Your Rainbow Panorama by Olafur Eliasson

Constructed on the roof of the ARoS museum in Aarhus, Denmark Olafur Eliasson’s, “Your rainbow panorama,” is a circular, panoramic walkway, in all the colours of the rainbow.

The 150 meter long, circular panoramic walkway, measuring 52 metres in diameter, is supported by 12 columns resting on the weight-bearing steel construction beneath the terrace deck. During the hours of darkness, "Your rainbow panorama" is illuminated by means of lamps in the floor.

The idea of the project was to use the city and the light as a part of the visual experience, as Eliasson describes, “Think of ‘Your rainbow panorama’ as an expectation machine. Even before entering ARoS and ascending to the work, you may look upon the city as if through coloured glass. Your expected gaze. What you know from the street then emerges from above as strangely real, in a continuous interplay of colour saturation and desaturation. Suspended between the city and the sky, this viewing platform insists on your sensory engagement. You feel the view. Perhaps your memory of the art collections below, through which you just made your way, infiltrate your experience.”

Images by Ole Hein Pedersen. 2006 - 2011 Olafur Eliasson

To read more about Your Rainbow Panorama visit 2modern or arc space.

Inside World of Interiors Festival Winners

Dezeen Magazine have been following the progress of the Inside 'world of interiors' Festival in Barcelona this week, which runs from 2nd to 4th November, and have been announcing the winners on their blog. Designers and Exhibitions from the United Kingdom were shortlisted in five of the nine categories and managed to scoop two awards in the Display category and Retail category.

The Ceramics Study Galleries at the Victoria & Albert museum in London by OPERA Amsterdam won the Display category at the inaugural awards in Barcelona as judges said the project exhibited “one strong idea and executed it really well – from material, function and lighting.”

The ‘Ceramic Galleries’ at the Victoria & Albert Museum were designed as a visible storage showcase as part of the reinstallation of the ceramic galleries phase II. The visible study collection contains 26,000 objects that are displayed with the idea that they are – on demand – available to curators, specialists and the general public.

Hostem by JamesPlumb was announced as the winner of the Retail category yesterday in Barcelona. The boutique in east London features an antique church pew, hessian panels and linen curtains plus reclaimed lighting and rails. The judges “love the handcrafted nature of the project and “great attention to detail throughout.” The judges also admired the way “they felt out their designs while constructing” so that “brand, space and clothes feel unified.”

To see the full list of winners and to read interviews with the designers visit Dezeen Magazine online.

Unusual and Interactive Business Cards

Even the most creative business card design cannot guarantee your business success, however as they say, you never get a second chance to make a first impressions, so you shouldn’t miss an opportunity to show your best qualities. Here are some of the quirkiest, original and funny business card ideas we've seen in a long time. To see the whole collection click here.

Image shown: Business Card For Fitness Trainer

Junk mail crackdown to see launch of website

According to a BBC Report yesterday, ministers say it will be easier for people to stop junk mail being put through letterboxes under new plans.

The public will be able to opt out from receiving unsolicited flyers by contacting a single website rather than three different services at the moment. Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said this would give people across the UK "more control" over what they get.  It has already been agreed that all adverts will be fully recyclable in the future as part of an initiative with the direct marketing industry. However, the voluntary decision only applies to members of the Direct Marketing Association - generally larger firms - and is unlikely to stop small, local companies such as restaurants and decorators from carrying out their mail shots. The average UK household receives more than 370 items of unsolicited paper mail a year, the majority of it unaddressed.

The Direct Marketing Association said its goal was to "eliminate" unwanted mail entirely. It said it would seek to persuade more firms to use "suppression lists" - which follow people's opt-out requests - and stop mail being delivered to addresses once inhabitants have moved or died. "We know that many types of advertising mail are welcomed by customers such as supermarket discount offers," Mike Lordan, the organisation's chief of operations, said. "Of course, untargeted and irrelevant advertising mail is not welcome. We are keen to ensure people are able to make an informed choice about whether or not they want to receive advertising mail.

To read the full article visit BBC News or to find out more about the initiative see the DMA website.

Cadbury Goes Swimming With Rebecca Adlington

Cadbury are fast becoming known as the brand that makes crazy normal and their latest project doesn't fail to deliver. Cadbury Dairy Milk have recorded an anthemic underwater version of Tina Turner's classic hit Simply the Best. All to motivate British swimmer Rebecca Adlington who is training for next year's Olympics. Created by HyperNaked, all sorts of people hang out at the bottom of Rebecca's training pool belting out the 80's classic. There is no denying it's pretty strange but it is also charmingly funny. Click here to view the video. 

