Design

Section

Craft Design

Fold an Elaborate Origami Menagerie with DIY Instructions from Jo Nakashima

All images © Jo Nakashima

Since 2010, Brazilian origami artist Jo Nakashima has amassed a trove of original designs ranging from modular cubes and kinetic works to multicolor, angular wildlife. His creations require just a single sheet of double-sided paper and a deft hand and vary in complexity: Nakashima marks the eagle with pleated wings, quacking duck, and writhing snake shown here as intermediate or above. Head to YouTube for detailed instructions on folding your own versions of his intricate designs, but take note of his warning: “Although I call it ‘simplified,’ it doesn’t mean it is simple: it is just simpler than the original version, but actually it is still a bit complex.”

Art Design Illustration

A Monograph Gathers Dozens of Jolly, Anxious, and Relatable Characters by Artist Jean Jullien

“Pepe the Weekender” (2018), made for Lieux Mouvants. Image © Nicole Zezig. All images courtesy of Phaidon, shared with permission

It’s easy to recognize the quirky, joyful characters of French artist Jean Jullien. Whether looming over a park or gracing a deck of cards, his dodgy dogs, smirking fish, and mischievous tree-climbers are cartoonish in style and emotionally conspicuous with their anxious expressions and good-natured gestures. A forthcoming monograph published by Phaidon celebrates Jullien’s broad body of work, which spans public sculpture, illustration, and design. In addition to his most lauded projects, the 256-page volume also contains early sketches and never-before-seen pieces. Jean Jullien ships on May 25 from Bookshop.

Vivi (70 3/4 inches), Bruno (66 7/8 inches) Lili (55 1/8 inches), (2019), acrylic paint on aluminum. Photo © Jean Jullien Studio, courtesy of NANZUKA

“Dog Bench” (2019), limited-edition metal bench produced with Case Studyo. Image © Case Studyo

Sculpture for the show The People (2017), fiberglass, 4 7/8 feet. Image © Computer Graphic Plus Co., Ltd.

Photo collage for a feature published in National Geographic (April/May 2018). Image © the artist and Jean Jullien Studio

Design

A House of Crimson Steel Vines Harbors Memory and Mourning in Wuhan Shimenfeng Memorial Park

All images by Jin Weiqi

Rambling, weathered ivy constructs the walls of a home placed among the quiet, serene cemetery of Wuhan Shimenfeng Memorial Park. The project of designer Hu Quanchun of Field Conforming Studio, “The Vanished House” elicits the act of remembering in a public space devoted to mourning and memories. Tension between the enduring and transitory pervades the architectural work, shown through the combination of the sturdy material and open roof that appears to fade around the perimeter.

In a statement about the memorializing project, the studio likens the structure to that of a child’s sketch, explaining that the simple design draws attention to the sprawling vegetal forms laser cut from sheets of Corten steel. Over time, the crimson material will age with rain and sun, and its rusted color will stand in starker contrast to the green environment.

For more from Field Conforming Studio, including a similar vine-based project installed at Delong Steel Art Park in Leting, Tangshan, visit its site. (via designboom)

Design

A Minimal Window-Laden Facade in Paris Sprouts a Luxuriant Vertical Garden

All images © Yann Monel and Michael Denancé, courtesy of Triptyque Architecture

Hidden under a lush canopy of vegetation on Paris’s Left Bank is a minimal, mesh-like structure housing a healthcare center, restaurant, and hotel. The project of the French-Brazilian Triptyque Architecture in collaboration with the Coloco landscaping studio, “Villa M” is a mixed-used building cloaked in a vertical garden that ascends from the sidewalk to the rooftop bar. Foliage and vines trail down from the hotel room balconies and sprout from planters embedded in the facade, establishing a verdant environment spanning 8,000 square meters in the middle of the busy Montparnasse.

In addition to the urban ecosystem, dozens of windows allow for natural lighting throughout the space. “We have explored all of the available surfaces to potentialise the greenery and to avoid energy and carbon waste,” architect Guillaume Sibaud told Plain Magazine. “Villa M” was also named the Building of the Year 2022 by ArchDaily.

For more of Triptyque’s environmentally conscious designs, visit its site and Instagram.

Art Design

A Mammoth Three-Volume Book Collection Presents Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel in Stunning 1:1 Detail

All images courtesy of Callaway Arts and Entertainment and Scripta Maneant

Millions of tourists stream through the hallowed halls of Vatican City to see one of Western art history’s most treasured artworks: Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. Gazing up 44 feet from the floor, visitors witness dramatic biblical scenes unfold throughout the monumental painting as it sprawls across the expansive architecture. The only drawback of looking up at such a height is that it’s difficult to discern smaller features and subtleties. The Sistine Chapel, a massive three-volume tome published by Callaway Arts and Entertainment and Italy’s Scripta Maneant, is dedicated to the details and presents up-close 1:1 scale images of the artist’s seminal painting in a limited-edition book.

Reminiscent of the way Michelangelo erected scaffolding to paint the scenes over 500 years ago, over the course of 65 nights, two photographers ascended a 33-foot scaffolding to access close views of the ceiling. The structure was assembled and disassembled every evening to allow tourists to visit during the day. Approximately 270,000 high-resolution images captured the incredible characteristics of movement, contrast, and expression that cannot be seen from ground level.

Printed in Italian and English and limited to 1999 copies by the Vatican—which also stipulated there will be no reprints—only a few English language copies remain, although the price tag is an eye-watering $22,000. The 20-pound set includes additional masterpieces by Michelangelo, Botticelli, and other Renaissance artists. (via Kottke)

Art Design

Fire Erupts From a Gigantic Fantastical Dragon-Horse Designed and Operated by La Machine

Photo © Emmanuel Bourgeau. All images courtesy of La Machine, shared with permission

The street theater group known as La Machine revived one of its legendary beasts for an ongoing show in Toulouse. “Long Ma,” an enormous dragon-horse hybrid weighing 45 tons and standing 11 meters tall, was originally unleashed in Beijing in 2014 and now joins a minotaur and gigantic spider for an ongoing exhibition at La Halle in the French city. Each day through May 8, a team of artists animates the mechanical creature, which can be seen trotting, galloping, and rearing upward through the streets while she greets her similarly massive companions.

Capable of spitting smoke and water, the fire-breathing “Long Ma” is made from a combination of steel, wood, leather, blown glass, golden leaves, horsehair, and textiles. She also cradles a Chinese temple inspired by the Forbidden City on her back, which is big enough for 35 people to join her on her daily adventures.

Tickets to encounter the explosive character are available on the exhibition site, and you can see more of La Machine’s puppet-like creations in action on Instagram.

Photo © Emmanuel Bourgeau

Photo © Jordi Bover