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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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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Sub City Paris is beautiful. It’s the latest video from Sarah Klein and Tom Mason. Together they’ve created a brilliant series exploring the quiet moments that occur just before emerging from a city’s subway. The possibility, the excitement and the general promise for what a city may offer is all captured with stunning imagery. As they describe it, “The Sub City series explores the wonder in the humble experience of exiting the subway through dreamy slow motion and elegant steadicam cinematography.” Click Read More to watch this video.

Words: Taj Reid
Video: Redglass Pictures

RED GLASS PICTURES
THE ATLANTIC
HYPEBEAST

FLIGHT SIMULATION
ALBORAYA PALMARET
SPEEDING

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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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Subways, train-stations and airports provide an amazing opportunity for art to seize the attention of locals and visitors alike. It might not strike immediately, but in those quiet moments while waiting to board, these structures quietly remind you how beautiful they are. Recently, Rstudio completed their work on the Alboraya-Palmaret Train Station in Valencia, Spain. The modern structure contains ample green space, brilliant use of lighting and a sophisticated execution of minimalism. The entire structure is artfully considered. Everything works. Take a closer look at the station below.

Words: Taj Reid
Source: Designboom

DESIGNBOOM
RSTUDIO
ALBORAYA PALMARET STATION

SPEEDING
EASTERN & SOUTHERN AFRICA
ANALOG TRANSIT

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Ideas of speed and connectivity come to mind when we think of Tokyo. AppuruPai captures these ideas perfectly with her long exposure photography. She has a fantastic series of images taken from the Yurikamome Line – an automated transit service connecting Shimbashi to Toyosu, passing through the artificial island of Odaiba in Tokyo, Japan. View a sampling of her series below.

Words: Taj Reid
Photography: AppuruPai
Source: NOTCOT

THIS IS COLOSSAL
CURATED MAGAZINE
FLICKR

EASTERN & SOUTHERN AFRICA
ANALOG TRANSIT
NICARAGUA’S BICYCLE CITY

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Public transportation is a reliable way to get the full experience of any place. The only thing better is walking or riding a bike. It’s spontaneous and it lets you experience a city like a local. So when we came across the photography of Dillon Marsh we had to share it. Over a two month period, Dillon and his girlfriend traveled from Nairobi to Cape Town strictly via public transportation. And while they did it, they photographed the entire experience. The end result is a beautiful collection of images providing the viewer with a taste of eastern and southern Africa. Click Read More to view a sample of Dillon’s images.

Words: Taj Reid
Photography: Dillon Marsh

Visit Dillon’s site for the full series of images – view.

DILLON MARSH
AFRICA 2010

ANALOG TRANSIT
NICARAGUA’S BICYCLE CITY
WORLD OF MOTION

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Sergy Neamoscou’s photography is soothing. In today’s world of high-gloss imagery, it’s nice to see photos that rally imperfection and display something beautiful. His work is like listening to vinyl. There’s a thriving rhythm, but under an analog hum Sergy finds a way to slow things down so you pay attention to every part. This is most noticeable in his collection of subway photographs. We’ve selected a few images to give you a taste of his work. Click Read More to view.

SERGY NEAMOSCOU
FLICKR
SPOTTED VIA BOOOOOOOM!

FLIGHT RECORDER
NEVER SORRY
ADAM CHANG

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Philly Tech Week is a week-long celebration of technology and innovation in Philadelphia. The annual week of events is intended to grow the impact of this innovative region through programming focused on technology, collaboration and improving Philadelphia. The inaugural week takes place April 25th to April 30th and will feature events from partners like The Franklin Institute, Independents Hall and First Round Capital. Each Philly Tech Week event is independently organized. Get involved today.

Transportation connects. Transportation innovates. And, in the upcoming documentary The Bicycle City, we watch how transportation frees. Over the past 20 years, Rivas – a poor town on Nicaragua’s Pacific Coast – has been saturated with tens of thousands of bicycles in hopes to free its population from poverty. The film tells its story from the vantage points of Julia, the street vendor; Xiomara, the young mother; Joaquin, the entrepreneur; and David, the unlikely philanthropist. Their stories show how an idealistic experiment has helped the war-ravaged city of Rivas find its own path to recovery and normalcy through the introduction of cheap, reliable transportation in the form of the bicycle. Click Read More for additional information and to view the trailer.

