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Meet the “Telharmonium,” the First Synthesizer (and Predecessor to Muzak), Invented in 1897
Before the New Year, we brought you footage of Russian polymathic inventor Léon Theremin demonstrating the strange instrument that bears his surname, and we noted that the Theremin was the first electronic instrument.
An Introduction to Brutalism: The Iconic Postwar Architectural Style That Combined Utopianism and Concrete
https://www.openculture.com/2026/03/an-introduction-to-brutalism.html
How the Hoover Dam Works: A 3D Animated Introduction
https://www.openculture.com/2026/03/how-the-hoover-dam-works-a-3d-animated-introduction.html
When it comes to tourist pilgrimage sites in the United States, the Hoover Dam may not quite rank up there with the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial, Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, or Disneyland. But that's not due to a lack of importance, nor even a lack of impressiveness.
When Frank Lloyd Wright Designed a Doghouse, His Smallest Architectural Creation (1956)
On your first day in architecture school, you have to design a doghouse. Having never set foot inside an architecture school, I concede that the previous sentence may well be false, but you have to admit that it sounds plausible.
What Makes the Mona Lisa a Great Painting: A Deep Dive
https://www.openculture.com/2021/11/what-makes-the-mona-lisa-a-great-painting-a-deep-dive.html
How Medieval Islamic Engineering Brought Water to the Alhambra
How the Hoover Dam Works: A 3D Animated Introduction
https://www.openculture.com/2026/03/how-the-hoover-dam-works-a-3d-animated-introduction.html
When it comes to tourist pilgrimage sites in the United States, the Hoover Dam may not quite rank up there with the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial, Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, or Disneyland. But that's not due to a lack of importance, nor even a lack of impressiveness.
See the Climactic Ending of Steven Spielberg’s Breakout Duel Recreated Entirely with 3D-Printed Models
With his last picture The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg told a story of his own. Given his long-held stature as more or less the personification of big-screen Hollywood entertainment, there's only one such story he could have told: that of how he became a filmmaker.
Lynda Barry on How the Smartphone Is Endangering Three Ingredients of Creativity: Loneliness, Uncertainty & Boredom
How Vividly Colorized Photos Helped Introduce Japan to the World in the 19th Century
Since the mid-20th century heyday of Sony transistor radios, the world has associated Japan with high technology. But between the mid-17th and mid-19th century, the world could barely associate Japan with anything at all.
