Green Lodge

Photos of a male model with real facial tattoos

Originally from Lima, Peru, fashion photographer Mariano Vivanco now divides his time between London and New York, regularly shooting for magazines such as, Dazed & Confused, Vogue Nippon, Numero, Another Magazine, Details, GQ Italy, L’Uomo Vogue and 10 and 10 Man. Recently Vivanco shot model Dario Tozzi aka Buck N Evermind for the cover of DSECTION, a men’s fashion and cultural magazine from Portugal. [via Feature Shoot] Read more

Chavin de Huantar

Callejón de Conchucos was the place where the Chavin culture (1000-400 BC) built their most important religious temple, a ceremonial site where they also studied astronomy so they would know when to plant and harvest their fields. Chavin culture is one of the oldest and most important of the Andes region. You can find in this temple an underground labyrinth and a huge sculpture of one of their main gods: Lanzón Monolítico. This place is located just a few hours from Huaráz, Perú (Callejón de Huaylas, Cordillera Blanca). You can take a tour or go by yourself by public transportation. [Photo by Jessica Parra Nowajewski]

Chan Chan City, Peru

On the coastal side of Trujillo in Perú, you can find the old abandoned city of the Chimú (900-1400 AC) culture, an impressive site of just twenty square kilometer. It’s a dusty place, which is being rebuilt and looks like a Hollywood stage surrounded by enormous ancient walls. If you’re lucky, you can see some reminders of the original Chimú sculptures. You can take a tour of the city or go by yourself in a local bus. I recommend the latter, because it’s a very atypical experience that you won’t forget easily. [Photos by Jessica Parra Nowajewski] Read more

Floating House

This house has many facets that make it an intriguing example. First of all, it is a very aesthetically pleasing project with the use of light horizontal timbers and a clean pitched roof. Designed by MOS, an interesting design collective based in America, the secret to the Floating House is that it floats on a structure of steel pontoons. The house rises and falls with the changing waters and is frozen in place depending on the season. The steel pontoons were constructed first and towed to the lake outside the contractor’s factory and then the house was built atop of it. When finished it was towed to its position, anchored and enjoyed in its unique position. Finally, it forms a bridge between the land and an island. Wonderful!

Torre Bicentenario

Dutch uber-firm OMA, headed by Rem Koolhaas, has created this concept in Mexico City to symbolize the coming two hundred years of Mexico’s independence. There are many layers of symbolism in this building, from Mayan pyramids to which part of the building controls the park and which part controls the city, to the fact that the bulge of the building is below the centre height, and that it all happens on a relatively small footprint. Most of all, in this building there is a barely contained energy that seems near to release and it may be that this is what Torre Bicentenario represents.

Danish Building Bridge

The Danes are renowned for their considered and subtle design. However, in these times of change, they must feel they need something with this selection of a bridge building as the winner of a recent architectural competition in Denmark. The American architect Steven Holl designed this building with a pedestrian bridge that links two sides of the harbour in the distinctly low-rise Copenhagen. Read more