What I post on this blog, mostly anything and everything. I am going to try and post more personal things as that is the purpose of a blog after all.
Photoset reblogged from with 324 notes
modernizing: PIXEL in Beijing by SAKO Architects.
This complex is composed of 10,000 units of commercial units, residential units, and office units placed on an area of about 210,000 square meters. 19 residential towers are placed uniquely on the site in order to meet the demand for its privacy and hours of sunlight as the residential units.
Twelve numbers of plate-shaped buildings are placed along the outline of the site. The other eight numbers of plate-shaped buildings are placed along the lines in which were led by a slant line running along Chaoyang North Road and the two right-angled lines of the slant line. Therefore, each building has a certain distance to the others by virtue of its “windmill-shaped master plan”.
The elevation design of the buildings is another unique part of this project. Each tower is composed of piled-up units with eight different tones of color of gray. This strategy gives one continuous flowing pattern for the facade of the twelve buildings along the outline of the site. In addition, different tones of one additional color for each building create ten different gradient colors for the buildings, and this gives the sense of coherence to the whole site.
Source: europaconcorsi.com
Photoset reblogged from with 305 notes
Nanjing Sifang Art Museum by Steven Holl Architects
Photography by Li Hu and Shu He
Source: dezeen.com
Photoset reblogged from with 111 notes
In Progress: Jinan Grand Theatre
Architects: Paul Andreu Architecte Paris, Richez_Associés Architecture, Biad
Location/Year: Jinan, China / 2013
Photo reblogged from with 111 notes
Paddy fields reflect the sunlight in Jiangping, China.
Photograph: Xinhua/Landov/Barcroft Media
Photoset reblogged from fauna with 751 notes
Painted bat (Kerivoula picta)
…is a species of vesper bat found throughout China, India, and parts of Southeast Asia and Indonesia. They are often found roosting in unusual places like under birds nests or under man made structures. Not much is known about their biology as they are rare and poorly researched. Other than their unique coloration they are fairly normal bats that hunt insects at night using sonar.
Phylogeny
Animalia-Chordata-Mammalia-Chiroptera-Vespertilionidae-Kerivoula-picta
Source: astronomy-to-zoology
Photoset reblogged from with 654 notes
Dalian International Conference Center
Architects: COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
Location/Year: Dalian, China / 2012
Photoset reblogged from with 215 notes
Xinjin Zhi Museum by Kengo Kuma and Associates.
This pavilion is located at the foot of Laojunshan mountain in Xinjin, to usher in the people to the holy place of Taoism, while the building itself shows the essence of Taoism through its space and exhibitions. The tile used for façade is made of local material and worked on in a traditional method of this region, to pay tribute to Taoism that emphasizes on nature and balance. Tile is hung and floated in the air by wire to be released from its weight (and gain lightness). Clad in breathing façade of particles, the architecture is merged into its surrounding nature.
The façade for the south is divided into top and bottom and staggered in different angles. This idea is to respond to two different levels of the pond in front and the street at the back, and avoid direct confrontation with the massive building in the south. For the east side, a large single tile screen is vertically twisted to correspond with the dynamism of the road in front. The façade for the north side is static and flat, which faces the pedestrians’ square. Thus the tile screen transforms itself from face to face, and wraps up the building like a single cloth.
Taking advantage of the varied levels in the architecture’s surroundings, the flow is planned to lead people from the front to the back, motion to stillness, like a stroll type of garden. The exhibition space inside is planned spiral moving from darkness to light. From the upper floor a paramount view of Laoujunshan can be enjoyed. Direct sunlight is blocked by the tile, and the interior of the building is covered with gentle light with beautiful particle-like shade.
Source: europaconcorsi.com
Photoset reblogged from fauna with 861 notes
Geometrid Moth (Fascellina plagiata, Ennominae, Geometridae)
Pu’er, Yunnan, China
See more Chinese moths on my Flickr site HERE…..
Source: Flickr / itchydogimages
Quote reblogged from Letters To My Country with 25 notes
Roughly half of the emperors of the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 AD) kept young male lovers — a fact we know because imperial scribes dutifully recorded their affairs in works like ‘Biographies of the Emperors’ Male Favorites.’ Such tolerance prevailed up through the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), when artists produced sex scrolls depicting intercourse between men.
Photoset reblogged from The Science of Reality with 1,046 notes
The Extraordinary Reed Flute Cave in China.
“The reed flute cave is the largest and most scenic of the karst caves in the Chinese tourist city of Guilin. Guilin is an ancient picturesque city, located in southern China. The Chinese themselves call Guilin, the most beautiful city in the Middle Kingdom.
Guilin is a tourist center, thanks to the wonderful nature. On the north-west, seven miles from the center of town is Mount Guanminshan, on the southern side of which sits a rock ‘reed flute. In this rock is unique cave, Called the Cave of reed flutes.
According to a legend, Reed Flute Cave got its name because people believed that the reed by the cave’s mouth could be made into flutes. Its name is explained by the fact that reeds for making flutes and pipes have been grown in this region since ancient times. This dripstone cave is 790 feet deep.” [x]
[Photos via BigPicture and ChinaTour]
Photo reblogged from WIRED with 50 notes
From the outside, the only question about China’s nonstop growth is which milestone the country will roar past next. China is already the second-largest economy in the world, after not making the top 10 just a generation ago. According to some growth-rate predictions, it’s now within a generation of overtaking the US and becoming number one. And by many measures, it’s already in first place: New roads built, cars bought, mobile phones in service, Internet users signed on—based on these and other categories, the center of the world’s economic activity has moved to China.
More @ Wired Business.
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