VISIONS OF TOMORROWLAND TODAY
You can’t spell “architecture” without “art, and the two crossover a lot more than you’d think. After all, visions of what our future cities might look like have to come from a creative mind.
The Chicago Architecture Biennial knows this and wants to know what the city of tomorrow will look like today. So we teamed up with them for our Architecture Challenge and have found a winner.
“From Paris to Africa” by Noor Azman is currently the highest scoring submission in our Architecture 2 design challenge with the Chicago Architectural Biennial! Here’s what Noor had to say about this design:
“Inspired from the cultural icon of France and one of the most recognized architecture in the world. The idea is to bring this lovely monument to the animal kingdom, Africa.”
Artists, tomorrow is the deadline to submit to this challenge for a chance at over $1,500 in prizes (including a trip to Chicago for the Chicago Architectural Biennial)!
Challenging our concept of perspective, “Pisa” by ikartovitch is currently the highest scoring submission in our Architecture 2 design challenge! Here’s a question posed by the artist to ponder:
“Who’s leaning?”
Artists, if you’re leaning towards submitting to this challenge for a chance at $1K cash and a trip to Chicago for the Chicago Architecture Biennial exhibition, you still have 8 days left to submit!
SUBMIT A TEE DESIGN INSPIRED BY ARCHITECTURE
There’s art all around us. In fact, we’re walking around inside it!
In the creation of any building or structure, there are hundreds of creative decisions that need to be made. Add all those decisions up for every building in a city and it creates the beautiful and highly distinctive skylines for some of the world’s greatest cities.
In honor of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, we want you to submit a design for a tee that represents your favorite things about architecture. Illustrate a building of your own that uses all the special structural elements you like in your favorite buildings. Get inspired by structures across the globe, iconic skylines and the cultures that influence the design of different structures.
An illustration of Winardi’s dream home, “STEGOLAND” by is currently the highest scoring submission on Threadless!
Score some design submissions and help us decide what to print next!
Inspired by the Fleet Foxes song of the same name, “English House” by Stefan Grosse Halbuer is currently up for scoring in our $20K design challenge!
With this challenge $20K, we’re introducing a brand new feature called funding, which adds an entirely new element to the competition. To determine the $20k grand prize winner, we’ll be choosing from the top scored AND funded designs!
One of the highest scoring designs in our Horror design challenge, the ominous and spooky “House of Death” by R. Gegen Noviara definitely gives us the heebie-jeebies!
Artists, tomorrow is the deadline to submit your horror-filled designs to this challenge! Your sinister submission could land you $2,000 cash, a $500 Threadless gift code, and a McFarlane Toys Movie Maniacs Action Figures prize pack!
“ALIEN HOME” by Femmy Priscillya Antolinez
Thanks to Femmy Priscillya Antolinez, we have intercepted the blueprints of an extraterrestrial race’s invasion craft. Femmy, we salute you for your diligent work in keeping our planet safe!
Celebrate another thwarted invasion attempted in one of these new tees!
If you travel far enough down the yellow brick road, you might just discover “OZ FIRE DEPARTMENT” by NARNIAZ! We asked this Singapore-based artist what his medium of choice was, and here’s what he had to say:
“My favourite medium is Photoshop because it’s easy to use, can create wonders and it’s effective. I’m loving it!”
Constructed by husband and wife duo Tânia Falcão and Avelar Lucas, check out "Within“, our Architecture design challenge winner!
“We’re married with two little kids so our ritual to get into the ‘creative zone’ is dropping them with the grandparents once a week and then heading to the local pub to have a drink, relax, and discuss new ideas. Most of our ideas come from these moments.”
Strap on your hardhats and take a tour over to Tânia and Avelar’s artist interview!
MEET THE ARCHITECTURE DESIGN CHALLENGE WINNER!
When we laid out the blueprint for our Architecture challenge, we knew it would inspire some fantastic submissions. Sure enough, we were right! You guys sent us over 200 incredible designs depicting the coolest buildings, bridges, houses, and more that knocked our architecture-loving socks off. After a whole lotta careful consideration, we finally named the Portugal-based husband and wife duo team FalcaoLucas the grand prize winner for their design “Within”. Learn a bit more about the artists below, and don’t forget to check out their awesome tee!
Congrats on your winning ‘Within’ design for our Architecture challenge! Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?
We are Tânia Falcão and Avelar Lucas, a couple of Portuguese designers, illustrators, and musicians. We have lived and worked together for more than ten years, but it was only two years ago that we finally decided to create our illustration and animation project.
What about architecture do you find fascinating?
Everything! The creation of new liveable physical spaces, the challenge of conquering gravity, the “eternal" aspect of it, etc. But, being both artists and designers, the one thing that fascinates us even more is the seamless blending of two worlds: the creation of a functional and liveable work of art. And, since we live in Lisbon, a city with a great architectonic past, everywhere we look there’s always an opportunity to be inspired.
