Urban Experiences-Project "Play it, I'm yours"

Last summer when I walked through Times Square, I noticed there was a crowd gathering and thus aroused my curiosity. There was a piano placing right on the street and there was a guy playing. After all I realized that was an art project called “play me, I’m yours”, and the project put more than 60 pianos around the city for people to play whenever they want. For people that usually didn’t have a chance to play, or people that had good piano skills and wanted to show off a little bit, or people just got curious, that was definitely fun to give it a try. Let’s take a look of this project from the “Without Border” Film Festival in Rome, 2010.


youtube video uploaded from frisonec

“The piano is like a facebook resource, like a blank canvas, for people to share their creativity with one another.” Luke Jerram, the creator of this project says his inspiration was from waiting for the bus. Luke notice that people got bored and had no conversation while they were waiting, so he thought he could do something to help people to interact with one and another.

Play Me I'm Yours from quentinhasny on Vimeo.

Because of the interaction that brought to the cities was so successful, this project has been keep going on since 2008. The “play me, I’m yours” project will be held at Austin, Texas during April 1–May 1.

Extended reading:

http://www.artallianceaustin.org/play-me-i-am-yours.html

http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/play-me-i-m-yours-piano-project-in-new-york-33284

NYC, 2010

Pecs, Hungary, 2010

London, UK 2009

pictures from www.streetpianos.com/press-area

Urban Experiences - Explorers

Like straight out of a movie, Steven Duncan explores the underside of hidden urban spaces going into sewers, to the tops of bridges and even along subway tracks. He calls it Guerrilla History and Urban Exploration - I call it plain old crazy and brave. Duncan says he's "peeling back the layers of a city to see what's underneath." To see NYC's strangely gorgeous sewer system, the first (closed) subway station and a breathtaking view of the city from the top of the Williamsburg bridge, watch the video below. My fear of heights kicks in on the bridge part and I felt like I was watching an action movie

UNDERCITY from Andrew Wonder on Vimeo.

Duncan also sells these INCREDIBLE photos from all of his journeys which include cities all over the US as well as London, Berlin, Paris, Rome and tons of others.

Urban Experiences- top restaurants around the world

Feel tiring of cooking and grocery shopping everyday? Feel like relaxing a little bit and want to have some good food? Then going out and have some food with families & friends and have a good time! Today the curiosity project is representing you some top restaurants from the voting of theworlds50best.com!

outside view of NOMA restaurant

Top1: NOMA

(Strandgade 93, 1401 Copenhagen K, Denmark)

Noma is a homage to soil and sea, a reminder of the source of our food. Take his starter of crunchy baby carrots from the fertile Lammefjorden region of Denmark, served with edible “soil” made from malt, hazelnuts and beer, with a cream herb emulsion beneath – you are literally eating the earth!

Great restaurants are a blend of sophisticated cooking, imaginative ideas and respect for ingredients. Noma is more than this. It’s a experience that reminds you why some restaurants deserve to be revered, and why we created this list.

Top2: El Bulli

(Apartado 30

17480 Roses en Cala Montjol Spain)

El Bulli is undoubtedly the most controversial and experimental restaurant in the world that receives up to 1,000,000 reservation requests a year, where only 8,000 lucky ones get a table. El Bulli won the S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurant Award no less than 5 times in the last decade. This achievement earnt Ferran Adria the accolade of Chef of the Decade in 2010.

Still life of stagnant pond with flowers floating on top

pictures from:

worldwidefoodguide.wordpress.com/2008/05/28/el-bulli-the-best-restaurant-in-the-world/

Heston Blumenthal's salmon poached with liquoricek

Top3: The Fat Duck

(The Fat Duck, High Street, Bray, Berkshire, SL6 2AQ, England)

The Fat Duck is one of the world’s truly unique experiences. The Fat Duck has revolutionised the perception of high-end dining among the wider public in the UK and beyond, with it’s scientific, theatrical and (most of all) fun approach to food and eating out.

Nothing on this menu stands still. Dishes may appear year after year, but they continue to be refined and tweeked to perfection. Examples on the current menu include Salmon poached in Liquorice with Artichokes, and Roast Foie Gras with Rhubarb Braised Konbu & Crab Biscuit.

