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remote-controlled LEGO technic vehicles climb vertical wall & steep incline using their parts

custom LEGO Technic vehicles can climb over walls

Youtube channel Brick Technology documents and builds custom remote-controlled LEGO Technic vehicles that can climb vertical walls and steep inclines using their parts. In a video, the maker uses LEGO Technic liftarms, axles, rubber tires, and electric motors to make their custom-built models work. Liftarms and frames create a strong and lightweight base, while the axles and pins keep the parts together and handle stress from movement. Rubber tires help the wheels stick to the wall surface, and rotors give the wheels power. 

The gears inside the custom LEGO Technic vehicles transfer the power from the motor to the wheels, giving them enough turning power to go up the wall or over an incline. The Youtube content creator and maker has to think about the weight of the vehicles, too. The video shows the trial and error, as other models flip or fail to trek the wall and incline because of their equipment and balance. Some builds may include extra LEGO bricks or heavier parts to keep balance, while others have parts that can be taken off or moved to make it easier to rebuild them. In this case, the wheels, motors, or frames can be swapped out to see what works best.

all images courtesy of Brick Technology, via Youtube

Brick model with track wheels and hooks

Each time a design is tested, the Youtube content creator monitors what goes right and what goes wrong, and the video shows this testing in action for the viewers. If a model climbs partway and stops, it means that it is not working, and it’s visible how the creator changes or tweaks the parts, including moving the motor or using different gears in hopes of making the custom LEGO Technic vehicle work the next time. The models use different designs, with some having short wheelbases and others being longer and even featuring rotors.

Tire size and shape change because bigger tires can help with grip, but the winning custom LEGO Technic vehicle that works for now is the one with the track wheels. In the video, this model is able to stick to the wall without slipping, thanks to its hook that it can throw over to the other side of the wall. It slides vertically and sticks to the wall, and to make it to the other side, it leaves another hook on top of the wall before sliding down, successfully climbing the barricade without slipping or falling. The creator writes that none of the custom LEGO Technic vehicles have steering, and so far, only the one with tracks has managed to go over to the other side of the wall.

there’s a model with exposed rotors, but it isn’t able to climb over

the one with an extendable ‘ladder’ fails to cross over, too

this custom LEGO Technic vehicle uses its hook to go over the wall

It slides vertically and sticks to the wall

detailed view of the hook while the model is on top of the wall

project info:

name: Making a Lego Vehicles climb over a Wall

youtube: Brick Technology | @bricktechnologychannel

model: LEGO Technic | @lego

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casetify’s headphone cover turns users into the girl with a pearl earring by johannes vermeer

Girl with a Pearl Earring headphone cover by casetify

CASETiFY releases the Girl with a Pearl Earring collectible headphone cover that lets the wearers look like the painting by Johannes Vermeer. Inspired by the Mauritshuis museum collection in The Hague, Netherlands, the piece forms part of the brand’s series on the Dutch Golden Age paintings, alongside the Pearl Earring phone charm and Vase of Flowers device cases. The headphone cover attempts to faithfully follow the headscarf from Johannes Vermeer’s painting, from the shade of the blue and yellow headscarf to the pearl earring the girl is wearing.

all images courtesy of CASETiFY, unless stated otherwise

pendant similar to the pearl in johannes vermeer’s painting

In CASETiFY’s Girl with a Pearl Earring headphone cover, the accessory replicates the folded shape and drape of the blue part of the headscarf in the painting. It wraps around the headphone’s earcup so that, when worn, it gives the same visual profile as in the artwork. Attached to the bottom is a pendant in the form of a pearl, meant to mimic the famous pearl earring from Johannes Vermeer’s painting. The pearl is spherical to oval in shape and is suspended by a small piece of metal or wire. This attachment hangs down at the same point where the girl in the painting would have worn her earring, so when the user wears the headphones, the effect is similar to the pose in the artwork.

The headphone cover of the Girl with a Pearl Earring likely uses silk-like textile for the main cover. Sewing techniques are adopted for the folds, helping shape the fabric to hold its form similar to the one in the painting. The pearl is likely made from plastic, resin, or a coated bead to imitate the look of a real pearl without the weight or fragility. The accessory serves as a protective layer for the earcup, protecting the device against dust, scratches, or wear to the headphone’s surface. So far, CASETiFY’s Girl with a Pearl Earring headphone cover has run out of stock.

side profile of the accessory with the pendant below

Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1664–67, oil on canvas. Mauritshuis, The Hague. Bequest of Arnoldus Andries des Tombe, The Hague | images courtesy of Rijksmuseum; read more here

the accessory attempts to faithfully follow the headscarf from Johannes Vermeer’s painting

the piece forms part of the brand’s series on the Dutch Golden Age paintings

project info:

name: Girl with a Pearl Earring collectible headphone cover

artist: Johannes Vermeer

brand: CASETiFY | @casetify

museum: Mauritshuis Museum | @mauritshuis_museum

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carved in steel and stone, sculptural electronic piano transforms from instrument to monolith

Batten and Kamp x Henry Chu craft Steel and Stone Piano V2

Batten and Kamp, in collaboration with digital artist and pianist Henry Chu, unveil the Steel and Stone Piano V2, an articulated, sculptural, and fully functional electronic piano. Fabricated from stainless steel and anchored by granite stone, the piano extends Batten and Kamp’s renowned Steel and Stone series into the realm of music. The Steel and Stone Piano pivots between two modes: a horizontal ‘playing mode’ and a vertical ‘monolith mode,’ seamlessly transforming from instrument to sculpture. Precision-fabricated stainless steel meets raw granite, creating a dialogue between the engineered and the elemental.

all images courtesy of Batten and Kamp

piano articulates between functional and sculptural states

The concept originated when digital artist Henry Chu approached Batten and Kamp with an idea for a keyboard that articulates between functional and sculptural states. The creative duo of Batten and Kamp worked closely with local Hong Kong fabricators and a German electric piano supplier to realize the piece. Although meticulously engineered, the piano remains deeply rooted in Batten and Kamp’s core influences: minimalism, brutalism, and science fiction. After debuting at Art Basel Hong Kong and gaining viral attention, a re-engineered second version was created. V2 features a hidden hinge mechanism, a minimal USB interface, and an integrated foot pedal lead. This limited edition consists of 8 pieces, plus 4 artist proofs. The first edition has already been acquired by one of the world’s most renowned musicians for their private collection.

sculpture meets musical instrument in Steel and Stone Piano V2

fabricated from stainless steel and anchored by solid granite

the piano is a dialogue between the engineered and the elemental

the piano pivots between two modes: a horizontal ‘playing mode’ and a vertical ‘monolith mode’

stainless steel surfaces meet raw granite textures

rooted in minimalism, brutalism, and science fiction influences

German-made electric piano components integrated into the design

precision-fabricated stainless steel meets raw granite

hidden hinge mechanism enables smooth transformation

the piano extends Batten and Kamp’s renowned Steel and Stone series into the realm of music

project info:

name: Steel and Stone Piano V2

designers: Batten and Kamp | @batten_and_kamp x Henry Chu | @henryc.hu

details: Limited Edition of 8 + 4 AP Stainless steel, granite, electronic keyboard

horizontal configuration: 1235mm W x 250mm D x 1000 mm H

upright configuration: 700mm W x 250mm D x 1570mm H

keyboard specifications: Midi keyboard with 76 (E-G) or 88 (A-C) keys hammer mechanics, Midi Note messages range: 28-103 (76 keys) or 21-108 (88 keys) with velocity (127 steps), Midi Output (optional), USB interface, Connector for foot pedal

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

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andy goldsworthy brings fifty years of land art indoors for his largest-ever show in edinburgh

andy goldsworthy transforms RSA into a vast landscape

Edinburgh’s Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) becomes a vast landscape for Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years, the artist’s largest indoor exhibition to date, on view through November 2nd, 2025. Organized by the National Galleries of Scotland, the show spans five decades and over 200 works, transforming the historic galleries into an immersive environment of cracked clay walls, windfallen oak branches, suspended reeds, and stones from over 100 graveyards in Dumfriesshire. The exhibition is designed as one continuous, site-specific work that responds directly to the RSA’s architecture, using its spaces, light, and materials as active elements. In doing so, it extends Goldsworthy’s long-term investigation into how people, buildings, and the land are bound together and where they are held apart.

