Serpentine Bench and Serpentine Bench Tile Detail, originally uploaded by Red Wolf
Zecc Architecten transformed a water tower situated in the De Weerribben-Wieden National Park, Sint Jansklooster, The Netherlands into a watchtower with a 360 degree view of De Wieden — via ArchDaily
Whisper it quietly, rather than shout it from the rooftops, but Dracula’s Castle, in Transylvania, is on the market.
Not in the conventional fashion, with estate agents staking their For Sale signs in the ground, but in a quiet, offers-are-invited-from-the-right-people sort of way.
If someone comes in with a reasonable offer, we will look at who they are, what they are proposing, and will seriously entertain the idea,
says Mark Meyer, of Herzfeld and Rubin. The New York law firm is handling the sale (he’s also the honorary American consul for Moldova)
The property comes with a long list of previous owners: everyone from Saxons to Hungarians to Teutonic knights. And although the facilities may not be exactly state-of-the-art (the plumbing is reported to require some work), there’s no questioning the detachedness of the property. It stands on top of a hill, and is most definitely not overlooked by neighbours — via Telegraph
This is an authentic 1:16 model of Jacobsen’s 1929 villa in Charlottenlund, Denmark produced by the company Minimii. Well, not the whole villa — Minimii did manufacture one of those too, but sadly now have sold out. What you get is the frontage, which means the house can be both free-standing and wall mounted. And, as the frontage is hinged, it means it can double up as a quirky cabinet, if you don’t want to let the kids anywhere near it — via Retro To Go
One of Scotland’s most cherished cultural icons is partly in smouldering ruins today after fire raged through Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s architectural masterpiece, the Glasgow School of Art, writes Tristan Stewart-Robertson.
In what was last night described as a national tragedy, flames consumed around a third of the interior of building, with some reports suggesting the famous Mackintosh library had been lost.
Widespread emotion and dismay was demonstrated on the streets of Glasgow, and echoed around the world as the news spread.
Hundreds of students, lecturers and shoppers gathered in Renfrew Street and Sauchiehall Street as flames were seen bursting out of windows on the upper floors shortly after noon.
Many wept at the sight of fire engulfing the A-listed school, completed in 1909 and recognisable across the globe as an Art Nouveau gem — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The fridge is a Smeg FAB28RD fridge with freezer compartment, which you can buy with plain design here, there and everywhere. But you can only buy this design at John Lewis. That design is the Cummersdale print, which dates back to the company’s founding year of 1864, and was originally used as a furnishing fabric. It works pretty well on a 1950s-style fridge too — via Retro To Go
Zoran Jedrejcic has designed the Armada High Armchair for manufacturer Hookl und Stool — via CONTEMPORIST
Denver Zoo is celebrating the birth of an endangered Malayan Tapir calf. The male calf, named Baku (Bah-koo), was born to mother, Rinny, and father, Benny, late in the evening on 29 April. He the second offspring of this pair, and only the second birth of his species at the zoo — via ZooBorns
Relaxed Pod and Being Adorable, originally uploaded by Red Wolf
Some married men don’t wear a wedding ring because they’re up to no good, but others skip the hardware because it can be dreadfully dangerous in everyday life. Certain jobs or hobbies can make the wedding ring a hazard, but putting it on and taking it back off is hard thanks to men’s large knuckles. Designer and machinist Jeff McWhinney set out to create a safer wedding band that could easily be taken off and put back on — and it looks really, really cool. The Active Ring features a hinged opening mechanism that allows it to open with a simple motion and quickly clamp back into place — via Dornob
Few folding bikes can boast such compact proportions (even when fully collapsed) as this umbrella-sized wonder you can sling at your side or slide into your shoulder bag. The Sada Bike bends the basic assumptions of bicycle design, but not in the same fashion as small-bike solutions. Instead of reducing the size of essential elements, which creates an awkward riding experience, Sada trades a rigid chassis and support-providing spokes for a jointed lightweight frame and reinforced rims that require less material — via Urbanist
One year after their arrival at Zoo Berlin in Germany, a pair of Palawan Bengal Cats has had a litter of two. The two kittens, a male and a female, have been named Ilian and Taytay, after two places on the island of Palawan, the island in the Philippines where this subspecies of the Leopard Cat originates — via ZooBorns
I was a bit skeptical when I landed in Detroit. This is where Shinola, purveyors of everything from bicycles to leather goods to watches, calls home. Enough has been said about Detroit, from its slow decline amid the waning American manufacturing landscape, to its current prospects for revitalization and urban renewal. But in a relatively short period of time, Shinola has been both lauded and maligned for its relationship with the city. Supporters praise the company for its local hiring practices and support of scalable business models, while detractors cite everything from a skewed perception of American manufacturing
to ethically questionable marketing practices. But, before we get into those deeper questions, let’s first take a look at exactly what’s going on in Shinola’s brand new leather strap facility — via redwolf.newsvine.com
If you’re a fan of classic arcade games, an old school gamer or just love that geeky pixel look, this new collection of digitally printed roller blinds created by the team at English Blinds offers a great way to add some retro gaming fun to the windows. Prices will start from £95 and they’ll be available to buy online shortly. These retro chic blinds pay homage to classic games of the late 70’s and early 80’s such as Space Invaders and Pac Man and are perfect to give your pad that 8 bit look. With a choice of alien characters and classic game action dressing the windows has never been some much fun — via English Blinds
The CATable was designed by Ruan Hao of LYCS Architecture in Hong Kong. It has an interior maze that cats cannot resist, and portholes so they can keep an eye on not only you, but the birds outside the window in your office. The CATable was exhibited during Milan Design Week, but is still so new that no price has been determined — via Neatorama
It’s undeniably ridiculous but it’s hard not to be charmed by the Disk36 by E1+E4, a cabinet inspired by the classic game Connect Four.
Designed by Luca Valota, it’s deliberately intended to imitate the game — first sold in 1974 — from its blue grid to the yellow and red tokens. However, this cabinet is made from lacquered polished MDF rather than plastic and stands at a slightly more imposing two metres. And within the grid you get nine different cupboards, meaning it’s vaguely practical too. But it doesn’t just look like Connect Four, you can actually play the game using the cabinet as each counter twists free and can be moved around, or taken out entirely as you can see on the image below.
It’s priced at 7200 euros or just under £6000 pounds (shipping from Italy, however, is free worldwide) so it looks like it’ll be a while before these are as common as the game in people’s homes. Even more so, as it’s limited to an edition of 70 — via Retro To Go
French designer Philippe Starck and car company Peugeot have unveiled a prototype bicycle crossed with a scooter, designed for a free cycle scheme in Bordeaux, France.
As part of efforts to integrate bicycles into its public transport system, the city of Bordeaux asked locals to submit design suggestions for an urban bike. Philippe Starck took their ideas and worked with Peugeot to develop a scooter and bicycle hybrid called Pibal, which means baby eel
— via Dezeen
Neat bar signage. Road trip to Seattle, WA, originally uploaded by Megan Asche
Plenty of tradition and handcraft—combined with high-tech, where it outperforms handcraft: That is NOMOS Glashütte. All our movements are built in-house and by ourselves in Glashütte. This also applies to our watches — Tangente, Orion, Zürich and all the other models — many of which are already considered classics. You can find out how we do this by visiting us in Glashütte and taking a tour. In the meantime, this short film can give you a first impression of what we do — via Youtube
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