London’s Design Museum recently opened their exciting new exhibit, Extraordinary Stories about Ordinary Things. It tells the story of daily items and their subtle impact on the modern world. Each of these items are unsung heroes. They’re the ones that we can’t live without, but may have overlooked because they do their job so efficiently. Organized by London designer Gitta Gschwendtner, ESOT provides a quick snapshot of the importance of product design and its history. In a conversation with Dezeen, the Director of the Design Museum states, “Design matters at every level. It is what makes daily life a little better; it is about the big economic changes that the world is going through. It is about the designers and the manufacturers, but it is also about the users. It is a unique way of making sense of the world around us.” We’ve posted a few images and details below.

Words: Taj Reid
Photography: Courtesy of the Design Museum
Location: Design Museum London, 28 Shad Thames London, London SE1 2YD UK

DESIGN MUSEUM
DEZEEN
THE GUARDIAN

MONTREAL SWINGS
FLIGHT ATTENDANTS
PARIS TO SHANGHAI

Although winter is steadily approaching, there’s nothing wrong with looking back at the warmer months. We recently came across an incredible project that took place during Montreal’s spring. Every year the city opens up a high traffic area for art. This year, Daily Tous Les Jours took advantage of the opportunity and built a beautiful set of swings for the public. But these swings have an added bonus. They make music. As they describe it, “21 Swings is a giant collective instrument, a game where together we achieve better things than separately. When in motion, each of the 21 swings in the series triggers different notes and, when used all together, the swings compose a musical piece in which certain melodies emerge only through cooperation.” We loved this installation and posted a few images with a video below.

Words: Taj Reid
Photography: Olivier Blouin

21 SWINGS

DAILY TOUS LES JOURS

THE MAKING OF 21 SWINGS

FLIGHT ATTENDANTS

PARIS TO SHANGHAI

OSMOSE PARIS

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The underground world of flight attendants is rarely documented. The unspoken laws, the routines, the subculture commonalities – they’re all there, but the only way to really understand a flight attendant is to be one. Unless, you come upon the fine work of Brian Finke. A talented photographer and storyteller, Brian spent two years traveling on Delta, Hawaiin, JetBlue, Hooters Air, Air France and others to document the life of flight attendants. As one gallery described his work, “Finke’s ”http://brianfinke.com/flight.html" target="_blank">Flight Attendant series is a vibrant collection of photographs documenting the lives of those adventurous souls who choose to work at 40,000 feet. Shot before, during, and after flights, the photographs capture the allure of the high-flying profession alongside the more quiet moments of the attendant’s daily lives." We really enjoyed this series. We’ve posted a few photos below. Click Read More to view.

Words: Taj Reid
Photography: Brian Finke

BRIAN FINKE

FLIGHT ATTENDANTS

CLAMP ART

PARIS TO SHANGHAI

OSMOSE PARIS

KAZAKHSTAN SUBWAY

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Recently The Selby and Louis Vuitton collaborated on a photo series sending the acclaimed photographer on an incredible train ride from Paris to Shanghai. In the series The Selby captures subtle moments that beautifully illustrate the journey. Each image feels natural, honest and possesses all of his signature style. Also, among the images you’ll find his notes on the journey including small observations and a few tips. For example he mentions, “For shooting on trains bring window cleaning spray. Shoot wide for context. Use a polarizing filter to bring in sky details. And since windows only open on the left, the best shots of the train are when you are turning left.” We really enjoyed the series, you can view it in its entirety here. We posted a few sample images below.

Words: Taj Reid
Photography: The Selby

THE SELBY

LOUIS VUITTON

CONSERVATORIUM HOTEL

OSMOSE PARIS

MAMA MARSEILLE

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This is the future. Forget flying cars. We’ll keep our request simple. We want smart transit stops – digital data displays, charging stations, comfortable waiting areas, and more. Marc Aurel and the brilliant minds at Metalco delivered on our hopes by creating Osmose Paris. It’s an interactive transit stop located at the Gare de Lyon Station. Boasting tons of smart features, Omose is approximately 280 square feet. It’s divided into three sections. One is dedicated to realtime maps, tickets and transit times. Another offers comfortable seating illuminated by soft lighting and topographical styled art. Then a third area serves as an open air reading room featuring a lending library and charging stations for your portable devices. We hope more cities adopt projects like this. It’s a great step toward encouraging people to use their city’s public transit system. We’ve posted a few images below.

