The Reigning Belarusian Premier League Champions have a new home. OFIS Arhitekti has just completed a stadium for FC BATE Borisov. Basically, it is a domed shaped structure clad with aluminum panels and then punctured with an assortment of ovoid windows. The rounded shape was engineered to improve the acoustics on the pitch (that's soccer field for Americans) and an orientation north to south to ensure that sunlight is evenly distributed for both teams. No more running into t

By now, you may have already read on the internet that the legendary Banksy was arrested early morning by London's Metropolitan Police and his identity has been revealed! Well take a deep breath. We have some news for you... The DesignBloc is happy to report that this story is a HOAX. Yes, once again, the internet has tricked thousands of people. Shocking right? The article featured on "National Report" goes on to identify Banksy as Paul Horner, and 35-year old male born in L

An ambitious project for LACMA by Peter Zumthor, has focused renewed attention to the La Brea Tar Pits. The Observation Pit was built in 1952 as the parks first permanent structure and has now been restored and reopened for public tours. Originally designed by Harry Sims Bent, it is a simple brick rotunda design. Closed in the 1990’s and obscured by overgrown plantings and painted a dull beige, it was hidden in plain sight. Kim Baer, KBDA Design, and Doug Suisman, Suisman Urb

Is it Tron? No it’s a glow in the dark swing set! Time to bring out your inner child. Howeler + Yoon Architecture has brightened up a Boston Park to encourage play outside of the confines of the playground. The Boston based firm was commissioned by the city’s Convention Center to create a centerpiece to a new temporary park that was being set in an industrial area that is part of a redevelopment scheme trying to attract technology companies to this area. Swing Time, is a set

The final leg is complete! No, we’re not talking about a race but the final stretch of New York’s High Line is now open. Just like the previous two phases of the project, it was a collaboration between James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro. This section extends between West 30th Streets to the south and north, and 10th 34th and 12th. Avenues to the east and west. So what’s new here? Street Grove: Featuring a picnic area and furniture elements that are mad

Designer Benjamin Hubert has designed a carafe that decants your choice of wine through a stainless steel aerator to improve the wine's flavor. Wine poured into the carafe drains through a matrix of holes in the base of a steel insert which is fitted snuggly into the neck of the carafe by a molded silicone collar. As the wine moves through the holes, the liquid is exposed to air which in turn, enhances the flavor. But do not fear, the WW Carafe isn’t just for wine. It can be

Moleskine is a name recognized widely by designers and at some point all have probably carried these notebooks shoved into our back pockets. Now they are taking to turning notes and drawings into digital files. Welcome the Moleskine Livescribe Notebook Designed to work with the Livescribe 3 smartpen, it uses motion sensors in the pen to record the position and movements made by the user which is then translated into digital images allowing each page to be viewed on smartphone

The world is being left confused and perplexed as to the recent and mysterious decline in the wild bee populations. The up side? This has opened a new forum for designers to try their hands at tackling the problem. One artist, AnneMarie van Splunter has undertaken this charge with her design of the Buzzbench. A sculptural bee habitat that also doubles as a bench is constructed of digitally cut local bamboo and reed. Currently, it is up to the masses to get this built so if yo

Zaha Hadid is suing the New York Review of Books over an article that was published claiming that Hadid was “showing no concern” for the deaths of migrant construction workers currently working on her design for a football stadium (that’s soccer) for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. That’s right, we have a good, old fashioned defamation suit on our hands. Now I will present the arguments and allow you to come to your own conclusions. The complaint centers on an article by Fil

Nike is at it again, this time they are talking to my heart. They have created a basketball court with motion-tracking and reactive LED visualization technology built into the floor for Kobe Bryant and his teaching of players in Shanghai. No, the pictures below aren't snapshots from the "Tron" movie set; This is real life right here. Located in the “House of Mamba,” the court is working with Nike’s RISE campaign that is a competition for young Chinese players to win an opport