Brazilian artist Athos Bulcão’s tiled murals

[photo by Anderson Schneider for The New York Times]

Reading about a stunning modernist home in Brasilia that the New York Times featured, I came across a reference to Brazilian artist Athos Bulcão, whose mural enlivens the entryway (see above). Although his name was not familiar, a little Googling made me realize that his work certainly was: the artist/designer collaborated with Oscar Niemeyer on various buildings in Brasilia, envisioning abstract murals and surface embellishments for facades. Although Bulcão died in 2008, his foundation’s website (alas, only in Portuguese) offers some visual fodder. As does an insightful article by Glen Cummings in the always informative Design Observer here, which illuminates the scope of his oeuvre.

Oh–and take a look at these amazing photo roundups on ArchPorn and Flickr.

Wood floors + tiles = end-grain mosaics!

Last week I wrote a post on the plethora of amazing faux-wood porcelain tiles on the market. Today I thought I’d salute the real thing by highlighting a cool product I just read about in This Old House: end-grain wood tiles by Treeborn Mosaic Flooring (a sideline venture of a Pennsylvania-based millwork concern). Tiles are made from dense African wood species like Sapele, Oroko, and ebony–all responsibly sourced in Ghana–and installed via a proprietary poured-in-place grout that’s unaffected by moisture. In fact, company founder John Starke apparently developed the line when searching for flooring that could withstand flooding in his own riverfront home!

There are 24 patterns in all; check out more designs here.