Andy Goldsworthy, Edges made by finding leaves the same size. Tearing one in two. Spitting underneath and pressing flat on to another. Brough, Cumbria. Cherry patch. 4 November 1984, 1984 Cibachrome photograph. Courtesy of the Artist.

Fifty Years in edinburgh features over 200 works

Goldsworthy, born in England in 1956 and based in Dumfriesshire for more than forty years, is known internationally for his ephemeral works made from natural materials that include clay, leaves, reeds, ice, stone, and wood. While his permanent outdoor commissions span from the Arctic Circle to Tasmania, his work is rarely seen indoors. This rarity makes Fifty Years exceptional, both in scale and in proximity to the landscapes where he continues to work. The RSA’s location allowed Goldsworthy to create pieces in Dumfriesshire and integrate them directly into the building, erasing the traditional separation between his outdoor practice and exhibition-making. ‘Describing it as an exhibition seems wrong,’ the artist notes. ‘It is a work in its own right.’

The National Galleries of Scotland exhibition fills all of the RSA’s upper rooms and most of the lower floor. In Oak Passage, hundreds of intertwined branches from windfallen oak trees form a narrow, 20-meter-long corridor, recalling the forest floor and the gallery’s own oak flooring. A massive cracked clay wall slices through another space, echoing geological strata and the RSA’s masonry at the same time. One room’s floor is entirely covered with graveyard stones, a meditation on the exchange between body and earth. At the other end of the building, 10,000 reeds appear to pour from a skylight, hovering between rainfall and buoyancy.

Andy Goldsworthy, Elm leaves held with water to fractured bough of fallen elm. Dumfriesshire, Scotland. 29 October 2010, 2010. From Fallen Elm, 2009–ongoing, a suite of ninety archival inkjet prints. Courtesy of the Artist.

the land as collaborator

Themes of access, labor, and the right to roam run throughout the show. Sheep fleeces, marked in the coded colors of different farmers, cascade down the RSA’s main staircase, recalling the agricultural systems that shape rural land use. Red Flags, first installed in New York’s Rockefeller Center in 2020, lines another space with fifty canvas flags stained in red earth from each US state, a reflection on shared ground and political division. 

Goldsworthy’s relationship with the land began in his teenage years working on farms near Leeds, where he learned the manual skills — stacking, digging, and cutting — that underpin his art. Those early experiences evolved into a practice that treats the natural world as a collaborator and subject, attentive to cycles of growth, decay, and renewal. In Fifty Years, the RSA’s neoclassical halls become part of that continuum, reframed as a place where a tree’s afterlife might be felt underfoot, and a building might be seen as an extension of the forest. As he explains, the show invites visitors ‘to see the tree in the building and the building in the woods.’

Andy Goldsworthy, Oak Passage. 2025 and Ferns, 2025. Courtesy of the Artist

Andy Goldsworthy, Stretched canvas on field, with mineral block removed, after a few days of sheep eating it, 1997. Courtesy of the Artist

Andy Goldsworthy, Red Wall. 2025. Courtesy of the Artist

Andy Goldsworthy, Wool. Hung from fallen elm. Dumfriesshire, Scotland. 6 August 2015, 2015, archival inkjet print. From Fallen Elm, 2009–ongoing. Courtesy of the Artist

Andy Goldsworthy, Frozen patch of snow. Each section carved with a stick. Carried about 150 paces, several broken along the way. Began to thaw as day warmed up. Helbeck, Cumbria. March 1984. Courtesy of the Artist

Andy Goldsworthy, Hazel stick throws. Banks, Cumbria. 10 July 1980, 1980, suite of nine black-and-white photographs. Courtesy of the Artist

Andy Goldsworthy, Hedge crawl. Dawn. Frost. Cold hands. Sinderby, England. 4 March 2014, 2014, video still. Courtesy of the Artist

Andy Goldsworthy, Rain Shadow Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 10 June 2024, 2024. Courtesy of the Artist.

