Kurt Perschke’s RedBall Project is an ingenious example of city engagement. It’s simple, beautiful and blunt. It’s a large ball placed in a major-city amidst the din of everyday living. Sometimes it lands in obvious locations, other times it leaves you wondering, “How did it get there?” Either way, the inviting ball gets the job done. It taps your imagination.

As Kurt describes it, “Through the RedBall Project I utilize my opportunity as an artist to be a catalyst for new encounters within the everyday. Through the magnetic, playful, and charismatic nature of the RedBall the work is able to access the imagination embedded in all of us. On the surface, the experience seems to be about the ball itself as an object, but the true power of the project is what it can create for those who experience it.” The RedBall Project visited Toronto, Chicago, Tapei, Sydney and many other cities. Maybe it’ll visit yours next. We have a few photos of the project below. Click Read More to view.

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Our friend Nalden teamed up with the creative minds at Dough’Nut to shoot an incredible video of their trip to Panama. Commissioned by National Geographic, they were tasked with showing Panama’s vivid culture and one of its most interesting structures, the Panama Canal. They did an excellent job. The video captures the people, their spirit and the region in a way that compels you to visit. As Dough’Nut describes, “Panama is known for the Panama Canal, which allows the crossing between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. But this country has much more to offer than this intercontinental transport hub. It has an abundance of nature, culture and entertainment. And even though we were there for only 6 days, we were able to see a lot.” Click Read More to view this inspiring video.

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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. Click Read More for a closer look.

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Whenever we visit NY we make time to stop by the High Line. It’s our favorite park for many reasons. But most importantly, it reminds us what can be accomplished when a few determined community members rally and convince everyone of their vision for something beautiful and innovative. At times it must have seemed impossible to get buy-in from other community members, public officials and city administration, but they did it. And, they did it with amazing effect.

This week they opened the second section of the park which doubles its size – making it one mile in length stretching from Gansvoort Street to West 30th – connecting the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen. If you haven’t checked out the High Line, we highly recommend visiting. Click Read More for a closer look.

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During the 1960 and 70s Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito commissioned elaborate structures to be built in recognition of various WWII battles. He hoped these monuments would represent the strength and longevity of the Social Republic. They were popular during the 80s and collectively attracted millions of visitors. But after the dissolution of the Republic in the early 90s many of them were completely abandoned and forgotten. That is until photographer Jan Kempenaers set out to photograph all the structures for his series entitled Spomenik – The End of History. We posted a few photographs below. While each of them have hyper futuristic qualities, it’s interesting to view them in their lonely and dilapidated state.

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Many countries have tourism departments. A lot of them are progressive and have brilliant ideas to lure visitors. But how many of them can say their country is willing to invest $400 million in their programs. Norway is the beautiful exception. In 2002 the country laid out an 18 year plan to generate more tourism. They rallied architects and designers to reface 18 National Tourist Routes. And as Fast Company reports, “All told, the federal government is expected to sink an estimated $377 million into the program, with an additional $63 million from private and public partners. It’s a mammoth investment and a testament to one country’s faith in the power of design to add equity to an already flourishing tourism industry.” From the looks of things it’s money well spent. We’ve posted a few photos of their progress below.

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The work of Corinne Vionnet is genius. It reminds us of a sci-fi article we read claiming humans will eventually operate like one unified brain – thinking alike and acting alike. With the invent of the internet we’re definitely moving in that direction. The interwebs reinforce commonalities with just a few key strokes. Proof of this can be seen in Corrine’s work. What looks like a faded image painted on canvas is actually hundreds of photos carefully layered showing how travelers and tourists photographed the same famous landmark with striking similarity in perspective. As Modern Met reports, “After conducting an online keyword search and sitting through photo sharing sites, this Swiss/French artist carefully layers 200 to 300 photos on top of one another until she gets the desired result.” Click Read More for additional information and photos.

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