Words: Taj Reid
Photography: Courtesy of Metalco

CREATED BY METALCO

DESIGNBOOM

KAZAKHSTAN SUBWAY

FLIGHT SIMULATION

ALBORAYA PALMARET STATION

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Traveling and living in DC convinced me that every great city should have a great subway. It’s practically a requirement. And judging from Kazakhstan’s resurrected commitment to underground transit, it appears they feel the same way too.

After 23 years of development, a stalled construction period and $1 Billion dollars, Kazakhstan’s beautiful subway finally opened its doors and began service. Located in Almaty, the country’s largest city, it stretches 5 miles and expects 26 – 30 thousand passengers a day. That’s quite a rebound considering its development took a massive blow in the early 90s when their economy collapsed after the break up of the USSR. Construction continued years later so that the subway’s completion would coincide with the 20 year anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence. The end result is beautiful. The detail and craftsmanship is awe-inspiring. We have a few images listed below.

Words: Taj Reid
Photos: via Fubiz

FUBIZ

HYPEBEAST

RADIO FREE EUROPE

CHINA’S HARMONY

NEW MUSEUM SLIDE

SUB CITY PARIS

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Nationwide high-speed rail would change everything in America. It’d create jobs, link cities, bridge cultures and revolutionize our freight industry. But that’s idealistic pie in the sky right? Well, check out the work being done in China. Last week, China’s Harmony Bullet-Train broke 302 MPH which is comparable to low flying speeds of a Bombardier Learjet! It cuts typical travel time in half. For example, Harmony’s record run was projected to take 5 hours to go from Beijing to Shanghai. This trek usually takes 10 hours. That’s exiciting news for the travel industry. Plus China has plans to expand its high-speed rail network to approximately 10,000 miles by 2012. Imagine if we had that network here in the states. Below we have a video of the news report.

Words: Taj Reid

GOOD MAGAZINE

GEEK

SMART PLANET

NEW MUSEUM SLIDE

SUB CITY PARIS

FLIGHT SIMULATION

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Jakob Wagner is a talented photographer from Dusseldorf, Germany who enjoys traveling all over the world. Through his work he’s been to Buenos Aires, New York, Rotterdam and London shooting beautiful images. However, it’s his shots of Cape Town South Africa that resonate with us most. They remind us that cityscapes are a lot like finger prints. In this case, Cape Town’s light-grids bumping up against the region’s wild topography provide a unique insight into the area. It demonstrates the city’s beauty in a way we have yet to see. Click Read More to view more images of Cape Town at night.

Words: <a href=“http”//www.twitter.com/wejetset" target="_blank">Taj Reid
Photography: Jakob Wagner

JAKOB WAGNER

AFRICAN DIGITAL ART

THE MANDALAY EXPRESS

ICELAND INVITES YOU

KINSEY AT THE STANDARD

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New York’s New Museum recently added an exciting component to its exhibits. It’s a slide – a huge slide that runs from the 4th floor to the 2nd with enough twists and turns to spark anyone’s interest. It’s undeniable that slides are fun, and we have to admit, it feels like they plucked this one straight from our dreams. The Carsten Höller slide is open to the public with other interactive works until January 15, 2012. If you’re in New York City we recommend checking it out. Click Read More for additional information.

Words: Taj Reid
Photos: Katie Sokoler for the Gothamist

Location: New Museum, 235 Bowery, New York, NY 10002

NEW MUSEUM

THE GOTHAMIST

MWM IN MOSCOW

INSA IN BELGIUM

URBAN LAND PROJECT

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Earlier this year ten skateboarders traveled to Southeast Asia for a project called Visual Traveling. One of the travelers, Brian Kelley, documented the trip with his excellent photography. His photo series, The Mandalay Express, follows the skaters as they travel through Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. We have a few photos posted below, but be sure to visit Brian’s website for the full gallery.

Words: Taj Reid
Photography: Brian Kelley
Source: Hypebeast

HYPEBEAST

THROW UP THE HORNS

BRIAN KELLEY

ICELAND INVITES YOU

KINSEY AT THE STANDARD

SNAPSHOT JAPAN

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While most tourism-boards attempt to craft clever promotions to lure travelers, there’s nothing like actual residents opening their doors and inviting you to experience their home in a unique way. It’s sincere and it’s welcoming. It makes you want to visit. That’s what Iceland is doing. Their Inspired by Iceland campaign brilliantly brings together local residents, the president and other government officials to send a simple message – “Come to our home and let us show you what Iceland has to offer.”

