snaptrude uses AI to generate editable 3D architectural models from simple text descriptions

Architecture at a Turning Point, working smarter with ai

While a book or piece of music can be easily set aside if it doesn’t capture our interest, architecture is different. A building endures for decades, and it shapes the landscape and influences the lives of its occupants for years to come. This permanence brings with it a unique set of challenges: architects must design spaces that impact collective life, often under tight deadlines, limited budgets, and significant pressure. In addition to navigating complex regulations and coordinating construction, architects face the misconception that design is simple, or that anyone could do it. The constant balancing act between quality, cost, and speed often leads to sacrifices — whether in time, health, or the integrity of the project itself. This cycle not only wears down the profession but diminishes society’s understanding of the true value of design.

The well-known “good, fast, and cheap” triangle is rarely resolved without the architect sacrificing their own time, health, or even the quality of the project. Repeated for decades, this equation fuels a cycle of wear that not only undermines the profession but also depreciates the value of design in society, even diminishing the role of such a beautiful and important discipline.

Courtesy of Snaptrude

And if the cultural and economic context already exerts pressure, the technology available has offered little relief. The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector still relies on fragmented software and workflows, many conceived in another era, demanding exhaustive attention at every stage of the process. Although these tools have been used to build some of the most advanced structures in the world, they have not kept pace with the growing complexity of projects or the urgency of contemporary deadlines. The result is all too familiar: long working hours, overburdened teams, and little room for creative reflection.

Artificial intelligence emerges in this scenario not as a threat of replacement, but as a strategic collaborator. Its impact is particularly evident in the early stages, when architects spend valuable time on repetitive tasks or data gathering. Generating a layout from program requirements, cross-checking codes in real time, running early energy simulations, or producing reference images in seconds reduces friction and creates room for more critical design decisions. Instead of reinforcing the logic of “working more hours to compensate,” AI points toward a shift: working more intelligently and strategically, focusing on what truly matters.

Courtesy of Snaptrude

The Case of Snaptrude

Among the emerging platforms, Snaptrude has stood out for integrating AI directly into the early phases of design. Unlike software that requires the manual construction of masses or layouts, the tool allows a project to begin from textual descriptions, simply indicate building type, site, and program, and the system generates an initial spatial proposal.

From there, the model remains fully editable and can be refined by the architect at any time, ensuring creative control without wasting hours on repetitive tasks. In addition, Snaptrude incorporates AI-assisted research, integrating building codes, accessibility standards, and cost benchmarks directly into the design environment; real-time analysis, which automatically cross-checks information such as program areas, flows, and spatial proportions to reduce errors; and instant rendering and visualization, eliminating the need to export models to other software and enabling rapid testing of materials, openings, or urban contexts without breaking the creative flow.

Courtesy of Snaptrude

Courtesy of Snaptrude

Courtesy of Snaptrude

Instead of spending days structuring a preliminary study, teams can arrive at a solid concept in just hours, validated by data and ready to be refined alongside clients and other stakeholders. These functions have a direct impact on productivity by easing the burden of repetitive work, and AI can give architects back something fundamental, that is time to think, to investigate materials, refine solutions, and defend the value of their ideas. More than a promise of productivity, artificial intelligence can help revalue the intellectual work of architecture, which has always gone beyond the mere delivery of technical documents.

Artificial intelligence does not eliminate the complexity of architecture, nor does it guarantee shorter workdays. But it opens the possibility of reorganizing daily practice, reducing mechanical tasks and freeing energy for what truly demands critical and creative attention. The issue is not producing more in less time, but working more strategically, no longer absorbing alone the costs of an imbalanced system. Perhaps therein lies the opportunity to redefine, more fairly, the impossible equation of the profession.

Courtesy of Snaptrude

Courtesy of Snaptrude

Guest Feature by Eduardo Souza / ArchDaily

The post snaptrude uses AI to generate editable 3D architectural models from simple text descriptions appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

BRICK AWARD 26 reveals 50 architectural works redefining the use of brick

BRICK AWARD 26 showcases bold visions in brick

The international shortlist for BRICK AWARD 26 has been announced, showcasing 50 of the world’s most inspiring brick buildings from 21 countries across the globe. Selected from 849 submissions, the projects represent originality and excellence in contemporary brick architecture. The biennial prize, hosted by wienerberger yet independently judged, spans five categories, including small house projects and commercial buildings, highlighting the versatility of brick as a timeless material. The awards ceremony is taking place in Vienna on 11 June 2026, announcing the winners selected by an international jury of renowned architects and designers including Gabriela Carrillo, Christine Conix, Jens Linnet, Traudy Pelzel and Eduardo Mediero.

