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FreelandBuck's new Washington Metro art installation invites viewers to an engrossing play on perspective

2024-04-23T13:24:00-04:00

FreelandBuck has released images of a recent art installation for the Washington Metro Area Transit Agency (WMATA) in Washington, D.C. Staged as an optical illusion, their new piece titled ‘Tunnel Vision’ works by projecting an image of a metro station over three intersecting aluminum cones that are suspended from the ceiling in the lobby of the organization’s new Alexandria, Virginia, offices.

Image courtesy FreelandBuck and WMATA

The sculpture's grid pattern and convex geometry center a 3D image of an iconic coffered station designed by Harry Weese in the viewer’s vision field, creating the effect of watching a metro train approach while standing on the platform. The firm says, "The piece suggests both realism and familiarity, inciting curiosity for passersby to come take a closer look."

Image courtesy FreelandBuck and WMATA

Brennan Buck, the firm's principal and co-founder, told the Washingtonian magazine recently, "We thought it was just a real...

Ancient tunnel that may hold the tomb of Cleopatra discovered beneath Egyptian temple

2022-11-09T14:34:00-05:00

A long-lost, rock-cut tunnel 43 feet underneath the ancient Taposiris Magna temple has been unearthed by archaeologists outside of Alexandria, Egypt.

The passage was discovered by the Egyptian-Dominican archaeological mission of the University of San Domingo, led by archaeologist Kathleen Martins. The tunnel stretches approximately 4,265 feet in length and is a little over six feet in height.

Image courtesy of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism

Martins has been working on excavations at Taposiris Magna since 2002 in search of the tombs of Cleopatra and Marc Antony. She views it as the perfect plan for the tomb of Cleopatra. Martins describes the expansive tunnel as an engineering miracle. It has gone undiscovered for so long because it was partially submerged underwater due to a series of ancient earthquakes that occurred.

An alabaster head discovered at the excavation site. Image courtesy of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism

Last year, her team unearthed 16 burial chambers and two mu...

A 13-story building topples over in Alexandria, Egypt

2017-06-07T14:25:00-04:00

Incidents like these take place relatively frequently in Egypt where building regulations are often flouted and additional floors added without planning permission.

The building's failure is attributed to a weak foundation caused by its excessive height. Issued a removal order in 2002, just two years after its construction, the building was occupied up until last Wednesday when it leaned on its neighbor across the street. Its much overdue demolition began shortly after.

The affected families have been provided emergency housing at local schools, and been promised new apartments by Ministry of the Social Solidarity.The owner of the toppled building in Azareeta was arrested.

Photographer documents Egypt's monumental housing developments in the desert

2015-01-22T19:59:00-05:00

Egypt is in the throes of a severe housing shortage [...]. But one thing the country has an abundance of is lonesome desert, and developers are turning there to construct immense projects that stick out in the emptiness like skyscrapers on Mars. London-based photographer Manuel Alvarez Diestro has a yen for the monumental [...] naturally he was interested in the colossal structures rising on the outskirts of Egyptian cities.

What happened to Alexandria's cosmopolitanism?

2015-01-19T13:24:00-05:00

North Africa used to be a civilizational crossroads in which Muslims, Christians, and Jews not only lived alongside one another but also shared one another's language and culture. This mingled society, formed from many intense particularities, is what we call cosmopolitanism. It was born in the Middle East, and it now seems to be disappearing there, including from the one place where the cosmopolitan ideal reached its supreme realization: Alexandria.