From top4-10 restaurants are: El Celler de Can Roca (Spain), Mugaritz (Spain), Osteria Francescana (Italy), Alinea (USA), Daniel (USA), Arzak (Spain), Per Se (USA)

Urban Experiences-Graffiti Art

If we think about the subculture in NYC, graffiti art is the most substantial thing that we we see it everyday in our lives. But when and how did graffiti start spreading over the city? The curiosity project brings you back in the old days to the 1970's–a video from Jon Naar's view about graffiti art in New York.

Stussy - Jon Naar from Stussy on Vimeo.

Jon Narr is a photographer in New York who enthusiast about graffiti photography, and he published "The Birth of Graffiti", which was his photo collection of graffiti.



It is incredible that subway trains was still full of graffiti in the 1980's. The documentary film "Dream City"(1987) depicted the graffiti culture at that time: some graffiti writers were busy creating their new pieces during midnight, and some of the artists tagged their names on every train that they wrote. Until 1989, The Clean Train Movement started and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) begun a program to eradicate graffiti on the subway trains.

Bansky graffiti in Bethlehem

Banksy - Soldiers

Cork Graffiti arist, Cork Corp

graffiti in NYC

graffiti on the street

pictures from:
www.onextrapixel.com/2009/06/17/38-marvellous-graffiti-art-and-street-art-that-will-blow-you-away/

Urban Experiences - Ork Posters

Ork Posters are amazing type based "city neighborhood posters" by designer Jenny Beorkrem. She started with a Chicago poster back in 2007 and they have exploded since then adding an additional 15 cities, as well as two human organs!

I have the Manhattan poster in my living room finally, after pining after it for years. It certainly did not disappoint and I highly recommend these to any urban map/typography lovers.













































All images from the Ork Posters website
Learn more about the company here

Urban Experiences - Manhattanhenge

Manhattanhenge is one of the best little known facts of New York City in my opinion. Twice a year the sun sets in exact alignment with Manhattan's east/west street grid.

Neil deGrasse Tyson (the guy who coined the term) says that "Manhattanhenge may just be a unique urban phenomenon in the world, if not the universe." The alignment of the grid, coupled with the shear verticality of the city create this phenomenon in NYC unlike any other city.

This year Manhattanhenge will take place on Tuesday May 31st at 8:17 pm and Monday July 11th at 8:25 pm. A half sun will also be visible May 30th and July 12th. Mark your calendars!

For your best view, go as far east in Manhattan as possible while still being able to see New Jersey. The wider two way streets like 14th, 23rd, 34th and 42nd are recommended for even better views.

Read more here and here







Photo 1 via wlphoto and photo 2 via ManicMaurice

***Side note***
Welcome to the second theme of The Curiosity Project - Urban Experiences. The last two weeks we brought you fun/random/crazy inspirations focused on being passionate. If you missed any of those posts, we'll be uploading a poster soon that shows a little bit of each of them.

Be passionate about Legos

The Curiosity Project brings you Legos today. Yeah, you know what Legos are...we know. But these projects push the limits of craziness with creative uses of these beloved building blocks.

Above, a video by rymdreglage called 8 Bit Trip combines Legos with one of my favorite things ever - stop motion. It will blow you away! It took 1500 hours to make which makes perfect sense - this is insane!

Below is the Munchausen Lego Kitchen - an IKEA counter covered in Legos by two Paris designers. This makes me want to cover something in my apartment with Legos.



















Lego has recently released famous architecture buildings in lego form including Falling Water by Frank Lloyd Wright (seen below) as well as the Guggeheim Museum in NYC also by Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Farnsworth House. They also have a landmark building series that includes favorites like the Empire State building, the Willis (Sears) Tower, the Hancock Tower, and the White House. If they weren't quite so expensive, I'd have one of these for sure.















Next up is the DispatchWork, an international project to patch up cities with Legos. Not sure what the ultimate goal is other than smiles and awesomeness, but I know I'd sure love to see one of these around NYC
























Still want more Lego fun? Here's contemporary skyscrapers made of Legos, an actual architecture model made out of Legos by the amazing firm BIG, or the pinnacle of Lego love - LegoLand

Be inspired - make something from Legos :)