From Kengo Kuma and Associates’ sculptural UCCA Clay Museum in Yixing, China to the glass-brick Melbourne Holocaust Museum in Australia by KTA, Brazil’s Bloco Arquitetos’ White Bricks House, and the expressive Shafagh Tomb in Iran by 35-51 Architecture Office, the 2026 shortlist celebrates how brick continues to bridge culture, craft and contemporary design.

UCCA Clay Museum in Yixing, designed by Kengo Kuma and Associates | all images courtesy of wienerberger

from brazil to china, the prize celebrates the potential of brick

Launched in 2004, the BRICK AWARD has grown into a leading international prize that celebrates architectural innovation and the creative potential of brick. Presented every two years, it highlights projects that combine craftsmanship, sustainability and design excellence. Organized by wienerberger yet judged independently, the award ensures recognition is given purely on merit, with winning and shortlisted works published in the official BRICK book and honoured at a ceremony in Vienna.

Behind the initiative is wienerberger, a leading international provider of innovative ecological solutions for the entire building envelope, in the fields of new build and renovation, as well as infrastructure in water and energy management. With more than 20,000 employees worldwide and over 200 production sites, the company is the world’s largest producer of bricks and market leader in clay roof tiles in Europe. Through the BRICK AWARD, wienerberger underlines its commitment to supporting architecture that is both forward-looking and firmly rooted in material tradition.

White Brick House by Bloco Arquitetos | image © Joana Franca

brick award 26 spans five categories in five continents

The shortlist is divided into five categories: Feeling at home for residential houses, Living together for urban housing, Working together for commercial and industrial projects, Sharing public spaces for civic and cultural architecture, and Building outside the box for experimental and innovative works. Together, these categories form a panorama of architectural approaches, from intimate dwellings to monumental public landmarks.The selection spans five continents, from a white brick house in Brazil built using artisanal methods to a sculptural tomb in Iran with inscriptions flowing across its surface.

In Asia, highlights include the Aga Khan Academy in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, that comprises a series of four-storey brick-clad buildings that nestle within a highly developed urban site bordered by a large motorway. Arranged around green outdoor spaces, the project offers relief from these built-up surroundings, creating external areas for both play and education.

Aga Khan Academy by Shatotto and FCB in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka | image © Asid Salman

Still in Asia, highlights from China include the UCCA Clay Museum in Yixing, designed by Kengo Kuma and Associates, whose distinctive roof is defined by a series of peaks that reference the nearby Shushan mountain. Described by the studio as “an inverted shell structure carved by virtual spheres”, the framework has been cloaked with 3,600 handmade ceramic tiles glazed in dark and light brown tones, evoking the colour changes that occur in pottery as it is fired.

Further north towards Bejing, the shortlisted Tianjin Zhongshuge bookstore is a three-storey building featuring a design with ‘waves’ of custom-designed bricks and ironwork, creating a unique, immersive space for visitors.

Tianjin Zhongshuge by X+ Living Architecture | image ©SFAP

Additionally, in Chennai, India, the Metallic Bellows factory office by KSM Architecture, is a single-storey brick structure inspired by local brick kilns and clay-rich soil, with a focus on reducing CO₂ emissions by minimising concrete use. The design features a traditional jack arch system, with downstand and peripheral beams, giving the locally sourced brickwork a light, floating appearance and an artisanal character.

Shortlisted entries from the Middle East include the Shafagh Tomb in the small city of Ardakan, in central Iran, which features an inverted dome and inscriptions flowing freely across its surface, transforming the architecture into a canvas that celebrates freedom of expression. Acting as a gateway to the cemetery, the Shafaq Tomb redefines a traditionally private space as a monument for all – a place where the sacred meets the everyday.

Shafagh Tomb by 35-51 Architecture Office | image © 35-51 Architecture Office

Moving to Europe, Dutch architecture practice Studio RAP has designed a ‘wave-like’ facade completely clad with 3D-printed ceramic tiles fronting onto Amsterdam’s historic Hooftstraat shopping street. While in Germany, working on a much larger canvas, fired clay, in the form of glazed panels with a fine, irregular vertical structure, was used for the facade of the plant buildings at Leipzig Cogeneration Plant. And in Slovenia, the transformation of a former industrial hall in Ljubljana into a temporary theatre focused on recycled and reusable materials, with the visible clay blocks painted silver.

