Bureau A Recreates Stonehenge out of Shipping Containers in the Center of Geneva

As part of the first edition of the biennale for independent art spaces in Geneva, Swiss architecture firm Bureau A created "Steelhenge", a recreation of the prehistoric English stone circle built out of 50 shipping containers. Designed as an open air venue that would function as a space for attendees to congregate, the entire structure was built in a day using a crane, with concrete blocks used to add weight to each container, and reinforce their stability. Bureau A's Leopold Banchini told Dezeen, "Containers are a symbol at the new globalised economy; it was also interesting to replace the stones of the original monument by these steel box,"

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Artist Nikolay Polissky Wraps an Abandoned Soviet Building With Reclaimed Wood Off Cuts

Created by Russian artist, Nikolay Polissky and set within the landscape of Ugra National Park, the "SELPO Pavilion" is a large-scale sculpture which wraps around a decrepit Soviet building, which used to contain the village shop, but has stood as a ruin for the last 10 years. The rippling, undulating wooden jacket, which consists of reclaimed wood off cuts from Pollissky's previous projects transforms the former eye-sore into an exciting new space. The structure, whose title bears the acronym for The Rural Consumer Association in Russian, forms a creative environment for people of the community to interact with.

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The Bic Cristal Structure: A Suspended Canopy Made from Thousands of Recycled Bic Pens

Constructed by AAU Anastas, for the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) symposium in Amsterdam, "The Bic Cristal Structure" is a suspended chandelier-like canopy built from 10,000 recycled BIC Cristal pens. The idea behind the project was to create a structurally innovative pavilion from elements that were not conceived for structural purposes. The designers explain: "On social, industrial and commercial basis, the BIC Cristal pen represents a symbol of contemporary modernism. It is definitely not a structural element, yet an object anyone can recognize and probably has used. Employing modern aspects of the design process such as computer-aided design, engineering and manufacturing allowed us to change the function of the BIC pen in a unique way creating a structural paradigm that reflects our culture of recycling, reusing and transforming.

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Students Use Scaffolding and Recycled Materials to Build an Urban Spa in a Mexican Park

Students from the Institute of Architecture and Design Chihuahua, have used scaffolding and other recycled materials to create "Urban Spa", a temporary amenity based on the recreational use of water. Built in collaboration with Mexico design studio Memela, the structure was designed around a disused park fountain that has been broken for years located at Parque Urueta, in the city center. A series of wooden surfaces are built transforming the source’s base on a bathing deck, they are designed as resting areas, steps, sun-beds, small garden areas and a ramp to make the structure accesible for everyone.

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Digital Collages Composed of Hundreds of Individual Photos of Apartment Building Corridors

A bee hive with a lot of colourful boxes? A collection of mailboxes in a multi-family dwelling? A photograph in the tradition of serial art? At first glance Roger Frei's photographs may appear to be any of the things mentioned above, but a closer look reveals that these images are composed of hundreds of individual photos of corridors in large apartment buildings that have been meticulously assembled into a complete picture. Frei systematically walks from floor to floor, photographs walls in hallways at regular intervals and puts all of the photos together digitally as collages to create these amazing composition.

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Inspired Store Revamp Features a Raised Floor Made from 25,000 Pieces of Discarded Tableware

For the renovation of Maruhiro ceramics flagship store in Hasami, Tokyo designer Yusuke Seki used 25,000 pieces of locally sourced imperfect tableware and poured concrete to create an elevated display platform. Each of these pieces called “Shinikiji” in Japanese, were found to be flawed after the initial bisque-firing by their respective local production facilities. As part of the design process, Seki repurposed plates, cups, saucers and bowls, using them to make bricks, and transforming them to a new architectural material for this occasion.

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New Zealand Nature Lover Grows a Living Breathing Church from Trees

After travelling the world and being a keen observer of Churches, Barry Cox decided to construct a unique Church of his own using living trees. Designed to show how an instant garden can be created using a Tree-Spade (a huge machine used to move large trees), the New Zealand-based Tree Church gardens and Labyrinth walk is a welcomed retreat from society. "I walked out my back door one day and thought, 'That space needs a church' – and so it began. I cleared the area in April 2011 and made the iron frame, drawing on all the research I had done over the years of studying churches. I wanted the roof and the walls to be distinctly different, to highlight the proportions, just like masonry churches," he says.

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Ripped by the Roots: A Large Scale Installation Featuring an Uprooted House Hovering in Midair

As part of this year’s Summer festival "The City is the Star", Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich created a large-scale installation consisting of a huge construction crane bearing holding an entire house in midair on steel ropes. Inspired by one of architect Friedrich Weinbrenner’s historical structures, the building, together with its massive root system, quite literally appears to be ripped out of a row of neighboring houses. Via the press release, "With this work, Erlich – well-known throughout the world for his hyperreal sculptures and installations – explicitly addresses global themes, such as uprooting, migration, or simulation."

