Lego Hell.

Mihai Marius Mihu has done a great job of creating Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell in Lego. Mihu did not immerse themselves in The Inferno for this project, limiting themselves to snippets about the circles, wanting their own take on it to dominate, and I think it’s a grand job. Lust is most impressive. I’m just going to post Gluttony here, because the red and black really attracted me, and you can have a wander through the other circles yourself, and also have a care if you curious sproggen trying to peek over your shoulder.

© Mihai Marius Mihu.

© Mihai Marius Mihu.

© Mihai Marius Mihu.

© Mihai Marius Mihu.

You can see all of Lego Hell here.

Sharp and Shiny.

From Charly: This is the knife I have given to my Mom for Christmas. Scary sharp – I could slice that tomato paper thin. Seems to hold edge well, it was already used since I made it and the edge was not touched up prior to photographing.

Measurements: Overall length ~26 cm, blade ~14 cm lenght, ~2 mm thick, blade grind convex with no secondary bevel.

Materials: handle scales chemically treated Elder wood (Sambucus nigra) coated with PU, blade N690 steel hardened at home in impromptu settings.

I hope to improve the design based on my mothers feedback and make more knives like this one in the future, it was fun. Beautiful! Click for full size.

© Charly, all rights reserved.

John Bisbee.

Tesselation Phage, Twisted, 12-inch, Welded Spikes, “Only Nails, Always Different”, Pennsylvania College of Art and Design Gallery, Lancaster, PA, Curated by Heidi Leitzki, 10’x 21’, 2015. Photo: Tom Bejgrowicz.

© 2016 by John Bisbee.

Seed in Progress. Photo: Luc Demers.

For nearly three decades, John Bisbee has welded and forged 12-inch spikes under the mantra, “Only nails, always different.”

Wondrous sculptures by John Bisbee. Have a wander today.

A Climbable Bookshelf.

Oh do I ever have bookshelf and house envy right now. Raging envy. This is such a good idea! And all that spaciousness and light!

Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves are lovely, and can act as a robust focal point in any home. But accessing the high shelves can be a problem. The common side-kick has always been ladders, which can also add character and charm. But for smaller homes like in Japan they can be a nuisance, occupying too much space for not enough usage. But Japanese architect Shinsuke Fujii came up with a simple, yet brilliant solution that solves another problem too: earthquake safety.

The “House in Shinyoshida,” as it’s called, named for the neighborhood in Yokohama where it stands, was conceived shortly after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. The client, who happened to be an avid book lover, approached Fujii with the task to design a home around a large bookshelf that’s both easily accessible but also one that won’t spill all the books if there’s ever a tremor.

The solution was to slant the entire western-facing façade and create a built-in slanted bookshelf whose shelves also function as a ladder.

You can read and see more at Spoon & Tamago.