The Atomium’s Cyberpunk Elevator

When the elevator at the core of The Atomium was first installed in the 1950s, it was the fastest in Europe. I can attest that even decades later, the effect of its speed while rocketing upwards 100 m is unsettling. The surrounding bundles of data and power cables that have accrued inside the elevator shaft over the intervening decades has subsequently added a strongly cyberpunk twist to the experience. Gibson would be proud of the repurposed space: “The street finds its own uses for things.

The Atomium's Cyberpunk Elevator

Inside the Brockville Railway Tunnel

The first railway tunnel in Canada ran from the docks on the St. Lawrence Seaway to downtown Brockville, beneath businesses above. In one case, ventilation for the tunnel ran up through the building above and was hidden as a bank of chimneys on the building’s roof. Though the narrow tunnel has long since finished serving its use, it was recently rehabbed into this fascinating community focus. LED light strips along the walls shift through rainbow colors and pass red blocks of light down the corridor to simulate the passage of a train.

Inside the Brockville Railway Tunnel

Tiny Figures and Big Rocks

Can you spot the tiny figures at the top of the hill? I’m confident that tiny figures produce a sense of grand scale in images—particular desert shots, like this one, where the inhuman nature of the place can make understanding the sizes of objects difficult. Nonetheless, I find myself wondering how small the figures in an image can be before the viewer loses the ability to recognize them as human.

Tiny Figures and Big Rocks

Tree Tunnel

Driving into the canopy of trees on the way to Grizzly Peak means relief from all of the stress of work and life, and a moment with the beautiful roads of northern California. Today is my last day in Berkeley, and so I can’t think of a more fitting metaphor for finishing graduate school and moving away. On the Rimway, as in life, adventure is ahead.

Tree Tunnel

Transamerica Pyramid

It’s undeniable that behind the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz the Transamerica Pyramid is one of the most recognizable features of the San Francisco skyline. Everyone’s used to the view of it embedded in the skyline but it looks completely different when viewed from the base, a less common perspective. It actually gives the impression of exaggerated perspective when viewed from the street beneath it, sort of like it disappears into infinity.

Transamerica Pyramid