A pick n' mix of some design blog action in the last little while. From a Persian building with a vascular system  to a Venice Bienalle pavilion that nearly-could; from a hipster bike rack to Atelier Bow-Wow and more...

Starting up in the ropes, New York City commercial mural painters are featured in a beautifully shot and directed documentary short, sponsored by Stella Artois, called Up There.  The 12-minute documentary interviews the committed few who maintain the craft of mural painting against the economic competition of vinyl printing billboards.  Up There dutifully portrays the long-held tradition of apprenticeship and artful craft in the practice, and the pride each painter and crew member holds in their finished work.

View the trailer here, or the full documentary short here. 
Discovered at ME Design Blog.
Concept: Mother NY; Production Co: Mekanism; Director/DP/Editor: Malcolm Murray; Music by The Album Leaf; Painters: Colossal Media/Sky High Murals/Bob Middleton; Presented by Stella Artois.



With the Venice Bienalle at its midway point, it seems fair to present a fascinating pavilion that unfortunately never made it there.  The Croatian team have designed an intricately structured floating pavilion, which was constructed by layering 40 layers of reinforcing mesh, amassing 32 tonnes of steel in the process... Thankfully the locals were able to enjoy occupying the pavilion before its departure for Venice, and it is looking incredible, very reminiscent of Diller & Scofidio's blur building.  Unfortunately during its transportation, the structure became unstable, slumping over horribly to its demise.  Sure, the engineering could have been more resolved, but we still got images out of it... is there much difference in the end between this and the pavilions that were 'there'?  Discovered at DesignBoom, here.
The pavilion completed and looking stunning.
The pavilion interior.
Sadly, the structure proved a bit unstable on the high seas...



Speaking of the ephemeral, I've posted a couple of examples in the past of the increasing interest and practice of mapping 3D projections on to buildings, so I thought it apt to keep you up to date on this recent effort from Seeper, organised for the Branchage Film Festival.  Although there are much the same tricks as the past projects, a new aspect of this video is a shot from across the town, where we see the building come to life perched up on its hill, looking very  animated, and pretty trippy.  The final curtain fall is also quite beautiful.  Check it out here, grabbed from Wallpaper.com here.
Some eerie stills from the footage.


Across the ditch from that fascinating Island, Rachel Whiteread, who I've always admired, is currently exhibiting a collection of drawings at the Tate, so if you're nearby check it out!  Whiteread works rigourously with drawing throughout all her projects, so there are some beautiful representations of a huge range of her works.  Luckily the Guardian reproduced a few samples for us.  Exhibition details are here.



Finally, to round off this bunch, something very homely, designed by Chris Brigham.  With experience as a graphic artist, photographer, and dreams of architecture, Brigham returned to the shed, to craft some beautiful pieces, including a stunning custom-built work station, and this elegant little Bike Shelf (pictured below).  With the choice of Walnut of Ash in its construction, I think this is charming, and an elegant solution to bike storage.  Cant remember where I found this, but more importantly, check out his work here  at Knife and Saw.



Enjoy.