Random Things to Talk About, Vol. 4

1. Gaudi’s house, Casa Vicens, opens to the public for the first time in 130 years

Built between 1883 and 1885, Casa Vicens is the very first home designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. During most of the Barcelona home’s 130-year-old history it served as a private residence, but thanks to a 2014 purchase by a bank in Andorra and a massive two-year renovation, the 19th-century building will reopen as a cultural centre this October.

Found on This Is Colossal

2. These Miniature hand soaps

Marie Gardeski and David Birkey of Imaginary Animal have created a set of miniature novelty hand-shaped soaps that come in different colours and styles – they’re so tiny, eight of them literally fit in the palm of your hand.

Found on My Modern Met

3. Abandoned jail and wedding chapel

A tiny, abandoned building has “Jail and Wedding Chapel” painted on its front in old-styling lettering as a modern-day roadside photo-op in North Carolina. Very Marfa, Texas.

Found on Roadside America

4. Art history comes to modern life

Artist Alexey Kondakov takes people from classic paintings and inserts them seamlessly into contemporary photographs, and it works so well!

Found on Kottke

5. Brushstroke cakes

Moscow-based bakery Kalabasa have been setting off a new trend over on Instagram. Using chocolate or icing as their chosen medium the Kalabasa bakery turns normal looking cakes into works of art before airbrushing them into a variety of tones.