Archinect - News

Nevadans are freaking out over mysterious ‘Space Odyssey’-like monolith that has appeared in the desert

2024-06-21T18:52:00-04:00

A shimmering monolith seemed to appear in the Nevada desert this week, captivating the imaginations of hundreds of thousands and spurring news reports in the U.S. and abroad. But the object may have been there for years. According to Monolith Tracker, an online community that maintains a map of monolith appearances across the globe, the monolith spotted by the Metropolitan Police Department over the weekend was first identified in December 2020.

Whoever did place the eerily Kubrick-esque mirrored 77-inch-tall object did so deliberately at Gass Peak, one of the highest points in the massive Desert National Wildlife Refuge north of Las Vegas. The police removed it on Thursday without naming a culprit. (I think it resembles the original World Trade Center's proportions.)

CNN says: “The pillar is reminiscent to ones popping up all over the world shortly after a 10-feet silver monolith was discovered in late 2020 by a helicopter crew flying over an Utah desert. Similar structures appeared on a California mountaintop, a forest in Romania, and the Isle of Wight off England’s south coast, to name a few.”

Maybe, as is the classic 1968 film, their true purposes are as harbingers for an impending technological leap forward. It could also be a rejected Desert X piece. Time will certainly tell whether or not the former will ring true.

Snøhetta designs controversial black crystalline U.F.O for Norwegian artist

2018-02-06T14:55:00-05:00

Snohetta and Mr. Melgaard aim to use burned wood for the house’s exterior, and tentative plans for its interior include movable walls and a room that combines an eating area and a swimming pool. Martin Brunner, one of the Snohetta architects who worked on the project, also explained that the firm had tested a prototype for an item of inflatable furniture to be included in the house, which he described as a “sex pillow.”

In 2011, the Norwegian artist, Bjarne Melgaard, reached out to property developers Olav and Frederik Selvaag with the idea of making a sculpture that would double as a house and atelier. The three got the international architecture studio Snøhetta involved, resulting in the design of a black crystalline U.F.O. propped up by several sculptures of woodland animals.

Archinect readers have already taken to our forum to share their thoughts on the project. Take a look at some of the comments below!

-As the house is located next to Edvard Munch's old studio, randomised appropriately shared his surprise with the artist's most famous work:

-archanonymous asked "What the hell is up with Snohetta lately? AT&T, this, mad underwater restaurant???"—to which, Positive Pete proposed: "they joined the illoominatee?". And Koww responded: "I hadn't originally connected the underwater restaurant to the other two projects which both deal with history, but maybe there's an overall thread of an archi...

Comet could be home to alien life

2015-07-06T20:15:00-04:00

The comet landed on by the spacecraft Philae could well be home to an abundance of alien microbial life, according to leading astronomers. Features of the comet, named 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, such as its organic-rich black crust, are most likely explained by the presence of living organisms beneath an icy surface, the scientists have said.

On the other hand, Stuart Clark refutes the claims made in the linked article. In a response also published to the Guardian, "The vast majority of comet scientists would agree that comet 67P’s surface features are much more easily explained by non-biological mechanisms."

Philae, the spacecraft that landed on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko last November, is not equipped to search for direct evidence of human life. Neither is Rosetta, the European spacecraft currently in orbit around the comet. Calls to equip the spacecrafts were "allegedly laughed out of court," according to the article, which lays out an argument that an unwillingness to intellectually accept the possibility extraterrestrial life inhibits the possibility of finding any.