all over London - something which was of particular interest to Google. "When Carlo Ratti approached our founder Larry Page, we chose to collaborate because of his bold and visionary concept, and because the project fit with Google's mission of organizing the world's information and making it universally accessible and useful," explain Obi Felten and Matt Brittin, Managing Director of Google UK. "We particularly like the idea of the Cloud in the sky above London displaying information to the city and beyond - a powerful symbol for the openness and diversity of London, befitting the first truly digital Olympics."

Moving inside the Cloud will be like floating inside a three-dimensional display, animated by information feeds that could include energy use, spectator numbers, decibel levels, medal updates, transport patterns, mobile phone activity, Internet traffic, and others. "The Cloud develops our ongoing interest in the idea of the 'civic-scale smart meter', acting as a real-time feedback loop on collective urban activity," said Dan Hill from Arup.

At Your Command
Designed by Daniel Loves Objects
Website: coroflot.com/daniellove
Lighting design concept by Daniel Loves Objects, imagine the classical movable mannequin takes on a whole new form and style. The classical lamp has evolved much over the years but what if this lamp allows your imagination to run wild? And every movement of joint is at your control? What will the evolution be? The results may be controversial, provoking or elegant. Finished in gold plating for a touch of exquisiteness.

Bookcase Staircase
Designed by Levitate Architects
Location: London, UK
Website: www.levitate.uk.com
London-based Levitate Architects came up with this ingenious solution to a book storage problem, staircase hidden from the main reception room, to access a loft bedroom lit by roof lights. Limited by space, the designers melded the idea of a staircase with their clients desire for a library to form a library staircase in which English oak stair treads and shelves are both completely lined with books.

Project: Lilypad - A Floating Ecopolis for Ecological Refugees
Designed by Vincent Callebaut
Website: www.vincent.callebaut.org
It is common knowledge that the planet is warming, ice caps are melting, and water levels are rising. The international scientific community predicts that a temperature elevation of 1 degree C will lead to a water rise of 1 meter, resulting in massive land loss and the displacement of millions of people world wide. Vincent Callebaut, a visionary Belgian architect, is responding to this inevitability with his proposal LILYPAD, A Floating Ecopolis for Ecological Refugees

Project: Bangalore International Convention Centre
Designed by Yazdani Studio
Location: Bangalore, India
Website: www.yazdanistudio.com
Inspired by nature of silk weaving, a traditional industry in Bangalore, a discernable architectural ground plane weaves both built and landscaped elements into a rich tapestry of spaces and experiences. This ground plane comprised of entrance plazas, event terraces, landscaped courtyards and gardens, is the platform upon which the array of events and spectacles of the International Convention Centre will reveal themselves. It is the connective tissue that unites the hotel with the centre, the entrance plaza to events within the buildings, the banquet hall to terraces and the garden beyond.
The architectural concept also based upon the ideas of layering and weaving, places the large open elements of the convention center atop one another. This approach allows for the most generous assignment of open space and landscaped areas on the site. The interplay of open and enclosed spaces at multiple levels creates a rich experiental fabric, maximizing the use of daylight along perimeter areas, and offering the kind of breathing space required in concert with busy programmed areas. Interwoven within these spaces is a dynamic structural expression that gives the Center its special international signature.

The two hotels rise as distinctive counterpoints to the horizontal flow of the convention centre. A series of moveable balcony screens provide a varied compositon at each floor. Openings reveal the courtyards within and visually connect the interior landscape with the multi-level gardens. Its path across and through the site creates the potential for a richly choreographed sequence of experiences for the International Convention Centre in Bangalore. - from Yazdani Studio.

Project: Urban Forest
Location: Chongqing, China
Designed by MAD Architects
Website: www.i-mad.com
Urban Forest is a commercial high-rise building that takes the form of an urban mountain with over 70 floors, each one different and unique. Each floor is an abstract curved shape, layered slightly off-center to give the facade an organic look as it rises up into the sky. A central cylindrical core structure supports all the floors and hosts the mechanical systems and elevators.