archatlas:

Neverending Bookstore

The design by XL-Muse of Hangzhou Zhongshuge uses optical illusions to create a neverending bookstore that seems to extend in all directions, in order to satisfy the goal established by the client of creating the most beautiful bookstore in the world.

From the architect:

Looking through the glass curtain, a pure white space consisting of circular bookshelf pillars escape the shackles of the surrounding environment. These white pillars carrying books rise up straight to the sky. Under the reflection of ceiling mirror, they seem to have a conversation beyond time. Additionally, the wall mirror doubles the transverse dimension to enable the whole book spaces to seem unbounded as the real nature. 

Walking on the central axis of the forest zone and walking through a doorway as guided by the lights to the border of light and shade, we transit from the lightness to the profound main hall of Zhongshuge – an oncoming quiet reading corridor. Here, the entire bookshelf extends endlessly to the side. The darker and lighter-colored shelves are orderly advanced or retreated, as changing mountains or unattainable ladders or fortitude upright spines to silently convey the power of knowledge to us. The chandeliers floating in the ceiling mirror softens the entire space like a firefly. People under the lights, recollect the aromatic coffee or mediate in the world of books. Cross the corridor is the stair reading area. The circular skylight pours down from the ceiling mirror, and the encircling bookshelves look like the swirling lamp belt. 

In the Hangzhou Zhongshuge, there is also a children pavilion, which is a book playground. The designer arts bookshelves as playground facilities including merry-go-round, roller coaster, hot air balloons and pirate ships to give children a happy reading experience as if playing in the playground, while the floor of galaxy maps not only inspires the imagination of children and also interestingly educate them the knowledge of galaxy.

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Images and text via

(via archatlas)

finkspiration:
“ reservoircat:
“ captainscullyful:
“ characterflaws:
“ misslunasapphire:
“ gerutha:
“ phoenixaskani:
“ If this woman was alive today, she’d have my vote. Shit.
”
#she put frederick douglass on her ballot as v.p. too #unfortunately he...

finkspiration:

reservoircat:

captainscullyful:

characterflaws:

misslunasapphire:

gerutha:

phoenixaskani:

If this woman was alive today, she’d have my vote. Shit.

#she put frederick douglass on her ballot as v.p. too #unfortunately he didn’t know about it at the time #he read about it in the papers and was like ‘is this chick serious’

Victoria Woodhull 2016

This fails to mention that she was the first woman to run for US president, as well as being the first woman stockbroker on Wall Street alongside her sister Tennie Claflin, and their newspaper published the first English translation of the Communist Manifesto known to date

@reservoircat HEY LOOK WHAT JUST POPPED UP ON MY DASH

YES, I HAVE *OPINIONS* ABOUT THIS POST.

Okay, for starters, Victoria wasn’t a sex worker. She wasn’t necessarily anti-sex worker in the manner of the time–she viewed it as a societal ill that occurred because of the inequality of women and the power structure which allowed and abused such sex work. But she very much wanted to destroy the structures that forced many women into sex work and sex trafficking.

The claims that Victoria herself was a sex worker come from two things: her supportive stance on ‘free love’, i.e. the allowance for men and women to chose their own consensual sex partners outside of marriage, and her rise to power as a millionaire New York stock broker and newspaper owner. See, men of the time refused to believe that Victoria and her younger sister Tennessee Claflin could truly be such shrewd, ambitious and forward thinking businesswomen all on their own. So they spread the rumor that the sisters got their positions and fortunes from being sugar babies basically.

She was also virulently anti-trafficking after her younger sister and business partner Tennie Claflin was kidnapped and sold into brothels by one of their business rivals. When this happened, Victoria and her husband Colonel James Blood tracked the traffickers down and retrieved Tennie at gunpoint from her captors. 

Victoria was not well liked by her fellow suffragists either because she was an ardent supporter of Black suffrage and total equality of all races. She regularly told Stanton and Anthony to go fuck themselves.

It was awesome. She was awesome.

I just love Victoria Woodhull so much ;-;

Victoria Woodhull was sick as hell, GET TO KNOW HER

(via gigagigglefitz)

archatlas:

Shed of the Year

The UK’s most outrageously spectacular sheds battle it out for top honor of Shed of the Year. A competition that celebrates every conceivable style, shape and size of shed, from the historical to the unique and everything in between. A panel of judges has selected a shortlist of sheds for each category, some of our favorites are included in this photo set, now the public decides on the winners from each category with a final judging panel picking the overall winner.

You can read more on Readersheds, home of the Great British shed, or at the blog of Shed of the Year.

Which one is your favorite?

(via archatlas)


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