Reuse by Michail Riches Architects was also a theme at Park Hill in Sheffield in the United Kingdom, where a Brutalist housing estate featured board-marked concrete infilled with fine-grain domestic brickwork. The reinvigorated bricks denote each ‘street in the sky’ and the colours of the balconies were chosen to complement the tones of the brickwork.

Ceramic House by Studio RAP | image ©Riccardo De Vecchi

All the way to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum in Australia, an estimated 25,000 bricks were reportedly incorporated into the facade, comprising a combination of clay bricks in Ceniza and Poesia glass bricks. Arranged in a refined ‘hit and miss’ pattern, the design carefully balances transparency and security, serving as a powerful expression of remembrance and resilience and establishing visual and physical connections to activities, daylight and the community.

Right across, through the Pacific Ocean, Aatequila facility provided a notable entry from Mexico, where warehousing and offices for Clase Azul La Hacienda Jalisco used local ceramics and stone from the site excavation to anchor the buildings in their volcanic topography. Meanwhile, in Brazil, the White Bricks House was built using artisanal techniques and exposed solid bricks painted white. Varying brick spacing creates different levels of openness and privacy for each room. Careful study of the brickwork produced unique patterns and finishes, giving the project a timeless, handcrafted character.

Among other entries from the USA, 64 University Place by Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects is an 11-storey residential building in Greenwich Village, New York, distinguished by its hand-laid brick masonry facade, arched windows and a grid of pilasters. The design blends historic references from the surrounding neighbourhood with contemporary details. The brick facade showcases skilled craftsmanship, relying both on expert bricklayers and thoughtful detailing.

Crossing continents, Set on a 4,000m² site on the slopes of Steenberg Ridge in Cape Town, South Africa, Mountain House by Chis van Niekerk sits lightly within its semi-rural landscape. The design uses a restrained palette of materials that express the earth’s colours and textures, allowing the building to age gracefully. Rooted in a primordial sense of shelter, it embraces simple, unadorned materials to create a timeless sense of enclosure.

Slovenian National Theatre by Vidic Grohar Arhitekti | image © Maxime Delvaux 

Melbourne Holocaust Museum (MHM) by KTA | image © L Showell

project info:

name: BRICK AWARD | @brickaward

The post BRICK AWARD 26 reveals 50 architectural works redefining the use of brick appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Spanning 120 Years and 55 Countries, ‘The Family of Migrants’ Portrays a Broad Story of Human Movement

In 2022, twenty-one-year-old Tanya choked back tears as she held her boyfriend’s hand for what could be the last time. Crouching down to reach her, the military fatigue-clad Volodimir stands on a train headed for the city of Kramatorsk in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. He’s on his way to the battlefield to fight Russia’s invasion.

Taken by Ilvy Nijokiktijen, the photo capturing this heartwrenching moment is one of nearly 200 included in a book and large-scale exhibition at Fenix, a new art museum in Rotterdam that focuses entirely on migration. The Family of Migrants takes a broad look at human movement from 1905 to the present day, citing a wide array of reasons someone might relocate from war and economic crises to exile and internment to a search for opportunities abroad.

Spanning documentary, portraits, and photojournalism, the included images emerge from 136 photographers in 55 countries across 120 years. Providing such an expansive perspective of movement connects myriad experiences—from a Ukrainian soldier off to war to a young Afghan refugee to a poverty-stricken mother and her children—and is an attempt to broaden how we think of migration.

“In every era, there has been movement of people, be it out of free will, out of necessity, or under pressure. Migration shapes the world, separating and connecting people, but when we talk about migration, the focus all too quickly shifts to figures or politics,” curator Hanneke Mantel says.

The title references the 1955 Museum of Modern Art exhibition, The Family of Man. Curated by Edward Steichen, the bold exhibition included hundreds of photos that presented a narrative of global solidarity after World War II. Steichan wanted to depict “the gamut of life from birth to death,” a task Mantel seems to take on at Fenix by sharing a fuller story of migration today.

