Design

Larry Houghton of Lamb Engineering in the UK keeps a low profile on the custom motorcycle scene. But he’s got an unerring eye when it comes to building show winners: his latest creation took the top trophy at Custom Chrome’s recent European Bike Show. ‘Son Of A Gun’ is based on a BSA Gold Star, although there’s little left of the original. The engine is a 1951 ZB-model single—which makes it 499cc, I’m assuming—and according to Larry, it’s an ex-racing engine. (Which makes sense, because BSA offered different compression ratios and camshafts to cater for the sporting fraternity.) The gearbox is thought to be from a BSA M20 military motorcycle, and that’s where the vintage authenticity ends — via Bike EXIF

Gnome et Rhône is a familiar name in vintage aviation circles. But few people know that the French company also built motorcycles, from 1920 until the early 1950s. This lovely machine is one of around 3,000 manufactured under license from the British firm ABC Motorcycles—a company closely aligned with Sopwith, another aircraft manufacturer. In those days, aviation and motorcycling were commonly linked, and this particular connection was brokered by a pilot: André Barthélémy, the official Parisian distributor of ABC — via Bike EXIF

Our second set of motorcycle wallpapers are from the photographer Todd McLellan, who shot the bikes for the famed Canadian artist William Fisk to use as reference. The motorcycles are from a private collection: The collector has a couple hundred of them and I would love to shoot them all some day, says Todd. You can download four of the best right here — via Bike EXIF

It’s an odd name for a custom motorcycle builder, and one I haven’t heard before. But the Cologne-based German Motorcycle Authority has created some interesting machines, including this Revtech-powered Billy Bob — via Bike EXIF

This table is made from hand-cut and hand-glazed trapezoidal tiles. It comprises four concentric circles (believe it or not!) around a central disc. The way the brain processes contrast information causes one to perceive the circles as narrowing. Each circle contradicts the ones beside it. See wikipedia for more info on the illusion.

The table is 36 1/4″ in diameter, edged in aluminum and weighs 44 lbs. It has a detachable wrought iron base that can be replaced to transform it from a coffee table to a kitchen or dining table — via Etsy

Early last year, Lowbrow Customs’ Tyler Malinky was working at Four Aces Cycle—the shop owned by his friend Wes White—building the Salt Ghost — via Bike EXIF

There are quite a few motorcycle manufacturers with murky histories, but few are as clouded by the passage of time as Chang Jiang. The lineage of this bike can be traced back to the 1938 BMW R71, which was copied by the Soviets and released in 1942 as the IMZ M72. Come the mid-50s, the Soviets sold the tooling for the M72 to China, and a few years later the Chang Jiang 750 appeared. The motor is an air-cooled 746cc boxer—in true BMW style—and this particular bike belongs to a motorcycle tour operation called Shanghai Sideways, run by Thomas Chabrieres. According to the website, Shanghai has the biggest number of Art Deco buildings in the world; what better way to visit this gigantic museum than in a 1930s sidecar motorbike? Quite — via Bike EXIF

Drogo Michie wanted a bike for the streets of London, and chose a stock 1978 Yamaha XS650 as his starting point — via Bike EXIF

Spanish architects A-cero have completed the Open Box House house in Madrid, Spain — via CONTEMPORIST

Essentially, the small house [Gangoly & Kristiner Architekten] for two people consists of one living floor between fair-faced concrete slabs, which cantilever far towards the west. Its immediate environment is characterised by agriculture; the view over orchards, pastures and copses up to the Plabutsch hills west of Graz scarcely indicates the proximity of a large town. The cantilevering volume rests on a basement which is partly carved into the hill. The ceiling of this storey is both entrance and parking area, sheltered with a porch roof that is planted with greenery — via ArchDaily

Within the urban plan of Nieuw Leyden, 24H > architecture design two ecological houses. The building block consists of 18 houses, designed by different architects. There are no regulations of the beauty commission, so the future owners are free to design their house, as long as it fits within the provided building envelope — via ArchDaily

The new expo pavilion has been built in a former industrial area previously occupied by a pasta factory. The building [MMAA], which features a coated iron structure and envelope made of titanium-zinc panels and vast glazed surfaces, takes the form of a long parallelepiped, folded over on itself, that soars up from the ground, jutting out sharply at the end to shelter the entrance facing the pre-existing multiplex. The shape of the building is based on the idea of creating an architectural promenade that unfurls from the highest point of the building, through an exhibition space, down to the bottom — via ArchDaily

A-cero Architects have completed a new house in Madrid, Spain — via CONTEMPORIST