La Pianta Grande di Roma, created by Giambattista Nolli in 1748, represents a milestone in cartography. For architects it is one of the most important and earliest mappings of public and private space within an urban setting. Piazzas, fountains, courtyards, churches and gardens are all represented as part of the streetscape of Rome.

Images are taken from the Interactive Nolli Map of Rome, setup by a research team at the University of Oregon. The map project is a great way to explore the map if you don’t have access to an original almost 7′x7′ version.

Josh Spear linked to a really interesting website – SayHear.org, a non-profit, non-partisan site that asked voters to leave an audio recording explaining why they were voting for (or now, why they voted) for a particular candidate. So, regardless of how you feel about the outcome today, you can speak up (anonymously) about why you cast your ballot the way you did in the election, and you can listen to what other people had to say. The recordings are fascinating…

Fatih Baltas sent over his work, and I love his take on the old Rock Paper Scissors game…This would put an end to all those cheaters who don’t come down right at 3!

The Experimental Pavilion, designed by a team of architects, engineers and concrete material engineers at TU Kaiserslautern, pushes the limits of ultra high-performance concrete. The thinness and forms achieved contradict the heaviness and thickness that we think concrete is limited to. And in their experiment, they designed a beautiful pavilion both architecturally and technically.

via Opus C

Today and Tomorrow reminded me of Sandra Backlund’s amazing knitwear. She has a new collection out – Last Breath Bruises. Sandra takes knitting to a whole new level, creating complex, sculptural pieces through her heavy wool collage knitting technique. From the artist:

I am really fascinated by all the ways you can highlight, distort and transform the natural silhouette of the body with clothes and accessories. I build my garments by hand from a couple of basic bricks which I multiply and attach to each other in different ways to discover the shape that I want. In that sense I approach fashion more like a sculptor than a tailor.

The Parque Biblioteca España in Medellín, Colombia by Giancarlo Mazzanti Arquitectos casts a striking presence on the hills of Santo Domingo Savio barrio. A community facility, the library serves the neighborhood by providing classrooms, library, auditorium and other educational spaces for an area struggling to regain economic prosperity and stability.

via Architectural Record

Hard Graft, previously known as Working Class Heroes, came out recently with a new line of accessory covers for your laptops, phones, ipods, and notebooks. Made with leather and 100% wool felt, they are well detailed and affordably priced (especially if you get paid in euros or pounds!). I especially love the Pocketwallet from their Dapper Collection.

Via Notcot.

The Rinse&Chop and Grip-top cutting boards by DesignWright serve two everyday functions very well: collecting cut veggies and a non-slip cutting board. The two are both time and finger savers. If only they were combined into one single product…

Designboom featured Gwendolyn Huskens amazing Medic Esthetic footwear project. Gwendolyn is a student at the Design Academy in Eindhoven and her project toys with the taboos of physical deformities in our society – creating some very lovely shoes made out from medical supplies, such as synthetic plaster, bandages, stainless steel and band-aids.

Photos via Marzellluz.

Guys – we recently upgraded our Blogger template from Classic to the new blogger, and are having issues with the custom domain settings – ie. all of our images have disappeared! We’re working to resolve it (and if anyone has any suggestions, I’m all ears!). In the meantime, thanks for your patience…

UPDATE: Things seem to be working again, but I’m a little nervous, so if you come across any issues/broken links, please let us know! Thanks!