Google to charge businesses for Google Maps APIs

It was announced yesterday that Google will begin charging app developers and businesses who host Google Maps APIs on their website if they exceed 25,000 visits a day. In its blog post announcing the changes, Google said no site exceeding the limits will stop working immediately but it does offer three firm solutions: reduce usage limits, pay for the excess or upgrade and buy a Maps API Premier license.

The excess usage charges, reported in the media to be around $4 per 1000 users, will be enforced in early 2012. Thor Mitchell, product manager of Google Maps API said in his blog post, “We understand that the introduction of these limits may be concerning. However with the continued growth in adoption of the Maps API we need to secure its long term future by ensuring that even when used by the highest volume for-profit sites, the service remains viable. By introducing these limits we are ensuring that Google can continue to offer the Maps API for free to the vast majority of developers for many years to come.”

It is thought that the fees will only impact around 0.35 per cent of user accounts. To read Thor Mitchell's full blog post click here, or visit the B2B Marketing website.

I Make Rotterdam

The 5th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam and architecture firm ZUS launched the first project of ‘I Make Rotterdam’ a few weeks ago with a view to restore Rotterdam to it's former glory whilst modernising it's functionality.

'To ensure our cities remain habitable in the future, we must conceive, design and manage them differently'. That is the message of the 5th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR): Making City. It is in this context that architecture firm ZUS is first tackling Rotterdam’s Central District. This is the area between the Central Station, Weena and Pompenburg. Under the motto ‘I Make Rotterdam‘, ZUS is calling on all Rotterdammers to contribute to the development of their city. During a well-attended IABR lecture on Tuesday 11 October, ZUS launched the first project of ‘I Make Rotterdam‘: de Luchtsingel, a temporary pedestrian bridge between the Central and North districts. This includes the bridge over Hofplein.

The area around Hofplein was once a bustling city centre but is now dominated by emptiness and speeding cars. ZUS hopes to turn this back into a lively pedestrian area within a few months. In times of crisis, however, a new method of financing is needed – crowd-funding in this case. Both inhabitants and businesses in Rotterdam can help to build this project by buying planks for the bridge. The bridge is one of the initiatives planned by ZUS to transform the Central District into a high-quality destination in a low-budget manner. ‘I Make Rotterdam‘ does not end when the 5th IABR event ends, as the project is set to continue until 2014 and hopes to make a real difference to the city.

With this huge project ZUS is exploring new possibilities to actively involve citizens in making the city. The way in which citizens exercise influence is changing rapidly owing to the emergence of digital applications in spatial planning. ‘I Make Rotterdam‘ takes advantage of this by offering a platform for private initiatives and crowd-funding. ZUS wants to boost the city in a way that everybody can participate in — by starting a shop, organising a concert, opening a restaurant, or building a house. The key question of the 5e IABR is then ultimately 'How can we make the city better?'

To follow the project visit the I Make Rotterdam website or to read more visit Plusmood online.

Sir Peter Cook’s 75th Birthday Art Auction and Exhibition

Sir Peter Cook is 75 and to celebrate the iconic British architect and Archigram co-founder’s birthday, 75 established and emerging international artists have produced a portrait of Sir Peter to auction for charity Architecture for Humanity aiding post disaster relief in Haiti and Japan. Both the auction and exhibition started on October 26th and runs until November 9th. The online art auction can be found at The Adam and Eve Projects while the exhibition is up at Space, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Australia. The image shown here is by WIll Scobie. To see more images visit ArchDaily.

2011 Zombie Safe House Competition

For the second year in a row, Architects Southwest has inspired 200 applicants from 12 countries to design imaginative zombie-proof architecture that will save thousands of lives during the inevitable zombie apocalypse. The goal of the competition is to “design a haven that can withstand a full-on zombie assault on civilization as we know it.” These creative designs may one day save you from the dead, therefore voting is important. Here's an insight into some of the top competitors.

The Oil Silo Home. This reuses abandoned Oil Silos to create a self-sufficient, zombie proof multi-family complex.

The Zombie Ranch. Safely houses residents in a zombie-powered vertical farm.

The Eiffel Tower. Adapted to provide all basic human needs with a wind turbine, rain water collection, vertical farming, and electric legs forbidding any zombie to climb the tower.

The Submersible Z House. This allows tenants to live a luxurious life uninterrupted, with a built-in greenhouse, fish farm, tidal powered turbines constructed of razor blades, and a fully-armed luxurious escape pod for backup.

To browse through the entries and give thumbs up to your favorite designs visit the competition website or to read more visit Archdaily. Voting ends today on Halloween, October 31st, 2011.