Catch up with highlights from our digital travels this week…
America’s abandoned asylums
As medical practices evolve over time, so do the facilities needed to treat patients. More than 250 asylums were built in America between the 19th and 20th century, but many now lie abandoned since the introduction of community care centres and psychotropic drugs. Photographer Christopher Payne has spent six years documenting 70 of these mental hospitals across 30 US states for his Asylum series, which you can see on iGNANT.
The Airbnb for film locations
Photography: Chris Goldberg
In this sharing economy age, there’s seemingly an Airbnb-equivalent for everything. Wrapal, the latest start-up on the block, is a platform where users can list their property as a film location. ‘One of the toughest challenges we face is finding locations,’ says filmmaker and Wrapal founder Brian L Tan. His start-up might just remedy that problem. Head to Curbed for more.
Method acting design
Credit: HBO
From Al Pacino to Jane Fonda, some of the great thespians of our time draw on ‘method’ acting, wholly immersing themselves in their on-screen characters. It turns out Hollywood’s set designers – including Bill Groom, the man behind Oscar-winning Milk’s period aesthetic – use the same trick. Fast Co. Design talks to Groom about his creative process and bringing 1970s New York to life in HBO drama Vinyl.
Commuting in France just got cultural
For most commuters, the best views on offer in a train vary between their smartphone screen and the back of someone’s head. France’s rail service is introducing a better option: Impressionist art and architectural motifs. The interiors of the country’s SNCF trains have been covered in paintings, including Monet works, as well as recreated details from the Musée d’Orsay and Château de Versailles. Take a ride with designboom.
Gone, but not forgotten
What’s the biggest architectural loss in history? Readers of The Guardian debated the topic, coming up with a list of their favourite demolished buildings from around the world. Among their most cherished lost gems were London’s Euston Arch and the Chicago Stock Exchange.
