A list of intriguing things

One: There are many wonderful libraries around the world, but the winner of the ‘most bizarre’ category is Tête Carrée—and by a mile. This monumental work created by French sculptor Sacha Sosno stands 30 metres high and 14 metres wide in the city of Nice—and is considered one of the most famous monuments on the Côte d'Azur. The lead image offers a daytime view. As you can see below, it looks even odder at night. FYI: Fodor’s has a lovely collection of the world’s most unusual libraries.

PS: If you’re looking for the beauty queen of libraries, look no further than the Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading in Brazil—which contains the largest collection of Portuguese texts outside of Portugal.

Two: Pseudonymous Scottish artist Hey Reilly has found excellent use for both AI image generator MidJourney and (finally!) the royal family. His coronation series—titled ‘His & Her Royal A.I.ness’—is the perfect antidote to the absurdly serious hand-wringing that is done over petty Windsor family drama. Look what the prompt ‘king charles, camilla, kardashian, liberace, sausage, iconic’ produced! Serious Met Gala vibes:) For more of his work, check out his Insta handle. (Times UK)

Three: How do you feel about being buried in a ‘mushroom coffin’? That’s the latest invention in the world of sustainable afterlife. Dutch company Loop Biotech ‘grows’ these coffins by mixing mycelium—the root bit of mushrooms—with hemp fibre in a special mould. In about a week, you get this: 

See: It’s moss-lined for comfort! The great benefit of this $1,000 shroom invention: 

[W]hile traditional wooden coffins come from trees that can take decades to grow and years to break down in the soil, the mushroom versions biodegrades and delivers the remains to nature in barely a month and a half.

Unsurprisingly, founder Bob Hendrikx makes product presentations in a “I am compost” T-shirt. (Associated Press)