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Interactive Architectural Installation Transforms D.C.’s National Building Museum into a Gigantic Ball Pit

Brooklyn-based studio Snarkitecture, is a collaborative and experimental practice operating in territories between art and architecture. Their latest project, created in collaboration with the National Building Museum, is an interactive architectural installation that brings the quintessential summer experience of going to the beach to downtown Washington, D.C. Spanning across the Museum’s Great Hall, "The BEACH" was built using standard construction materials like scaffolding, drywall, and mirrors to create the enclosure that leads to an ocean of 750,000 recyclable plastic balls. Visitors are welcome to explore, play and "swim" in a fully immersive and unique setting.

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Architecture Graduate Builds an Incredible Office out of Thousands of Glass Bottles

Hoping to showcase his skills in order to start his own business, Chinese architecture graduate Li Rongjun, built an incredible office using thousands of discarded beer bottles. Along with help from his father, Li spent four months building the 18-feet high two-storey structure, which consists of a top level made of 8,500 beer bottles in 40 layers and a bottom floor built with mud and brick. "I want to build an office which combines artistic beauty with pragmatism." Li Rongjun explains, "This building is my calling card for my future business plans. It will allow investors to see my products in real life and see my talent.”

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Atelier Yokyok Installs a Colorful Structure of Thread Within a Gothic Cloister Garden

As part of the Festival Juin Jardins Cahors 2015 , Paris-based Atelier YokYok created "Les Voûtes Filantes", a temporary installation within the 16th-century Gothic-style cloister at St Stephen's Cathedral in Cahors, south-west France. Designed in collaboration with metal sculptor Ulysse Lacoste and Laure Micarré. the threaded structure is divided into four pathways, linked with blue-hued woven strings culminating in a circular central point. "The colourful woven structure performs with light and mystery, revealing a light, dematerialized architecture," said Atelier Yokyok.

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Artist Covers his Entire Florida House with Sheets of Aluminum Foil

Polish artist and Tarpon Springs resident Piotr Janowski was recently inspired to create an art installation by covering most of his rental home in sheets of aluminum foil. Using an adhesive spray, Janowski covered one third of his home including the concrete driveway and the surrounding palm trees. The artist says his art project called "402 Ashland Ave.", is intended to help people think in uncommon ways about common goods. "Curious onlookers rarely identified the installation as art," Janowski says, "The act of covering the facade of a house introduced something uncommon and unexpected into the neighborhood environment and hopefully offered a new perspective on what had been commonplace."

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Organic Growth: A Large Pavilion Constructed out of Broken Umbrellas and Bicycle Wheels

As part of the Figment NYC outdoor festival, Izaskun Chinchilla Architects have created an architectural canopy built out of recycled materials. The “Organic Growth” pavilion is a large structure, constructed from discarded materials such as broken umbrellas, tripods and bicycle wheels assembled together to create a series of plant-like clusters. Speaking about the project the designers said, "We have carefully studied natural structures that can grow up and down to adapt context and time circumstances. The plant grows keeping a good balance with the environment. Shouldn’t our project do the same?"

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Artist Uses Reflective Tape to Transform Architectural Fixtures into Ghostly Apparitions

Weaving together photo and architecture Canadian artist James Nizam (previously), creates sculptural works that explore the notions of the home and the ephemeral. For his latest project titled "The Mnemonic Landscape", currently on view at Gallery Jones in Vancouver, Nizam wrapped common awnings, railings and door grilles found around homes in suburban Canada with reflective tape and photographed them using a flash at night. Via the press release, "Focused on the threshold where memory meets its vanishing point, the works waver at the instant of the ephemeral, between states of illumination and erasure.

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Minimalist Photos Reveal the Geometric Perfection of Istanbul's Urban Architecture

Istanbul-based architect Yener Torun captures stunning contemporary urban architecture, with a focus on shopping centers, public schools, office buildings and apartment towers, found mostly in the very ancient city in which he lives. Torun's minimalist photographic project started out as instagram posts (@cimkedi) and has since evolved into a full fledged series that has attracted a huge fan base. "What I show is completely abstracted from the reality," says Torun, "With the human element, the background becomes a tool that shows a feeling or emotion."

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Photographer Richard Johnson Captures the Rustic Beauty of Canada's Ice Fishing Huts

Photographer Richard Johnson, has spent much of the last eight years traveling across Canada to photograph the primitive, portable shelters people use for ice fishing on lakes and bays. Faux wood paneling, sheet metal, tarpaulins, peak roofs, modified camping trailers all fulfill the requirements for shelter. “It is architecture at its most primitive level,” he told The New York Times, “It’s shelter. It’s portable. It’s made by the owners of the hut. It’s not pretentious. It is a solution. Every single person needs heat.”

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