December 13, 2020

Architects Renovate a Decaying Siheyuan To Thoughtfully Blend Tradition With Modern Design

Architectural restorations of historical projects are difficult to achieve. How do designers respect an original work while preparing it for modern use? Archstudio’s renovation of a Chinese siheyuan blends traditional and modern design practices in a project called Qishe. The name is a combination of two words: “qi,” which translates to seven in reference to the number of buildings in the complex; and “she” which translates to house.

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December 12, 2020

What Did the Romans Eat and Drink? Learn About Dining and Diets in the Ancient Empire

Have you ever wondered what the ancient Romans ate? After all, their lavish banquets are legendary, but the focus on the ultra-elite obscures a wider Roman culinary tradition. The diets and dining habits of everyday people throughout the Roman Empire varied greatly. Many provinces adapted their pre-Roman cuisines to take advantage of new trade networks within the empire. Italian wine was drunk in Gaul while grain from Northern Africa supplied populations across the Mediterranean.

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December 12, 2020

Architecture Student Sketches Bird’s Eye View of Exquisite Imaginary Cities

Russian artist Aysylu Zaripova captures the complexity of buildings and cityscapes in intricate large-scale sketches. These fantastic drawings show the schematics for imaginary places from extreme perspectives so that they appear to be three-dimensional. While currently an architecture student at Kazan State University of Architecture and Engineering, Zaripova shares some of her best urban sketches on her Instagram where they've garnered thousands of likes and comments.

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December 11, 2020

Artist Creates “The Impossible Goblet” That Has an Ultra-Fine and Bendable Stem

There are red wine glasses, stemless wine glasses, and now there's a bendable wine glass. Created by artist Matt Eskuche, this amazing cup is aptly named “The Impossible Goblet” for its flexible properties. Despite the stem's slenderness, it is capable of bending in different directions without breaking. This is possible because Eskuche uses borosilicate glass—a type of durable glass that contains boron trioxide, and is resistant to thermal shock.

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