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Arts & Culture / Design

The Breakfast Burger at Roosevelt’s Tamale Parlor in San Francisco might be an acquired taste for some people. (photo courtesy MINE™)

Come for the Hamburgers, Stay for the Design Criticism

Two San Francisco designers find inspiration in a surprising place and learn that sometimes form follows fast food

An X-Acto Knife with size 2 blade.

For 80 Years, X-Acto Has Been on the Cutting Edge of Edge Cutting

From its debut as a surgical knife, X-Acto’s precision blades have been the Kleenex of cutting

Frances Glessner Lee hard at work on her one of her deadly dioramas, The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death.

How a Chicago Heiress Trained Homicide Detectives With an Unusual Tool: Dollhouses

Frances Glessner Lee’s miniature murder scenes are dioramas to die for

A resident of "Dementia Village" goes grocery shopping with a caregiver.

For People with Dementia, Does It Take a Village?

A community in the Netherlands has become a model for how to help people feel at home even after they’ve lost their memory

Workers furnish Queen Mary's Dollhouse in the drawing room of Lutyen's London apartment

From Bauhaus to Dollhouse: When Architects Think Small

For some architects, miniature houses are a big deal

Would you want a ring made from the cremated remains of a friend or family member?

Tech Watch

A Startup Claims To Turn the Dead into Diamonds

The Swiss-based company, Algordanza, says it’s developed a technology that transforms the ashes of a deceased loved one into keepsake jewelry

A room furnished according to Poe's "The Philosophy of Furniture" for a 1959 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum

Edgar Allan Poe, Interior Design Critic

What scared the author of ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’? Bad design.

Tadasu Ohe’s RIPPLE is inspired by the moment of water and is part of larger series that also includes WAVE and SURF.

Customized Pasta Shapes as Designed by You or Even an Architect

Coming soon to a table near you: print-on-demand pasta

The cottage rented by Edgar Allan Poe from 1846 until his death in 1849, located in Poe Park in the Bronx.

When Edgar Allan Poe Needed to Get Away, He Went to the Bronx

The author of ‘The Raven’ immortalized his small New York cottage in a lesser-known short story

In Selfmade, microbiologist Christina Agapakis and scent artist Sissel Tolaas made cheese from bacteria collected from people's mouths and toes.

Art Meets Science

Cheese Made From Bacteria Between Your Toes and Other Bizarre Bio Art

With groundbreaking (and controversial) projects, artists are starting a conversation about the future of synthetic biology

Place des Vosges in Paris. The location of Victor Hugo's apartment for 16 years.

Victor Hugo: Acclaimed Author, Unknown Furniture Designer

The apartment once occupied by the author of Les Miserables is now a museum dedicated to his life and to 19th century Paris

The Tsunami House, on the northern end of Washington's Camano Island, is designed to withstand the impact of high-velocity wave walls with heights of up to eight feet.

This House is Built to Withstand the Force of a Tsunami

A clever idea to let water flow through a home may allow residents in Puget Sound to escape the fate that locals centuries ago could not

A redesigned egg carton from Gil Rodrigues.

These Redesigned Egg Cartons and Tea Bags Let You Play With Your Breakfast Meal

To reimagine your morning meal, one designer looks to bridge engineering and another to common sense.

A WOBO wall.

Building Better Bricks by Brewing Beer

When form follows fermentation

None

The Impressive Results of When You Ask Architects to Build With Gingerbread

From Modernist reconstructions to favorite museums, these confectionary constructions are sights to behold

How America’s Most Popular Potted Plant Captured Christmas

On National Poinsettia Day, the third generation behind the Ecke Family Ranch talks about how his family developed a hundred varieties of the plant

An early Pullman sleeping car

Traveling in Style and Comfort: The Pullman Sleeping Car

The 19th century’s definition of luxury came as a train car designed by a Chicago carpenter

Since laws limit the height of new structures in Mexico City, an architect has proposed building a 65-story Earthscraper.

The Next Frontier in Urban Design Will Send You Undeground

Move over Morlocks, humans are headed to your neighborhood

Distant view of man standing with Macy’s Day Parade balloons

The Puppeteer Who Brought Balloons to the Thanksgiving Day Parade

A Thursday morning tradition came with strings attached

Art Meets Science

Do Our Brains Find Certain Shapes More Attractive Than Others?

A new exhibition in Washington, D.C., claims that humans have an affinity for curves—and there is scientific data to prove it

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