Andy Goldsworthy, Red river rock. Dumfriesshire, Scotland. 19 August 2016, 2016, video still. Courtesy of the Artist

Andy Goldsworthy, Skylight, 2025. Courtesy of the Artist      

project info:

name: Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years

artist: Andy Goldsworthy 

venue: Royal Scottish Academy (RSA), National Galleries of Scotland | @nationalgalleriesscot

location: Edinburgh, Scotland

dates: July 26th – November 2nd, 2025

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mallorca’s hotel nobis palma preserves historic stone with steel interventions

hotel nobis palma revives a centuries-old structure

Hotel Nobis Palma occupies a centuries-old building in the heart of Mallorca’s capital. Known historically as Can Oliver, the property’s transformation into a 5-star boutique hotel was led by Jordi Herrero Arquitectos and Eduardo García Acuña, with interiors by Swedish design studio Wingårdhs.

Located on Calle Caputxines, the 2,253-square-meter stone building includes a 12th-century Arabic coffered ceiling, Gothic paintings, and a grand Majorcan staircase. Previous attempts to convert the structure into a hotel had failed to gain approval from Palma’s city council. This iteration, however, reversed the typical approach. Rather than inserting a hotel into an historic shell, the architects aim to let the identity of Can Oliver shape the design of Hotel Nobis Palma.

images © José Hevia

uncovering the building’s layered heritage

The Hotel Nobis Palma renovation began with a detailed architectural survey, cataloging traces of the Mallorca building’s long evolution — arched doorways, bricked-in windows, and layered facades. Instead of covering these findings, the design teams at Jordi Herrero Arquitectos and Eduardo García Acuña made them visible. In the restaurant area, both a 1950s intervention and the original wall behind it were preserved, allowing the two to coexist.

Guest rooms retain their spatial integrity. Protected volumes were left untouched by partition walls. Bathrooms, where necessary, are inserted as freestanding steel and glass enclosures. These minimal volumes appear detached from the historic envelope and also integrate ventilation systems. Where circulation required modification, such as when a corridor intersected an original chamber, the architects tunnel through the space, maintaining the perception of the room as a whole.

Hotel Nobis Palma occupies the historic Can Oliver in Mallorca

a sensitive, reversible intervention in mallorca

The Hotel Nobis Palma’s unique attic spaces, which typically rely on skylights, are re-lit using open courtyards carved into the roofline. These garden voids allow for natural light and vegetation while avoiding Mallorca’s excessive solar heat. Throughout the building, any new interventions are built to be reversible and distinguishable from the original fabric.

New architectural elements introduced in the renovation — including interior partitions are stairs — are constructed from blackened steel, offering a clear visual contrast to the recovered stone and plaster surfaces. These new elements further exaggerate the weight of the stone structure and, with their flexibility, allow for future adaptations without compromising historical integrity.

the renovation preserves traces of Gothic and Arabic architectural heritage

The interior design by Wingårdhs softens the heavy atmosphere of the surrounding stone building. Custom wood furniture, generous textiles, and tailored lighting schemes bring warmth to the hotel’s austere shell. Subtle luxuries, such as flowing curtains and slender-legged chairs, are chosen to complement the architecture.

Lush plantings appears throughout the lofty rooms, courtyards, and garden niches, infusing the material palette with a natural rhythm. The lighting program is designed to accentuate surface textures, which allows the space to gradually shift with ever-changing shadows throughout the day.

The structure’s imperfections are left raw where possible, and modern interventions are legible and precise. This way, the hotel is expressed as an occupiable archive of layered history.

the architects prioritize revealing original textures over applying new finishes

lightweight, blackened steel elements lend a sensitive, reversible intervention

attic rooms are lit by open-air courtyards instead of traditional skylights

project info:

name: Hotel Nobis Palma | @nobishotelpalma

architect: Jordi Herrero Arquitectos | @jordiherreroarquitectos, Eduardo García Acuña | @egarquitectura

location: Calle Caputxines 9, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

area: 2,253 square meters
photography: © José Hevia

client: Genova Group
interior design: Wingårdhs
quantity surveyor: Jorge Gómez
archaeologist: Rafael Turatti
structures: Fernando Purroy
installations engineering: Reolid Consulting
lighting: Elektroshields
landscaping: Eugenia Corcoy
construction: Akko Building

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