Last week, President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson kicked off the campaign by inviting tourists into his home for pancakes, whipped cream and rhubarb jam. He’s also encouraging citizens to join the movement and invite visitors for an experience unique to Iceland. As Frosti Jonsson who has agreed to open his home says, “We are very proud to be Icelandic and we are very happy to share our way of life and our country’s beauty to adventurers that choose to visit us. We want to make their experience as real as possible; we want them to ‘be Icelandic’ while they’re here.” This seems like an awesome way to experience Iceland. Click Read More for additional information and to view the President’s short message. Also, don’t forget to visit Inspired by Iceland to view Icelanders’ invitations to experience the country like a local.

Words: Taj Reid
Photography & Video: Courtesy of Inspired by Iceland

INSPIRED BY ICELAND

ICELAND INVITATIONS

ICELAND STORIES

KINSEY AT THE STANDARD

SNAPSHOT JAPAN

HOTEL MISSONI

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Forget xboxes, playstations and wiis. When was the last time you saw a flight simulator look this good? Recently, the creative minds at Banozic Architecture completed work on Stuttgart’s SimmINN. It’s a full size replica of the Boeing 737 cockpit claiming to offer the truest simulation of what pilots experience when flying. But Banozic didn’t stop there. As they describe it, “Our aim was to complete this impressive illusion outside the cockpit by creating a dynamic and abstract scenery of an airport runway. The simulators with their adjacent walls are positioned into the spatial concept in order to complete the remaining aircraft-parts graphically.” Click Read More for a closer look.

Words: Taj Reid
Photography: Kristof Lemp (cc Banozic)

Location:SIMINN
Business-Meile Flughafen Stuttgart
Echterdinger Str. 57, Gebäude 21 2. OG
D-70794 Filderstadt-Bernhausen
Germany

BANOZIC ARCHITECTURE

FRAM MAGAZINE

SIMINN

ALBORAYA PALMARET

SPEEDING

EASTERN & SOUTHERN AFRICA

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Independent publishing and print may be battle-scarred but it still puts up a good fight. One beaming ray of hope is GmbH. The premiere magazine shop recently reopened its doors at a new address in Glasgow on the ground floor of The Lighthouse. Stocking some of our favorite titles like Turning Pages, Transforming Space, Grafik, Mark, Creative Review, Icon and many others, this is a must see destination for magazine and book lovers. Blank Inside attended their opening event and took a few photos of the interior. See below for a closer look.

Words: Taj Reid
Photos: BLANK INSIDE
Location: The Lighthouse, ground floor, 11 Mitchell Lane, Glasgow, G1

GMBH SHOP

MAGCULTURE

BLANK INSIDE

SECRET CITIES

HIGH LINE ROLLER RINK

MUSEUM OF AFRICAN DIASPORA

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Nowness presents another article packed with useful information and beautiful photography. <a href=“http://www.nowness.com/day/2011/7/31” target ="_blank">Secret Cities Mexico City reveals some of the location’s best hidden treasures. From emerging art scenes to quaint cafés your tour guide Bertha Gonzalez walks you through her cultural mecca with ease. If you’re planning a trip, don’t miss this modern guide. See below for more information and a sampling of photos.

NOWNESS

BERTHA GONZALEZ

HIGH LINE ROLLER RINK

MUSEUM OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA

MEXICO’S TUBE HOTEL

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New York’s High Line Park is making a run to stay top of mind for visitors and locals alike. Its deluge of creative art and community events is impressive. In a short amount of time, the park has become a must see destination. And more recently, they’ve partnered with Uniqlo – the Japanese clothing company – to open an outdoor roller skating rink. It’s the only venue of its kind in Manhattan and occupies 8,000 sq-ft of pure enjoyment. Admission and skate rentals are reasonably priced at $12 for adults and $10 for kids under 13. It’s open daily till September 26th. So get to Manhattan on a nice day to enjoy the beautiful park and a little rink time with friends and family. Freshness Magazine has a terrific gallery of photographs from the opening event.

Words: Marsha Reid
Location: High Line Rink – West 30th Street and 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10001

THE HIGH LINE
NEW YORK MAGAZINE

PHOTOS VIA FRESHNESS MAGAZINE

MUSEUM OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA

MEXICO’S TUBE HOTEL

A SENSE OF PLACE

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