The Family of Migrants, published by Hannibal Books, includes photos by icons like Dorothea Lange and Ernest Cole, along with those working today like Alejandro Cegarra. Find your copy on Bookshop.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Spanning 120 Years and 55 Countries, ‘The Family of Migrants’ Portrays a Broad Story of Human Movement appeared first on Colossal.

pablo luna studio crafts fluid bamboo ‘belalu dome villa’ in tropical bali

Belalu Dome Villa: Organic architecture in the Jungle

Pablo Luna Studio‘s newly completed Belalu Dome Villa rises among the lush landscape of Bali with a dramatically curving roof structure. Conceived as part of Belalu Bali Boutique & Spa Experience, the villa reflects the retreat’s vision of combining ecological awareness with contemporary comfort. Its dome form symbolizes the architects’ ideas of unity, continuity, and gentle protection, and harmonizes with the layered greenery that defines the Indonesian island’s terrain.

The architecture favors organic expression over linear composition. Arched bamboo frames spring directly from the ground, joining above in a continuous sweep that shapes both roof and wall. Without straight columns or visible separations, the form reads as one fluid gesture to lend curved, fluid interiors. The structure appears to breathe with its setting, light shifting through woven bamboo as air moves across its surface.

images © Mo Arpi

Pablo Luna Studio curates fluid interiors

Inside Pablo Luna Studio’s Belalu Dome Villa, three interconnected spaces unfold. The central bedroom opens toward a semi-open bathroom and private garden, where textured limestone walls and ulin wood finishes bring tactile richness. The floor, wall, and ceiling each transition into the next without sharp distinction. This creates a softening of spatial boundaries, linking occupants to their surroundings.

The layout extends toward an indoor jacuzzi that opens onto the living area, maintaining a consistent sense of continuity. Here, the team‘s craftsmanship plays a central role as custom furnishings, woven details, and natural stone surfaces speak to the local building traditions that inform Pablo Luna’s architectural language.

Belalu Dome Villa rises from the jungle landscape of Bali with an organic form

a material palette of bamboo and hardwood

The architects at Pablo Luna Studio curate a restrained palette of bamboo, limestone, slate, and hardwood to ground the Belalu Dome Villa in its tropical context. The materials absorb and diffuse daylight, creating a balanced environment that remains temperate and inviting throughout the day. The dome’s curvature ensures both shade and ventilation, essential to the region’s humid climate.

As light filters through the bamboo weave, interior shadows shift in quiet patterns. Breezes enter through generous openings that frame the surrounding forest, carrying the scent of vegetation and moisture. Within this dialogue of form and environment, the villa becomes a space for reflection and renewal.

Pablo Luna Studio designs the villa as part of Belalu Bali Boutique and Spa Experience

curved bamboo arches create an open structure without straight columns

the architecture flows continuously from ground to roof in one fluid movement

filtered sunlight and cross ventilation bring calm and comfort to the space

project info:

name: Belalu Dome Villa

architect: Pablo Luna Studio | @pablolunastudio

location: Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

area: 80 square meters (860 square feet)

photography: © Mo Arpi | @mo_arpi_studio

The post pablo luna studio crafts fluid bamboo ‘belalu dome villa’ in tropical bali appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Explore Trailblazing Street Photography in ‘Faces in the Crowd’ at MFA Boston

When playwright Tennessee Williams reflected on the oeuvre of photographer Stephen Shore in 1982, he said, “His work is Nabokovian for me: Exposing so much and yet leaving so much room for your imagination to roam and do what it will.” The sentiment mirrors not only the power of Shore’s work but the capacity of street photography, more broadly, to provoke wonder and curiosity where we least expect it: the everyday.

Shore was among the first to adopt color photography as an artistic medium, traveling throughout America to document quotidian scenes of life in rural towns and big cities alike. His work followed behemoths of the medium like Walker Evans and Robert Frank and set the stage for others who emerged in his footsteps, including Alec Soth, Nan Goldin, and Martin Parr, among many others.

Shore is included in Faces in the Crowd: Street Photography at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which explores the ever-evolving techniques and approaches that photographers use to document people and daily life. Seminal works from the 1970s to the 1990s by Shore, Garry Winogrand, Helen Levitt, Dawoud Bey, and Yolanda Andrade, among others, are complemented by more recent contributions to the genre by artists like Parr, Luc Delahaye, Katy Grannan, Amani Willett, and Zoe Strauss.

Today, smartphones with powerful digital cameras have made photography more accessible than ever—and also completely transformed the medium. With people always unabashedly filming—taking photos, making videos, posting to social media—in the city, “photographers are now less concerned with surreptitiously capturing an image and much more likely to collaborate with their subjects in the street,” the MFA says.