THE BICYCLE CITY
DONATE
BICYCLE CITY BLOG

QUEEN MARY TWO
WORLD OF MOTION
FINLAND’S VALKKY

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Philly Tech Week is a week-long celebration of technology and innovation in Philadelphia. The annual week of events is intended to grow the impact of this innovative region through programming focused on technology, collaboration and improving Philadelphia. The inaugural week takes place April 25th to April 30th and will feature events from partners like The Franklin Institute, Independents Hall and First Round Capital. Each Philly Tech Week event is independently organized. Get involved today.

Animation and transportation team up for a charming video about the evolution of travel. Colin Hesterly’s World of Motion is an entertaining exploration in nostalgia. It effortlessly pays tribute to the various achievements made in transportation and technology. With all our modern-day conveniences it’s easy to forget how far we’ve come in such a short period of time. Click Read More to view this excellent short video.

WORLD OF MOTION
RECOMMENDED BY NUNOY
VIMEO

FINLAND’S VALKKY
VOLKSWAGEN’S TAXI
ELECTRIC RACER

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The smallest details go a long way. Especially when we’re talking about safety. Finnish company, Havainne Oy, recently created the Valkky – a light device that recognizes cross walk movement and automatically sets off flashing blue & white LED lights to inform oncoming traffic that people are entering the cross walk. It’s a simple solutions that easily attaches to pre-existing street signs. Designed for use in highly populated urban centers this tiny city innovation yields great results for keeping pedestrians safe – especially at night. Click Read More for additional information and photos.

VALKKY
PSFK
BEN BASHFORD

VOLKSWAGEN’S TAXI
ELECTRIC RACER
HELSINKI BIKE LANES

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We have an abnormal love for taxis and how they move around the urban grid. Over the past decade it’s been interesting watching their evolution. Electronic payments, GPS and touch screen computers are among a few of our favorites. And more recently, we’ve discovered a new concept vehicle by Volkswagen.

As Wallpaper* Magazine describes it, “Volkswagen’s new conceptual electric taxi for London mixes cutting edge technology with deliberately tongue-in-cheek details such as the silver Union Jack on the roof and the City of London’s coat of arms on the sides and dashboard. These embellishments conceal serious intent; the global market for taxis is burgeoning, but hampered by a host of ageing models long past retirement age.” Read the full article here. We also have a few photos posted below. Click Read More to view.

WALLPAPER* MAGAZINE
PHOTO GALLERY

ELECTRIC RACER
UNDERWATER SUBWAY
HELSINKI BIKE LANES

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As Taj said, “Someone make this a train and put it on the east coast.” I couldn’t agree more. Although it’s not likely in the immediate future, it’s exciting to see developments like the Buckeye Bullet open new possibilities. Just recently Ohio State’s lithium powered Buckeye Bullet 2 shot across the UTAH desert at an average speed of 291 miles per hour breaking the world land speed record for a battery powered vehicle. We have a few photos from the event. Pretty awesome.

BUCKEYE BULLET
VIA INHABITAT

HELSINKI BIKE LANES
PAYSAGES EN EXIL
GRAND PORTO MODERN

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I ride the train often, and on one of my regular routes we pass a train yard where you can see rows and rows of cars waiting for maintenance. Some look brand new while others look like they’ve seen better days. As we pass I always wonder what they do with the ones they want to retire. Well Animal Magazine points our attention to the fantastic photography of Stephen Mallon. In his work he documents the submergence of hundreds of NYC Subway cars. According to Animal, “They were ferried and dumped in the Atlantic Ocean to get reenacranted as articial reefs…” Below, you can find a few pictures from Stephen’s collection, but visit Animal for the full gallery. Also, Stephen has a show coming up September 10 – 13 at the Front Room Gallery in NYC. Check it out if you’re in town.

The Front Room
Open Friday – Sunday – 1 pm to 6 pm
147 Roebling Street
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
718.782.2556

STEPHEN MALLON
ANIMAL
THE FRONTROOM GALLERY

TOUR DE RETROSPECT
AMSTERDAM STREETS
PEOPLE AND PLACES

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Safety doesn’t come easy. Despite the brilliant efforts of safety campaigns, many city officials still don’t get it. There’s no excuse for a city without bike lanes. It’s obvious they improve road safety. That’s why we appreciate Lansivayla’s take on the issue. The Helsinki based collective invited people to join their guerilla operation and paint a bike lane on Hameentie – one of the main roads leading through the Northern part of central Helsinki. Not only is this generally awesome, it looks beautiful too. We also love that the idea was inspired by a few creative folks in Berlin. Click Read More for additional information and photos.

LÄNSIVÄYLÄ
PHOTO STREAM

BERLIN STREET ART
WJS CITY NOTE
JIM DENEVAN

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