External Brain

This is the Technische Universitat in Munich, Germany. Those giant tubes are slides to go from the top floor to the ground level patio. Why? It doesn’t matter. This is an example to be followed all around the world — via Gizmodo

The Steampunk is large at 50mm wide and the bezel is oxidized metal (going with the Titanic DNA theme). The X motif of the bezel claws are continued with screws that go deep into the dial. These screws are also meant to resemble steam engine pistons. The large Roman numeral hour markers for 12 and 6 are large and purposes done in a scratched-up texture. We have seen these hands before – and they are meant to evoke the Titanic’s anchor — via A Blog to Read

Designed by regional architect Peter Gluck, the heavy base and open-on-all-sides windows above are reminiscent of the sold-and-void relationship of classic watchtowers found in the wilderness, but made of rigorous steel and concrete rather than rough timber — via Dornob

The Epiphany School is a recently opened expansion of a Pre-K-5 school in the Madrona neighborhood of Seattle. The project includes a new classroom building and a public art space, and in order to make way for the new building, four houses were removed from the site, with two of them relocated to other parts of the city. The architectural character of the project mimics the scale of the neighborhood and consists of individual roof forms — via ArchDaily

The Bridge House horizontally nestles into its surrounding. Located in Ann Arbor, Michigan and designed by Wilfred John Oskar Armster, the home blurs the lines of interior and exterior through window location, materials, and open air spaces — via ArchDaily

Last time we saw a Bobby Sirkegian bike on these pages, it was a super-clean Triumph 650 dragster. Now comes his BSA Gold Star Daytona special, last raced by Sirkegian 50 years ago and the subject of a recent full restoration — via Bike EXIF

The Dr Chau Chak Wing Building, part of the University of Technology in Sydney, is Frank Gehry‘s first building in Australia — via ArchDaily

Somewhat sadly, this home (that sits on a volcanic cone) has sat on the market on and off for a few years now. Perhaps the price tag is putting off customers (clocking in at three quarters of a million dollars) … or maybe it is the prospect of living high up in the high desert.

360-degree views in every direction look out on the alien landscape on all sides and flat cracked sandscape below. The mid-century, sort-of-modern interior could well be the lair for some James Bond supervillian … the exterior, well, it almost looks like the tip of a missile emerging from the ground — via Dornob

That’s how Alexander Kolbe of HUF HAUS forthrightly justifies the factory-built houses the luxury building company has made since 1910. And it makes perfect sense. While here in America, the Prefab movement seems to be forever teetering on the brink of extinction, in Europe, it thrives. More homes are built in factories there.  HUF HAUS is one such prefab company from Germany that builds modular post and beam homes — via Home Design Find

Titled the Tattoo House by Maynard Architects, this open-plan abode lets in lots of daylight but has custom-cut, high-quality window stickers to temper the sun’s rays with tree-like cut-outs. During the day, these prevent light from getting in – at night, it selectively stops light from projecting out for an opposite visual effect — via Dornob