The difference between snapshots and art is perhaps partly in intention, although that line is often purposely blurred. Bey’s striking “A Man and Two Women After a Church Service,” for example, captures a seemingly simple scene, yet the composition and clarity are a testament to timing and technical expertise. In what feels like simultaneously a public and private moment, the 1976 image glimpses both a particular scene and an American historical period.

Whether taken decades ago or snapped within the past few years, the images in Faces in the Crowd invite us into each experience. Luc Delahaye’s “Taxi,” for example, captures a solemn, intimate, enigmatic moment as a mother holds her young son in her arms in the back of a vehicle.

Yasuhiro Ishimoto’s crowd photo, taken from the hip, immerses us in the thrum of a city thoroughfare. And Yolanda Andrade captures an uncanny blip when a street performer disappears behind the unsettlingly large head of a puppet. The MFA says, “Drawn to photography’s narrative potential, many employ the camera as a tool of transformation, taking everyday pictures from the ordinary to the strangely beautiful or even ominous.”

Faces in the Crowd opens on October 11 and runs through July 13, 2026. Find more on the museum’s website. You might also enjoy A Sense of Wonder, a monograph of the work of Joel Meyerowitz that was just released by SKIRA.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Explore Trailblazing Street Photography in ‘Faces in the Crowd’ at MFA Boston appeared first on Colossal.

World War II Journal Entries Float in a Web of Blood-Red Yarn in Chiharu Shiota’s ‘Diary’

Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, Berlin-based artist Chiharu Shiota presents a poignant suite of large-scale works in Two Home Countries at Japan Society Gallery. That artist is known for her immersive string installations, inviting us into emotive, atmospheric experiences that tap into both universal and deeply personal narratives.

In Two Home Countries, viewers enter a vivid world shaped by red thread, redolent of intertwined veins and blood vessels that attach to the floor, take on the shapes of houses, and spread through an entire room with a cloud-like aura of red—filled with written pages. Themes of memory, mortality, connection, identity, and belonging weave through Shiota’s pieces, exploring “how pain, displacement, boundaries, and existential uncertainty shape the human condition and our understanding of self,” the gallery says.

An expansive, room-sized work titled “Diary,” which is based on an earlier installation and commissioned anew for Two Home Countries, incorporates a dense web of yarn in which float pages of journals that once belonged to Japanese soldiers. Some were also penned by German civilians in the post-war era. “The accumulated pages reveal an expansive record of shared human existence across national boundaries,” the gallery says.

“When the body is gone, the objects which surrounded them remain behind,” Shiota says in a statement. “As I wander the stalls of the markets in Berlin, I find especially personal items like photographs, old passports, and personal diaries. Once, I found a diary from 1946, which was an intimate insight into the person’s life and experiences.” For Shiota, the power of these objects are revealed in how she feels the presence of writer’s “inner self.”

Two Home Countries is on view through January 11 in New York City. Plan your visit on the Japan Society’s website, and find more on Shiota’s site and Instagram.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article World War II Journal Entries Float in a Web of Blood-Red Yarn in Chiharu Shiota’s ‘Diary’ appeared first on Colossal.

6,500-Year-Old Earthworks in Austria Are Thousands of Years Older than Stonehenge

Around 10,000 years ago, a paradigm shift in human history began to unfold. Prior to this transitional period, which archaeologists refer to as the Neolithic Revolution—the final phase of the Stone Age—small societies were organized around hunting and gathering for sustenance. During the Neolithic period, the gradual adoption of agricultural practices forever changed the way we live.

Over the next few thousand years, humans began domesticating plants and practicing animal husbandry in different parts of the world. And with less time needed for farming than for nomadically searching for food, ancient people could enjoy other activities that led to economic, political, religious, and artistic developments.

The Neolithic period saw the very first civilizations. It’s also when iconically old structures like Ireland’s Newgrange passage tomb and England’s Stonehenge complex were built, the latter of which was begun around 3100 B.C.E. and finished around 600 years later. For context, when Stonehenge was in its final phase, construction of the Pyramids of Giza was likely in progress. Recently, a series of circular earthworks dating to the 5th millennium B.C.E. (5000 to 4001 B.C.E.) in Burgenland, Austria, may predate much of Stonehenge by a remarkable 2,000 years.

