In 19th and early 20th century America, fledging banks depended on conveying stability and trust to their customers. That usually meant architecture—and the construction of pint-sized Greek and Roman monuments in towns all over the country.
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12 Temples of American Finance Gone to Waste
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12 Funny Ads For Products Mutated Into Something Totally Different
Ideas in advertising sometimes go crazy. This was the case way back in time, and it always will be. One possibility is when an ad shows us the product as something completely different—like in these twelve vintage ads. The result can be funny or weird (you decide). And don't hesitate to add your own favorites from this genre in the discussion below!
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24 of the Most Beautiful Ads Ever Made
Once upon a time, advertising was art. There was a period when creating amazing advertisements for products–such as cigarettes, soap, food, bicycles, and even cultural events—was a fulfilling form of self-expression for artists. The true golden era (one can call it La Belle Époque) shined from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of World War I.
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The ISS, Earth's Ultimate Outpost, Turns 15 Today
Where were you when the ISS launched its first module in November of 1998? Some of us watched, others were in school, still other weren't even alive yet. Either way, it's hard to believe that today is the International Space Station—the largest cooperative science project ever—is celebrating its 15h birthday today.
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45 of the Brightest Cities in the World, Photographed By One Woman
Satellites have given us a huge amounts of information about Earth—including the fact that many of our cities are so blinding lit, they're visible from space. Those radiant cities are the subject of Lux, a photo essay by photographer Christina Seely.
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6 New Mega-Airports That Will Compete For the Title of World's Busiest
In October, Dubai's massive new airport—World Central Airport Dubai—cleared its first commercial flight. It's expected to become the world's busiest airport, but, with plenty of other contenders quickly taking shape in Asia and the Middle East, it's going to have some stiff competition. Welcome to the mega-airport boom.
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Deer Stand and Deliver: The Hunting Blinds of the Midwest
If you've ever spent time in the far reaches of the U.S., you're probably familiar with the deer stand—a uniquely improvised, homemade shelter that gives hunters refuge, warmth, and a clear view. Though they're designed to be inconspicuous, photographer Jason Vaughn seeks them out, finding and photographing dozens of the structures across rural Wisconsin.
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12 Radical, Unbuilt Airports From 100 Years of Air Travel
As you curse the rat's nest of terminals, walkways, and people movers of whatever transit hub you're using to get home this week, it's easy to forget how extraordinarily sophisticated the average airport is. They're works of art, really—but they're nothing compared to the airport concepts artists have dreamt up over the last 100 years.
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9 Extraordinary Collections of Totally Ordinary Objects
The stuff we see, touch, and use everyday might not, at first thought, seem museum-worthy, but there are fascinating tales hiding within even the most below-average hunks o' junk out there. Sometimes all it takes is context to elevate the mundane to legendary status.
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How 3D Printers Are Cranking Out Eyes, Bones, and Blood Vessels
At the dawn of rapid prototyping, a common predication was that 3D printing would transform manufacturing, spurring a consumer revolution that would put a printer in every home. That hasn't quite happened—-and like so many emerging technologies, rapid prototyping has found its foothold in a surprisingly different field: Medicine.
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8 Heated, Humming, or Just Plain Strange Toilets from the Future
In this era of pocket computers and 3D printing, one of the most eternally important gadgets can go overlooked: the toilet. Or so it seems. You might still sit on a stupid piece of porcelain, but a very special group of designers is working hard to improve your pooping experience with a new generation of pots.
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21 Views Of Workers Struggling With Megastructures
"To paint the Forth bridge" is a modern-day phrase equivalent to a "Sisyphean task": an endless job that can never truly be completed.* The gigantic struggle of maintaining—cleaning, painting, and repairing—the largest structures on earth is an awesome one, and it deserves recognition. That's the goal of our collection of photos below.
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27 of the Most Eye-Popping Cargo Aircraft Ever Built
They are the grey eminences of aviation. They are doing what they have to do without any ado. We hardly notice them when we take a flight from A to B. However, cargo aircraft can be as interesting and special as fighter planes or passenger aircraft. We are going to prove this.
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22 Awesome Science & Infrastructure Webcams From Around the World
How many webcams are there in the world? I have no idea. Millions upon millions. But the problem is that 99.99% of them are dull and boring, like watching concrete dry. (Although, perhaps, the very inner essence of webcams is to be repetitious and dull.) But take a look at the collection we've put together here: these boring webcams are actually amazing in another way.
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14 Fresh Pieces of Space Art for Your Viewing Pleasure
Contemporary visual arts and the new space age we are currently living in often pleasantly fuse together, resulting in great art and illustrations that everyone would gladly hang on the wall. To Infinity And Beyond is a space art exhibition of 40 young Hungarian graphic designers and painters currently on display in the Budapest Planetarium, and we're happy to show you a brief selection from the exhibition material.
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These Amazing Artificial Islands and Archipelagos Rule the Waves
More than 70 percent of the surface of the Earth is covered by water: oceans, seas, rivers, and lakes. Sometimes humankind just can't get enough dry land to set foot on, so we create artificial islands for our needs.
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15 of the Weirdest Images in the British Library’s New Digital Trove
Digging through the archives of old libraries is a blast. Depending on the library, you'll find everything from dated architectural drawings to snippets of old children's books. You can just imagine the treasures to be found in the British Library's ancient archive. And, now, you don't even have to get your fingers dusty!
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See How Much New York Has Changed (Or Not) Since The 1990s
Everybody loves vintage street photography, especially when it's from New York City. Every decade has its distinctive taste; I personally love the Seventies. But what about the Nineties? Oh dear, those years! Only twenty something years ago! But can you remember what was it like on the streets of New York City?
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27 Cutaway Drawings That Show All The Secrets Of Buildings
Cutaway or cross-section drawings
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7 Groundbreaking Drum Machines That Changed Music As We Know It
When the first drum machines hit the market in the 1950s, they must have felt like the future. Imagine that—a robotic drummer that does exactly what you tell him to, and doesn't get loaded after the show. Of course, the human drummer never quite went out of style, but drum machines changed music forever.
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