Creative Things In The World: August 2013

A Giant Gallery of Unique Staircase Designs

Some you’ll love, some you?ll detest and others you can only hope nobody has ever slipped and hurt themselves! Below is a gallery of unique and creative staircase designs. Not necessarily the most beautiful or functional, just a collection of interesting concepts that push the boundaries of staircase design into bold and often handrail-less territories. Enjoy!

1. Bookshelf Staircase

looking up and looking down a bookshelf staircase

Design by Levitate

2. Lello Bookshop in Porto, Portugal

famous lello bookshop in porto portugal stairs from above

3. Stairs with Slides

4. Floating Stairs

black floating stairs with no handrail

Design bycole

5. Magic Mountain Stairs in Duisburg, Germany

Design by Heike Mutter + Ulrich Genth

6. Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brazil by Oscar Niemeyer

7. Storage Stairs

8. Curvaceous Staircase

Design byAtmost Studio

9. Suspension Bridge Staircase

suspension bridge with stairs

10. Platform Staircase

miniature platforms staircase

11. Ribbon Staircase

staircase from one continuous piece of material

Design by HSH

12. Wavy Staircase at Longchamp Store in New York City

wavy staircase

Design by?Heatherwick Studio

13. Staircase Made from Shipping Pallets

staircase made of shipping pallets

Design by Most Architecture

14. Spiral Staircase with No Center Pole

freeflowing spiral staircase

Design byPatrick Jouin

15. Foldable Attic Staircase

attic staircase foldable

16. Half Spiral

Design by Alberto Moz

17. Shadow Patterns

staircase that creates shadow patterns

18. Hanging Staircase

19. Hollowed Tree Trunk Staircase

20. Floating Concrete Staircase

21. Floating Staircase

floating staircase design

22. Vertebrae Staircase

stairs that look like human spine vertebrae

Design by Philip Watts Design

23. Split-Level Staircase

Design by nC2architecture

24. Suspended Staircase

suspended staircase

Design by?Chae-Pereira Architects

25. Robson Square, Vancouver, Canada

Stairs / Ramp

Photograph by Dean Bouchard

26. Stair Tree

27. Death-Defying Floating Staircase

scary floating staircase

Design by Schlosser + Partner

28. Stairs Everywhere

Design by24H Architecture

29. Wedge Stairstriangle staircase

Design by TAF Gabriella Gustafson & Mattias Stahlbom

30.Umschreibung(Rewriting) by Olafur Eliasson ? Munich, Germany

Design by Olafur Eliasson

Scientists Generate Electricity from Foods

Back to Light is a creatively scientific series by photographer Caleb Charland that explores the naturally electrifying power of ordinary objects like fruits and loose change. The images in the series features a number of materials, including consumables readily found in one’s pantry, generating enough power to light lamps and LED lights.

The ongoing photo project, which began in 2010, was initially inspired by the powerful simplicity of the potato battery. The science enthusiast explains, “By inserting a galvanized nail into one side of a potato and a copper wire in the other side a small electrical current is generated. The zinc coating on the nail gives off electrons due to the electrolyte environment within the potato. These electrons then travel along the copper wire providing the electrical voltage to illuminate a small light emitting diode. The utter simplicity of this electrical phenomenon is endlessly fascinating for me.”

Orange Battery

Additionally, Charland reflects on his own project by saying: “This work speaks to a common curiosity we all have for how the world works as well as a global concern for the future of earth’s energy sources. My hope is that these photographs function as micro utopias by suggesting and illustrating the endless possibilities of alternative and sustainable energy production.”

Charland tells us that he hopes to expand his project this summer by making “little hydro electric generators and installing them in the landscape.” Until then, the photographer is showing a selection of his works at Schneider Gallery in Chicago and has a solo show coming up at Gallery Kayafas in Boston from May 17th through June 7th.

Battery From a Single Potato

Grapefruit and Pomelo Battery

Vinegar Battery

Fruit Battery Still Life (Citrus)

Coin Battery

Electricity From a Ring of Apples

Fruit Battery with Hanging Apples

Limes and Lemons

Vinegar Batteries with Glassware and Shelf

Garage of Organic Batteries

Potato Power, LaJoie Growers LLC, Van Buren, Maine

Amazing Shirt Made Out Of 6500 Screws

We’re going to commit that you’ve never seen a shirt quite like this. It’s been over two years since we first came across the incredible screw portraits by Andrew Myers. The Laguna Beach-based artist stunned us with his unique works that were made by patiently drilling in 8,000 to 10,000 screws into plywood panel. Myers doesn’t rely on any computer software to guide him. Instead, he drills in screws at different depths all by instinct to create his magnificent 3-D portraits.In his latest work, titled “It’s been a long day,” Myers made a 4 foot by 4 foot sculpture of a men’s dress shirt. It consists of 6,500 screws, oil paint, French newspaper clippings from the 1910′s to 30′s, and wood. Check out the fun, short video he made about the piece at Facebook.

Myers recently redesigned his website. It includes, not only his trademark screw portraits, but also some thought-provoking bronze sculptures, as well. Hop on over there to see his full body of work.