At the newly excavated site, three monumental structures sit in close proximity to one another near the town of Rechnitz. The earthworks were initially discovered via aerial and geomagnetic surveys between 2011 and 2017. A total of four were found, three of which are ring-shaped structures that were previously invisible to the naked eye.

Known as circular ditch systems, the structures were built in the Middle Neolithic period—sometime between 4850 and 4500 B.C.E.—making them at least 6,500 years old.

“The Rechnitz site can be considered a supra-regional center of the Middle Neolithic period,” says Nikolaus Franz, the director of Burgenland Archaeology, in a statement. In the ditches measuring as much as 340 feet across, archaeologists have documented pits containing ceramic finds and post holes that indicate where timber beams in the ground once supported shelters.

Circular ditch monuments of this type, known as Kreisgrabenanlagen in German, are consistently found throughout Central Europe. While their intended function remains unknown, researchers generally believe they held an ancient religious, or cultic, purpose. Similar to Stonehenge, their orientation includes openings that align with the solstices and seem to correspond to an astronomical calendar.

“The excavations open a veritable window into the Stone Age,” Franz says. “We are learning a great deal about the Neolithic settler clans who found this a favorable location to establish the cultural techniques of agriculture and livestock farming in what is now Burgenland…After centuries of hunting and gathering, the gradual settlement of humans was truly revolutionary.”

You might also enjoy exploring the phenomenal complex of more than 10,000 earthworks made by prehistoric Indigenous societies in the Amazon basin.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article 6,500-Year-Old Earthworks in Austria Are Thousands of Years Older than Stonehenge appeared first on Colossal.

Bryan Sansivero Documents Otherworldly, Forgotten Houses in ‘America the Abandoned’

In many parts of rural America, the population keeps shrinking. Low birth rates, aging residents, and evolving or shuttering industries pair with a trend of younger people migrating to metro areas for jobs and more diverse cultural amenities. As of 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that there are more than 15 million abandoned houses around the country, which have been left for myriad reasons ranging from foreclosures to structural issues to the death of inhabitants with no one else able or willing to shoulder the responsibility of a home and its furnishings.

Photographer Bryan Sansivero feels a strong pull to document and explore forgotten dwellings. His new book forthcoming from Artisan, America the Abandoned, explores deserted homes around the country in 200 striking images. From interiors strewn with garments, toys, knick-knacks, and decor to empty farmhouses gradually sagging into the prairie, he captures a spectral phenomenon ripe for storytelling.

Sansivero’s practice also revolves around portraiture, which lends itself to his approach of capturing these once-occupied houses. Although devoid of people, their enigmatic stories and vernacular personalities resonate through aged clapboard walls, overgrown shrubs, and forsaken belongings.

The images range from misty, haunting facades to everyday interiors. “These spaces are often littered with dust, mold, and creepy crawlies, and occasionally, they house one-of-a-kind relics: a tiger skin rug, a commemorative bicentennial piano, or a collection of mannequins,” the publisher says. “Taken together, this photographic collection serves as a time capsule—as an eerie reminder that everything we own is temporary and will eventually be forgotten.”

America the Abandoned is slated for release on October 14. Pre-order your copy on Bookshop, and check out more of Sansivero’s work on his website and Instagram.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Bryan Sansivero Documents Otherworldly, Forgotten Houses in ‘America the Abandoned’ appeared first on Colossal.

A Feat of Engineering Transports the World’s Best-Preserved Viking Ship to Its New Home

In 1903, on a farm in southeastern Norway, a once-in-a-lifetime discovery emerged from within a large yet unassuming mound in a field. When the spot was excavated in 1904, the mound revealed an entire Viking longship that had been interred in its entirety as a burial containing the remains of two women, several animals, and a wide array of elaborately decorated objects.

Known as the Oseberg Viking Ship after the name of the farm where it was discovered, the vessel is thought to have been built around 820 and buried around 834. Reconstructions over the past several decades have suggested that the ship was indeed built to sail, rather than having been designed specifically as a burial—a practice reserved for high-status individuals, for whom the ship provided passage into the afterlife. Nestled deep in the wet earth, the wood was remarkably preserved for more than 1,000 years, although much of it was crushed and degraded.

Initial restoration efforts of the Oseberg took more than 20 years, and experts tried to preserve as much of the structure as possible through the use of oils and resin to prevent the wood from crumbling. Today, around 90 percent of the ship’s composition is original, making it the best-preserved example in the world.

