Nature Is Everything (12 Photos)
From tree roots shaped into geometric patterns in city parks to murals that turn flowers into hair, these eight pieces of street and environmental art show nature as the medium, the frame, and sometimes the message. In this post, you’ll see a face emerging from the forest, playful illusions, floral-haired portraits, and creatures breaking through walls. Featuring works from Brazil, the U.S., and beyond.
More: When Street Art Meets Nature (40 Photos)
1. Forest Spirit
A broken tree trunk appears to reveal a hidden forest spirit. Its jagged bark mimics deep wrinkles and a stern expression, while moss on top looks like hair. A small web nestled in one of the “eyes” enhances the illusion of a face.
2. Natural Frame – Mural by Collettivo FX at the Pizzo Sella Art Village in Palermo
A black-and-white mural of two hands holding a camera turns a balcony doorway into a living photo. The window becomes the lens, perfectly framing a mountain view beyond.
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3. Jungle Roar — Cameron “CAMER1sf” Moberg in Modesto, CA, USA
A roaring tiger emerges from lush flowers and tropical leaves. Monarch butterflies flit across the background, blending wild nature with botanical elements in explosive color.
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4. Butterfly Effect — CYFI in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Giant butterflies painted on a brick wall seem to lift off in 3D. Their vibrant wings cast painted shadows, enhancing the illusion that they’ve just landed—or are about to take flight.
5. Urban Roots — Natural Growth in Hong Kong
Tree roots spread beneath a banyan tree in precise, parallel lines, mirroring city infrastructure. The organic lines seem almost digital, echoing circuit boards or subway maps.
More photos: Nature at Work: “Mondrianish” Banyan Tree Roots Create Art in Hong Kong
6. Looking Up — Rodrigo Rodrigues in São Paulo, Brazil
The painted face of a child gazes upward in awe, seamlessly blending into real flowering bushes growing from the top of the wall. The plant becomes the child’s hair, rich with blossoms.
🔗 Follow Rodrigo Rodrigues on Instagram
7. Crown of Bougainvillea — Fabio Gomes Trindade in Trindade, Goiás, Brazil
A smiling girl rests her chin on her hand beneath an enormous blooming bougainvillea. The mural is placed so the real plant completes her afro hairstyle with vibrant pink blossoms.
More: How Fábio Gomes Turns Trees into Hair: Stunning Murals in Trindade
8. Four Seasons — Tribute to Kora by Bruno Althamer in Warsaw, Poland
A woman’s portrait is painted at the base of a tree. As the seasons change, the tree’s leaves become her hair—lush in summer, colorful in autumn, bare in winter, and flowering in spring.
More about it and photos: Four Seasons Tribute to Kora in Warsaw, Poland
9. Popeye’s Spinach — Semi O.K in Kocaeli Province, Istanbul, Turkey
A street mural shows Popeye reaching across a wall to hand a can of spinach to his child. A real tree placed above the can appears as the bursting greenery, completing the cartoon illusion. More!: Playful Art By Semiok (8 Photos)
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10. Carved Void at Lindsway Bay by Jon Foreman
More!: 10 Forest Sculptures By Jon Foreman
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11. The Old Sow — Hannelie Coetzee in Knislinge, Sweden
A face assembled from stacked timber and branches, placed between trees in the forest at Wanås Konst sculpture park. Different sizes and tones of cut logs form eyes, a snout-like shape, and a clear outline that blends naturally into the woodland. More: Stubb Boar (5 photos)
🔗 Follow Hannelie Coetzee on Facebook
12. Thirst for Nature — Artez in Belgrade, Serbia
A mural of a woman lifting a glass vase of flowers toward her face. The detailed patterns of her clothing, the soft tones, and the rising bouquet create a connection between the figure and the surrounding cityscape.
🔗 Follow Artez on Instagram
More: Street Art Utopia: Why People Fall In Love With Outdoor Art (25 Photos)
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Buildings That Look Like They’re From a Dream (8 Photos)
From a church in Iceland that looks like a spaceship preparing for launch, to a house zipped open on a street in Milan — this collection showcases architecture at its most imaginative. Included are cliffside wartime refuges, storybook cottages, optical illusions, and centuries-old constructions that defy gravity or blend perfectly into mountains. These aren’t digital renderings — they’re real places from around the world.
More: 8 Beautiful Artworks That Seem to Grow From Nature
1. Unzipped Building — Alex Chinneck in Milan, Italy
A building facade appears to peel open like a jacket, with an oversized zipper curling away the wall to reveal its inner structure. This public installation by Alex Chinneck uses stone, concrete, and illusion to challenge how we perceive architecture.
2. King Alfred’s Tower — England
This red-brick triangular tower rises dramatically from the fog in Somerset, England. Built in 1772, it commemorates Alfred the Great and reaches over 49 meters high with a narrow footprint that adds to its illusion of impossibility.
3. Alpine Refuge — Monte Cristallo, Italy
Located at 2,760 meters in the Dolomites, this hidden wooden shelter from World War I is embedded directly into the rockface. Built for survival, it now appears like a dreamlike relic barely distinguishable from the mountain.
4. Hallgrímskirkja Church — Reykjavík, Iceland
This iconic Lutheran church, inspired by basalt columns and volcanic formations, dominates the Reykjavík skyline. Designed in 1937 and completed in 1986, its symmetry and scale evoke science fiction architecture.
5. The House That Sank — The Crooked House, UK
Built in 1765 on top of a mine shaft, this British pub developed a pronounced tilt as the ground beneath it slowly gave way. Despite its slanting angles, it remained a local favorite for centuries.
6. Organic Slate Roof House — Germany
This home with flowing lines and a wave-shaped slate roof blurs the line between fairy tale and high-end eco-architecture. Natural stone and soft curves give it a whimsical yet grounded appearance.
7. Cliff House — France (Built 1347)
Balanced between eras and gravity, this timber-framed upper house sits atop massive medieval stonework. Located in France and completed in 1347, it seems to hover above the road with support beams stretching underneath.
8. Rock-Built Homes — Sanaa, Yemen
Traditional Yemeni tower houses in Sanaa rise directly from the rock, combining ancient stone masonry with ornate white geometric window frames. The buildings appear both sculpted by nature and intricately human-made.These buildings bend our expectations of what architecture can be — not just structures, but expressions of ingenuity, adaptation, and creativity. Whether carved into mountains or dressed like zippers, they show that the line between surreal and real is thinner than it seems.
More: 30 Sculptures You (probably) Didn’t Know Existed
Which one is your favorite?
