Atlas Obscura Calendar 2020
This is a series of twelve illustrations I created for the Atlas Obscura calendar 2020. Featuring 12 unexpected destinations around the world. This is one of my favourite projects I have worked on to date.
Big thanks to Janet ant Workman Publishing and Dylan at Atlas Obscura.
January
USA: Off limits during field season, the Utah Mar Desert Research Station is the site of simulated missions to the red planet.
February
China: At an elevation of 6,500 feet, a teahouse awaits those willing to risk the climb.
March
Scotland: An abandoned coal mine was redesigned as a cosmic multiverse with 2,000 boulders arranged as comets, stars and galaxies.
April
Uganda: The impenetrable Forest of Bwindi is home to around half of the world's remaining mountain Gorilla population.
May
Greece: Hermit Monks built these ancient monasteries atop sandstone pillars, formally accessible only by rope ladders.
June
Italy: An experimental holiday home for an architects family, this Brutalist treehouse now lies abandoned in the trees.
July
Mali: From it's minarets to it's spired walls, the Great Mosque of Djenné is constructed entirely from mud bricks replastered annually by community members.
August
India: Villagers wove together the strong roots of the Ficus tree to create living bridges that grow stronger with age.
September
Japan: Built as a safeguard from monsoons, this drainage system beneath Tokyo can pump over 200 tons of water per second.
October
Brazil: The termite mounds of Emas National Park light up the night sky, thanks to their radiant tenant, the headlight beetle.
November
Indonesia: Bright yellow sulfur by day, electric blue lava by night, the otherworldly Kawah Ijen Volcano is both beautiful and deadly.
December
Norway: Millions of seeds are stored in this fortified Arctic bunker for future generations around the world.