A feat of engineering and careful planning recently moved the Oseberg Viking Ship to a new permanent home, with the same relocation planned for two additional longships, the Gokstad and the Tune. For more than two years, the Oseberg has been encased in a steel framework that weighs more than 50 tons, allowing it to stay on site during construction of a new museum.

The ship has been on display at the Viking Ship Museum at the University of Oslo for almost a century. Over time, the combination of unstable restoration methods, lack of humidity control, and weakening supports began causing stress on the vessel, making it vulnerable to more damage if left in place.

In 2014, the government-backed Saving Oseberg project kicked off a 10-plus-year mission to not only further protect one of the most important Viking discoveries in the world, but make sure it could be enjoyed and studied for generations to come. In early 2023, construction commenced on a new space connected to the Viking Ship Museum’s original building, now renamed the Museum of the Viking Age. The expanded campus is slated to open in 2027.

On September 10, the 71-foot-long Oseberg ship, contained in its vibration-resistant steel crate, was lifted onto a steel track that conveyed it through a long hall and into its new exhibition space. The process took about 10 hours to move the ship 350 feet, with a maximum speed of around 10 inches per minute.

Director Aud V. Tønnessen celebrated the historic move, saying, “It is a ship that has been part of so much and has an afterlife that gives me chills to think about.” Tønnessen also told Norwegian news agency NTB, “I actually find it quite moving to think that it is now going on its final voyage.”

Learn more, and follow the progress of the Gokstad and the Tune, on the museum’s website and YouTube.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article A Feat of Engineering Transports the World’s Best-Preserved Viking Ship to Its New Home appeared first on Colossal.

Uncanny Papier-Mâché Creatures by Roberto Benavidez Mingle in ‘Bosch Beasts’

Most often associated with Mexico, the piñata’s origins may actually trace back to China. By the 14th century, the celebratory tradition of breaking open a container filled with treats had arrived in Europe. Then, Spanish colonists and missionaries imported the custom to Mexico during the 16th century, although a similar practice was already in use within Indigenous Mayan and Aztec communities in observation of special events. Today, piñatas are an integral element of cartonería, the Mexican craft of papier-mâché.

For Los Angeles-based artist Roberto Benavidez, the art of the piñata is a central tenet of a practice exploring intersecting themes of race, sexuality, humor, sin, and beauty. He draws upon the paper art form’s early religious significance in Mexico, when Spanish missionaries used a seven-pointed version as a tool for converting Indigenous people to Christianity. This motif, which appears in some of Benavidez’s distinctive sculptures, nods to its past colonial use.

“The points of the star represented the seven deadly sins, the blindfold worn by the bat-wielding assailant represented faith, and the treats found inside were the rewards for blind and unwavering belief,” Diva Zumaya says in an exhibition essay for the artist’s current solo exhibition, Bosch Beasts, at Perrotin.

Benavidez continues to make piñata-like sculptures that resemble uncanny, hybrid creatures, often inspired by the marginalia of illuminated manuscripts and the surreal characters in Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” which the Netherlandish artist painted between 1490 and 1510.

Bosch Beasts highlights Benavidez’s ongoing fascination with the rare and extraordinary, exhibiting new works alongside pieces he’s made throughout the past decade. Installed on the floor or suspended from the ceiling, his creatures appear independently occupied and immersed in an esoteric group activity.

Each piece comes to life through papier-mâché, using a balloon to create the central form before adding more structure with Bristol board and additional layers of glue-slathered paper. Wire supports more delicate limbs and appendages, and to achieve the final texture, Benavidez cuts and attaches every tiny feather or scale.

“Drawing from his personal experience as a queer and mixed-race Mexican
American, Benavidez starts from a foundation of hybridity in which these monsters are the perfect actors,” Zumaya says, continuing:

Every mixed-race person who has become well acquainted with the question, “What are you?” is all too familiar with how it feels to live at the borders of identities, appearances complicating the compulsion to categorize. The way Benavidez uses these hybrid bodies to conjure ideas around race echoes their meaning in sixteenth-century Europe, where notions of the monstrous were profoundly intertwined with early formations of race.

Bosch Beasts continues through October 18 in Los Angeles. See more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Uncanny Papier-Mâché Creatures by Roberto Benavidez Mingle in ‘Bosch Beasts’ appeared first on Colossal.