How did you work to recreate the concept of architecture into a 2-D design?
By giving it a great sense of perspective and merging two very distinct elements: a classical element (the window) which was represented in a more realistic manner, and a representation of an architectural space through patterned layers composed of simple geometric shapes. The merging of these two very different elements combined with perspective created this unique design.
What exactly does your design ‘Within’ represent?
It represents the history behind buildings; breaking away their walls to give us a glimpse of the memories, good or bad, of everyone who has lived there. It basically asks, “What’s within?”
Your design is incredibly detailed. How did you work to create it?
We divided the design into three distinct parts: the windows, the deconstructed walls, and ambience. We started by drawing the windows in a more realistic way with an iPad app and created the pattern with geometric shapes on Adobe Illustrator. We then recreated everything in 3DS Max to create the perspective and a sense of depth, rendering it multiple times to create more material to work with. We then composed the final design and colored it on Adobe Photoshop.
Do you have any WIP images you could take us through?
We don’t have WIP images but we have some of the studies we used to create this image:
If you came upon a window that led to space, would you explore the other side?
Sure we would! Certainly we would find new things on the other side to inspire us.
What real life architecture do you find infinitely inspiring?
The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion by Sou Fujimoto.
If you could be an architect for a day, what would you design?
Impossible buildings in the style of M.C. Escher.
Any other shout-outs?
Thank you to Threadless for choosing our t-shirt. This is our first print! Thank you to all that voted for us and to our friends that continue to vote for us and support our art.
MEET OUR PATTERNS CHALLENGE WINNER!
Let’s all take a second to congratulate Fernando Degrossi. Hailing from São Paulo, Brazil, Fernando is the winning designer from our Patterns design challenge! Though there were so many great submissions in this challenge, Fernando’s cityscape pattern, “Top View”, rose to tower above the rest. Below, check out our interview with Fernando to learn a little more about this incredible artist!
Congrats on your winning design! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Thanks! My name is Fernando Degrossi, I am a graphic designer and I live in São Paulo, Brazil. I have a design agency specializing in branding, and I use my free time to draw.
How did the concept of patterns lead you to create a design based on a cityscape?
I live in São Paulo, the largest city in Latin America. When we climb on top of tall buildings, it is possible to see the immensity of the buildings that exist in the city. The inability to identify where the city begins and where the it ends reminds me of a giant pattern. I couldn’t create an abstract pattern or beautiful art. I like to create things that have a concept, something recognizable in the real world.
Is this design based off any city in particular?
Yes, I was inspired by São Paulo, Brazil, the largest city in Latin America. But the pattern is a tribute to all the great cities of the world.
Your design seems to capture the intricacy and precision represented in and necessary for city development. How did you work to recreate this?
I believe the pattern is more interesting when there are no spaces between the drawings. For the final result to look good, the entire drawing needed to be connected.
You refer to the city depicted in this design as a “gray stone jungle.” What real life “gray stone jungle” do you find most intriguing, and why?
Sometimes I ask myself if I would live somewhere else, and my answer is no. Living in a “gray stone jungle” is often dangerous and chaotic, but it has charm. When I visit places like quiet towns, farms, or beaches, I like those a lot too, but I cannot spend much time. I’m used to the kind of life of living in a big city.
What kinds of steps did you go through to arrive at the finished product? (If you have any WIP images to include to illustrate the process, that would be great!)
Here is my WIP:
Do you have any background on textile design, or an avid interest in pattern development that helped inspire this design?
Yes, look at the top view of my city!
What type of advice would you give to other artists when designing with a repeat?
The designers should make lines or drawings that connect with each other so that the final result appears to have no end.
In your opinion, what should every great city include?
Big cities need to have everything; it’s the great advantage of living in one. However, cities cannot only have buildings, they also need to have open spaces such as parks, rivers, and many tree-lined streets.
Any final shout-outs?
That’s it! And, I hope I have the opportunity to work more often with patterns.
Pick up “Top View” and the rest of this week’s new tees right here!
There’s a lady who knows that “Stairway to Heaven” by Mathias Doblhammer is currently up for scoring in our Architecture design challenge! Here’s what Mathias had to say about his design:
“Nested cityscapes with a hint of retro-futurism. A positive view on urban structures, the stairls lifting you up towards unknown skies.”
Artists, there are still 5 days left to submit to this challenge for a chance at $2,000, a $500 Threadless gift code, and a $300 LEGO gift certificate!
Currently, “Within” by FalcaoLucas is the highest scoring submission in our Architecture design challenge! Here’s a cool GIF that FalcaoLucas put together for this design:
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and there are still 9 days left to submit to this challenge. Artists, put on your construction hats and show us your Rome!