These houses look like something George Lucas would have dreamed up

Looking at these white globe houses, you would be forgiven for thinking that they were something from Star Wars. Located in the Dutch city of Den Bosch, they were designed in the 1970s by Dries Kreij Camp and built in 1984.

Called bolwoningen (which translates as either "ball" or "bulb" houses/apartments), the UFO-like dwellings are low maintenance, lightweight and relatively small. Each unit measures just 5.5 meters in diameter, but all of them have two bedrooms on the ground floor, a bathroom and kitchen in the middle and a living room with a nice view on top. If you happen to be in Amsterdam and you have a car, it will only take you about an hour to reach this really cool neighborhood.

According to this site:

"The idea behind these unusual cement and fibreglass buildings sprang not from the architect's leap of madness, but in the 'optimal experience of nature in all its facets', or so Mr. Kreijkamp claims. Supposedly residents feel much closer to nature, because it can be seen from all directions within each globe. The unusual shape of the buildings is accented all the more because they are located next to 'normal' houses."

Image credits: Super Formosa

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This installation puts painting robots to shame

In the courtyard of London's Victoria & Albert Museum stands the Elytra Filament Pavilion , a massive glass and carbon fiber canopy fabricated by robots. It is inspired by the fibrous structures of flying beetles and will be open until November in the John Madejski Garden. The futuristic shelter is the brainchild of experimental architect Achim Menges, along with collaborators Moritz Dörstelmann, Jan Knippers and Thomas Auer. While the structure currently measures 200 square meters in size, it will gradually grow bigger overtime, depending on how visitors interact with it.

Anthill Art

Turns out you can make something pretty cool when you pour boiling, liquid metal on top of an anthill. Harsh for the ants, yes, but according to Anthill Art , these insects are "harmful to the environment and their nests are exterminated by the millions in the United States using poisons, gasoline and fire, boiling water, and very rarely molten aluminum."

'Scrap Floats' by Aggie Zed

Virginia-based artist Aggie Zed creates fascinating ceramic and mixed media sculptures, paints excellent visual art on paper and draws rather well. In the art world we would call her a triple threat and she does it all very well. There's plenty of her work I wanted to feature here, but I'd rather leave you to lurk around her website and instead I'll focus your attention to her Scrap Floats . These sculptures are comprised of animals, human parts, and other machine-like scraps. The figures are striking in both their surrealism and their humility: disfigured humans sprout wings, fish live out of water, and horses have intricately arranged metal frames for bodies. They're a little bit steampunk, a little bit classical and a whole lot intriguing. Aggie received a BFA in sculpture and painting from the University of South Carolina. She currently lives with her husband in Gordonsville where she keeps animals in her life, especially chickens, which defy anthropomorphis...

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