Viewed from above, the Land Art project Desert Breath looks too perfect to be real.The two spiraling arms of positive and negative conical forms create a surreal scene upon the Egyptian desert floor, echoing the forms of nature found in plants, water and the very shape of our galaxy. Coming down to earth, the view only becomes slightly more believable. The features are gigantic: the outside cones towering taller than a human, and the shimmering center pool spanning almost 100 feet.

With a common desire to work in the desert, installation artist Danae Stratou, industral designer & architect Alexandra Stratou, and architect Stella Constantinides formed D.A.ST. Arteam in 1995. They spent the next two years precisely constructing Desert Breath. The behemoth art piece covers 100,000 square meters (about 1 million square feet) and required displacement of 8,000 square meters of sand (about 280,000 square feet).

Desert Breath still exists today, literally showing the shifting sands of time as it merges once again with the surrounding desert. You can see it from the sky on Google Maps, along with images of its present state.

Written by Benjamin Starr

Known in some circles as the most amazing man in the universe, he once saved an entire family of muskrats from a sinking, fire engulfed steamboat while recovering from two broken arms relating to a botched no-chute wingsuit landing in North Korea. When not impressing people with his humbling humility, he can be found freelance writing, finding shiny objects on the internet, enjoying the company of much-appreciated friends and living out his nomadic nature. He is Managing Editor of Visual News. Follow his movements on Twitter: