Finally, a desk that acknowledges all we want to do at work is be horizontal.
Maybe you slouch in your Aeron chair. Maybe you tried—and failed—to make using a standing desk a habit. Maybe, like me, your preferred working position is curled up on a sofa.
Is it time for an ergonomic desk and chair that lazy people will actually want to use?
Is it time for an ergonomic desk and chair that lazy people will actually want to use? (Click Image To Enlarge)
The new Altwork Station, designed by aerospace engineers, has a standing and sitting position. But it also reclines fully into a "zero g" position—basically as comfortable as being in bed—with a monitor, laptop, and mouse floating the proper distance away above you.
The new Altwork Station, designed by aerospace engineers, has standing, sitting and laying down positions (Click Image To Enlarge)
Co-founder Che Voigt, demonstrating a slump in a typical office chair. says.
"We end up sitting like this. You can make one of two choices: you can say you're going to sit in this uncomfortable position because it's more protective of your body. Or, I think we can go the other route, which is, how about we just let people work the way they want to?"
The Altwork Station reclines fully into a "zero-g": position -- basically as comfortable as being in bed (Click Image To Enlarge)
At the push of a button, the desk can tweak the position of everything or fully shift back into sitting or standing. As the back moves, the monitor moves with your eyes, the desk moves with your hands, and the back headrest shifts slightly in or out to best support your head. Throughout the day, in theory, you'll keep changing position (that is, if you don't get too comfortable lying down).
Co-founder Che Voigt, demonstrating a slump in a typical office chair, says. "You can make one of two choices: you can say you're going to sit in this uncomfortable position because it's more protective of your body. Or, I think we can go the other route, which is, how about we just let people work the way they want to?" (Click Image To Enlarge)
Voigt says.
"You push a button, move something for literally half a second, but all your stuff's there. You don't have to readjust. That's the barrier. We think sitting's bad for you, we think standing's bad for you, we don't think being in 'zero g' all the time is going to be good for you. We think being able to move, being able to easily change positions without even thinking about it, is the solution."
At the push of a button, the desk can tweak the position of everything or fully shift back into normal sitting position (Click Image To Enlarge)
Instead of someone conforming to a desk, the desk conforms to them. Voigt points to an old photo of an early office, where a typist sits hunched over a typewriter. He says.
"We blame our smartphones, but it's not our phones, not our computers. It's this idea that the machine goes on a flat surface, and we bend to the machine."
As the back moves, the monitor moves with your eyes, the desk moves with your hands, whether you are sitting, laying down or standing (Click Image To Enlarge)
The startup began developing the desk after another co-founder had injured his back, and he hacked together a reclining workstation because it was the only way to work comfortably. When he recovered, he realized he didn't want to go back to a regular desk.
Five years later, after over $1 million invested in development and a long line of prototypes and overcoming several engineering problems, the workstations are finally ready for manufacture.
You push a button, move something for literally half a second, but all your stuff's there (Click Image To Enlarge)
The target users: Anyone who's stuck in front of a computer all day long. In some offices, that might be almost everyone. Voigt says.
"You could imagine walking into an office of high intensity computer user type of people—engineers, software developers—and desks could be replaced by this. It would look like the business class cabin on a jet."
In other offices, the workstations might be mixed in with other types of desks. Though the design seems somewhat sprawling in person—especially compared to a seat at a table in an open office—at 18 square feet, it's actually smaller than a standard cubicle. It's also on wheels, so it can roll to the side, if needed, in a home office.
I spent a half hour reclining in the chair as I talked with Voigt, and leaning all the way back is as comfortable as it looks. The designers think that comfort leads to better work. Voigt says.
"I've found myself to feel more creative, I feel like I do better work, I can get deeper into what I'm working on, when I can get that quiet, focused period,"
Leaning back could also serve as a signal to others that you shouldn't be disturbed. Jim Shissler, the startup's marketing lead, says.
"We have a theory that when you get into that reclined position, it's a visual cue to other folks—leave me alone, I need to think."
Voigt continues.
"Yes, it looks like furniture, but we don't see ourselves in the furniture business. This is a productivity tool. That's slightly different but really important to us. This whole thing is designed around the person, but when we make decisions, the first thing we think about is how can we make a high intensity computer user more productive and more comfortable. We think the comfort creates creativity, and with productivity creates your best work."
The catch? It starts at $3,900. The company is taking preorders now, and the chairs will be delivered mid-next year.
COMMENTARY: The above images do not do the Altwork Station any justice. Here's a YouTube video that demonstrates the ergonomic and humanistic capabilities of this new productivity tool.
Love the Altwork Station. It is so 21st century. NASA should take note.
Courtesy of an article dated October 28, 2015 appearing in Fast Company Exist
THE ROTTERDAM-BASED ARCHITECTURE FIRM HAS TURNED THE ROOF OF A TENNIS CLUB INTO SPECTATOR SEATING
MVRDV, the Rotterdam-based architecture firm known for its bold, futuristic designs including everything from small town community centers to South Korean Skygardens to dazzling skyscrapers that look like Twizzlers, is now jumping into the sporting arena. Its latest design is just as much furniture as it architecture though: a comfy red tennis clubhouse that doubles as a seating area for over 200 spectators.
Click Image To Enlarge
Click Image To Enlarge
The new building is simply called the Couch, because of course it is. Located in IJburg, near Amsterdam, and built for the appropriately named Tennisclub IJburg, first founded in 2008. The tennis club already has a number of facilities, including 10 clay courts and a tennis school. But with the addition of the Couch, Tennisclub IJburg finally has not just a place to relax between games, but a place to watch them.
Click Image To Enlarge
Click Image To Enlarge
MVRDV co-founder and architect Winy Maas says.
"With the Couch, we have integrated sport into society By turning the roof of the club-house into a tribune, a Centre Court is created. Here we celebrate the talent of the amateur players who are challenged to excel in front of the public. By covering the entire building in red polyurethane the club gains visibility: an advert for sports and movement. The essence of the building is the stimulation of fitness and the fight against obesity and inactivity."
Click Image To Enlarge
MVRDV developed the clubhouse together with a co-architect, Studio Bouwkunde. In execution, the building is reminiscent of Bjarke Ingels's work on Copenhagen's Gammel Hellerup School. For that project, Ingels used the roof of an undulating rec center and the school's new arts building as common spaces for lounging around, eating meals, and watching sports. MVRDV's take, though, looks warm and accommodating, like a pillow a giant sat on after deciding to sit and watch a tennis match for a spell.
Click Image To Enlarge
Click Image To Enlarge
COMMENTARY: I am a huge architectural design buff, and just love architecture that is on the leading edge of architectural design and is both multi-functional and energy efficient. MVRDV has really blown me away with The Couch.
The Tennis Club IJburg club house is a 36-metre long open volume with services on either end such as dressing rooms, a kitchen, storage and toilets. The main space is multifunctional, so it can be used for the club’s many events. The roof dips down towards the south side and is raised towards the north up to a height of seven metres, creating an informal tribune for the club with terraced seating. This ‘Couch’ can seat up to 200 spectators comfortably. The wide glass front to the north side allows extensive natural lighting and provides a view out over the waters of the IJ-lake.
Inside the club house, the in-situ concrete structure is clad with FSC-certified wood, while the outside is fully sealed with an EDSM polymer hotspray in the same colour and texture as the clay tennis courts. The reduced glass surface to the south helps to cool the building. The thermal mass of the building, characteristic of its materialisation in concrete and wood, are used to reach a high degree of energy efficiency. It clubhouse will be heated by a district heating system made efficient by a heat exchanger. In summer there will be natural ventilation, adding to the ambitious sustainability profile of the structure.
Tennis club IJburg is located on a manmade island in the East of Amsterdam and opened in 2008. The tennis club, currently with 2000 members, has 10 clay courts and a tennis school. The new club house is not the centre of the club's activities.
MVRDV developed the clubhouse together with co-architect Studio Bouwkunde and structural engineer ABT. Contractor Romijn Bouw realised the building, which is MVRDV's eighth project to be built in Amsterdam.
Courtesy of an article dated October 16, 2015 appearing in Fast Company Design and an article dated October 14, 2015 appearing in MVRDV
Apple's building a new campus to compliment its campus at One Infinite Loop. Here are 46 facts about the new Apple campus, which is referred to by many as the 'Spaceship Campus' due to its flying saucer-like design.
Apple's got so big that it is building a new campus to compliment its campus at One Infinite Loop. Here are 46 facts about the new Apple campus, which is referred to by many as the 'Spaceship Campus' due to its flying saucer-like design.
Speaking of flying saucers, someone flew a drone over Apple’s ‘spaceship’ campus, in January, watch the video below to see how the new campus is shaping up.
Watch it here:
The mystery person went back with their drone in February, showing us how much difference a month can make at Apple's new campus.
Watch it here:
Then, in March, AppleInsider posted a drone captured video to Vimeo entitled "Apple Campus 2 Tour", which you can see here:
The most interesting video, however is one that was released at the end of March. This is the best glympse so far of Apple's new spaceship campus, showing us the sheer scale of the project. You can see that here:
How big is Apple's new campus?
1. The new Apple Campus will be set in a 2.8 million-square-foot area.
2. That's an 176-acre site.
3. It will house over 13,000 Apple employees in the one building.
4. The building is more than a mile around.
5. There will be 300,000 square feet of research facilities and underground parking.
6. In May 2014, Apple leased 290,000 square feet of new office space in Sunnyvale known as Sunnyvale Crossing. It is thought that this additional space composes of seven buildings and will provide room for around 1,450 workers. It is located near to the new 'Spaceship' campus as well as the current 'Infinite Loop' campus.
Rendering of new Apple HQ 2 (Click Image To Enlarge)
Watch this video of Apple's presentation about the new campus to the City of Cupertino:
7. The four-story circular structure will have huge walls of glass that will allow employees to look out from both sides of the ring.
Rendering of an exterior view of the inner circle of the new Apple HQ2 (Click Image To Enlarge)
8. Peter Arbour, an architect for Seele, the company that makes the glass staircases in Apple stores around the world, told Bloomberg: "It is something like six kilometres of glass."
9. British firm Foster+Partners have been appointed as the architects for this colossal building. Previous projects include Wembley Stadium, Canary Wharf Underground Station, Stansted Airport, London’s Millenium Bridge, HSBC HQ at Canary Wharf, the Maclaren Technology Centre and the Hearst Tower in New York.
10. In an interview with Architectural Record, Forster+Partners founder and chairman Norman Foster explained that he was inspired by the idea of a London square, where houses surround a park. This eventually evolved into the present design: a circular structure surrounding a large outdoor park.
11. Foster reveals in the video created to promote the Campus 2 project to the City of Cupertino's planning commission (watch it above) that in the original plans there was no circular 'spaceship' structure. Foster said: "It didn't start as a circular building, it really grew into that. So the idea of one building with a great park was really borne out of a very intensive process."
Rendering of an exterior view of the cafe and lounging area of the new Apple HQ 2 (Click Image To Enlarge)
12. Despite aiming to be self-sufficient and earth-friendly, the range of materials used in the construction will without a doubt be the top of the line. "As with Apple's products, Jobs wanted no seam, gap or paintbrush stroke showing; every wall, floor and even ceiling is to be polished to a supernatural smoothness. All of the interior wood was to be harvested from a specific species of maple, and only finer quality 'heartwood' at the centre of the trees would be used," an insider told Business Week.
13. As a consequence of the large size of the building, the sections have been broken up with cafes, lobbies and entrances.
14. In the interview linked above, Foster explains that, when planning the layout of the building, the architects had to consider the different departments that would need to work together, and considered vertical proximities as well as horizontal ones.
"Of course, you have got an enormous range of skills in this building: from software programmers to designers, marketing, retail," he said. "But you can move vertically in the building as well as horizontally. The proximity, the adjacencies are very, very carefully considered."
15. A significant segment of the building is the restaurant, which opens up to the landscape.
16. The car park is buried below the landscape so there are no rows of parked cars to spoil the view.
Rendering of the underground parking garage of the new Apple HQ 2 (Click Image To Enlarge)
17. A video made by Technology Integration Services was created based on publicly available information about Apple Campus 2; the company has no affiliation with Apple. The video depicts additional buildings along with the main 'spaceship' building and gives an indication of how vast the greenery will be in the area. A fountain can be seen in the middle of the campus along with a performance stage, presumably for presentations to Apple employees. Watch the video here.
Rendering of an overhead view of the cafe and lounge area of the new Apple HQ 2 (Click Image To Enlarge)
18. This picture shows the Apple Campus 2 site when it was being prepped for foundation work with the first walls having been erected, running around the perimeter of where the main building will stand. This is where construction crews poured foundation.
Apple Campus 2 site when it was being prepped for foundation work (Click Image To Enlarge)
19. Phase two of the project, includes the creation of research & development buildings and other secondary buildings for meetings and presentations, requires demolition to clear land along N. Tantau Avenue then took place. Current residents, Panasonic, are based opposite the site. Panasonic's response to Apple's new headquarters is not known although tensions could run high between the neighbouring businesses should Apple ever branch out into the TV market.
How much input did Steve Jobs have in the new campus?
20. According to Norman Foster, Apple's late CEO Steve Jobs requested that he be considered a part of the team rather than the client.
21. Jobs wanted the new campus to reflect the Californian landscapes from his childhood, Foster claims in the video.
22. Apple's 'senior arborist', David Muffly, reveals in the video that part of Apple's plan was to bring California back to Cupertino.
23. Steve Jobs was inspired by a large space known as the Main Quad on the Stanford campus.
The new Apple HQ2 will have an interior area inspired by the Main Quad of the Stanford campus (Click Image To Enlarge
When will Apple's new campus be ready?
24. Although the project was intended to be ready by mid-2015, setbacks put the plans behind schedule. Apple plans to move into the main structure by 2016 whilst other secondary buildings will be completed on a rolling basis.
How environmentally friendly will the new Apple campus be?
25. The new Apple Campus will aim at being self-sufficient. Most of the power for the facilities will come from an "on-site low carbon Central Plant", according to an Apple Insider report. Apple intends to use alternative energy sources to power the campus, as part of its pledge to use 100 percent renewable energy at its facilities.
26. After revisions to the original plan, Apple showed that will be able to complete the project without having to remove any dirt from the area.
27. The structure will be outfitted with solar panels around the top of the building. It will run mostly off the Cupertino power grid but will use it as a backup electrical supply.
28. 7,000 trees will surround the campus. Apple has hired a leading arborist from Stanford University to help landscape the area and restore some of the indigenous plant life, including apricot orchards.
Rendering of the interior quad area of the new Apple Headquarters 2 (Click Image To Enlarge)
29. All landscaping is intended to make the area look very park-like. It will include jogging paths and walking trails around the building.
30. The former HP campus on which Apple's Campus 2 is being built was covered in buildings, concrete parking lots and non-indigenous decorative trees ill-suited to the specific Pacific climate. The strongest of the trees will be replanted and augmented with sturdy species that will flourish to create large open expanses of greenery.
31. Apple VP of Environmental Initiatives Lisa Jackson reiterates that 80 percent of the site will be so-called "green space", while the main building will go without air conditioning or heating for 75 percent of the year thanks to natural ventilation. Further, 100 percent of the campus' energy will be sourced from renewable assets like solar power and bio fuels.
32. Foster compared the new Apple campus to an airport, telling Architectural Review: "If you compare these very large buildings in terms of the area enclosed by the amount of external wall, they're very efficient, so they consume less energy. They're also a better experience, because you're not leaving one terminal, going outside, onto a road, or into a tunnel, or onto a train to get to another terminal. You're not worrying about what the hell is happening to your bags as they leave one place and you hope that they end up in the other place.
"Overall, it's a better experience - it's more sustainable, it's more economic. And, architecturally, it's more interesting. The same is true with the very large Apple building."
33. The new campus will reportedly use recycled water and will use 13,300 feet of pipeline to share the supply between it and Cupertino.
How much will the new Apple campus cost?
34. The budget for the new spaceship-like headquarters has ballooned from less than $3 billion in 2011 to almost $5 billion.
Rendering of the interior quad area of the new Apple Headquarters 2 (Click Image To Enlarge)
What facilities will there be at the new Apple campus?
37. The main building will include a wellness centre. This $75 million fitness centre will probably cater for the needs of the entire Apple community in Silicon Valley, which is around 20,000 people.
38. The headquarters will be fitted with a new 1000-seat underground auditoriumwhich will allow Apple to have presentations in the same building, instead of having to go to San Francisco every time.
40. Due to its underground location, this will triple the amount of landscaped area in the campus.
Rendering of an exterior view of the front of the new Apple Headquarters 2 (Click Image To Enlarge)
41. Despite rumours and an unsuccessful campaign by David Greelish, Apple will not open a museum at the new HQ. As Phil Schiller explained, Apple is "focused on inventing the future, not celebrating the past".
42. There will be miles of jogging and cycling trails.
43. 1,000 bikes will be kept on the site and available to staff to get around the campus.
Rendering of the many walking and jogging trails on the property of the new Apple Headquarters 2 (Click Image To Enlarge)
44. A new Caffè Macs employee cafeteria has recently opened at Apple's Cupertino campus. Designed solely for Apple employee use, the general public is not allowed entry to the building, having been designed as an area for Apple employees to discuss work in a secure and private area. The cafeteria, built over two years and in a 21,468 square foot space, has been designed by Foster + Partners, the same agency responsible for Campus 2.
The building’s kitchen, server and espresso bar have been billed as smaller versions of the ones that will feature at Campus 2, enabling the food service team to test the design and layout of the kitchen and serving areas on a smaller scale. The cafeteria at Apple Campus 2 is expected to be eight times larger and span two floors.
The structure of Caffè Macs Alves is reminiscent of design plans for the new campus, containing high ceilings, stonewalls, glass façade and terrazzo floors, all of which are design signatures of Apple Campus 2.
Exterior view of Apple's new Caffe Mac at the present campus in Cupertino (Click Image To Enlarge)
Interior view of the new Caffe Mac at the present HQ in Cupertino (Click Image To Enlarge)
What will happen to the old Infinite Loop Apple HQ?
47. The local area of Cupertino has missed revenues from Hewlett Packard since they left the site however the construction of Apple Campus 2 has lead to the City Council's budget being boosted by an extra $30.6 million. $8 million of the extra revenue will be used to pay off the city retiree medical unfunded liability, with another $8.3 million being used to fund pavement maintenance. The remaining extra funding will be transferred into the city's capital reserve.
Rendering of the main entrance to the new Apple Headquarters 2
COMMENTARY: When I first blogged about Steve Jobs' new Apple HQ 2 aka Spaceship HQ, the budget for the construction of the new campus was $1 billion. Now I am reading that there have been so many modifications to the original cost estimate that the cost has ballooned to $5 billion. WOW. No wonder the stockholders are pissed off. I would be too.
Courtesy of an article dated April 2, 2015 appearing in Macworld
The Pencil, a stylus by Fiftythree, the makers of the app Paper, is going to receive a big update. (Click Image To Enlarge)
THANKS TO APPLE UNLOCKING THE IPAD'S POTENTIAL, FIFTYTHREE'S PENCIL WILL SOON GET EVEN BETTER
Today, the iPad stylus takes another step away from stupid stick and closer to expressive artistic tool. FiftyThree's Pencil--a wooden stylus made for the impressive iPad sketching app Paper--will soon allow you to vary the width of your line as naturally as drawing with a real pencil or marker.
As the video shows, you simply tilt the tip of the Pencil to go from fine point to thick line while sketching on screen--just as you would with the real thing. In other words, digital drawing on the iPad can feel a step more intuitive than it has.
By tilting the tip, you'll be able to draw a line of varying thickness. You know, just like a real pencil. (Click Image To Enlarge)
The update actually comes largely of Apple. (Click Image To Enlarge)
In iOS8, the company unlocked the capacity for the screen to recognize objects of various width. (Click Image To Enlarge)
While the Paper app--also developed by FiftyThree--has some incredible algorithms inside that enable intuitive color mixing and for you to rest the palm of your hand on the screen as you draw, this update actually comes largely as courtesy of Apple. Amongst countless updates in iOS 8 is a powerful feature that most of us missed: The iPad’s touch screen can now recognize objects of various size. So instead of treating a thumb or pinky as the same sized orb, it can accommodate the precision necessary for the Pencil’s tip to begin simulating the multitude of subtle thicknesses we’d find in any natural drawing tool.
For these analog-digital hybrid drawing tools, this could lead to a wave of more naturalistic sketching experiences. (Click Image To Enlarge)
Eventually, these tools could get so good that we won't be able to distinguish Paper from paper. (Click Image To Enlarge)
If you already own a Pencil, there’s no need to buy anything new. Free software will update the feel of the hardware. Timing will coincide with the public release of iOS 8 in the fall.
The adjustable standing desk allows you to mix up your posture throughout the day, but top models cost as much as $1,600. (Click Image To Enlarge)
Clearly, it’s time to ditch the office chair, but standing desks can get pricey, especially the adjustable kind, which let you mix sitting and standing throughout the day.
On Kickstarter, StandDesk's basic model costs less than $400. (Click Image To Enlarge)
The company has raised more than 10 times its funding goal since April 2014. (Click Image To Enlarge)
StandDesk, a new standing desk model being launched on Kickstarter (where it has raised more than 10 times its target since April), is a cheaper solution. The basic model, which has a simple automated system to raise and lower the desk at the touch of a button, starts at less than $400. Not quite as cheap as a cardboard desk, but not $1,600 either.
The creators say the lower price comes from designing a custom motor that doesn’t have as much extra lifting power as other standing desks. It’s only designed to lift 225 pounds--enough to hoist your computer and desk gadgets, though maybe don’t put every textbook you own on it. It’s a clean, simple design with no frills, just a smooth tabletop and a small control panel. Considering that I spend my days curled over my desk in a bizarre yoga pose called, “becoming one with the laptop,” I’m on board.
The desk raises and lowers at the touch of a button. (Click Image To Enlarge)
Clearly, it’s time to ditch the office chair. (Click Image To Enlarge)
COMMENTARY: Steven Yu, the founder of StandDesk raised a total of $649,244 from 1,697 donors through Kickstarter. The goal was to raise $50,000, but StandDesk raised over 12 times that. Congrats to Steven Yu. The first batch of pre-orders from the Kickstarter campaign are scheduled for delivery sometime in September 2014.
According to the StandDesk website, you can still pre-order the StandDesk directly from them for $449.00 with FREE shipping. Delivery in the fourth quarter 2014. I assumed that these new pre-orders will be after the Kickstarter project donors receive theirs.
I like what Yu is doing. Let's just hope that he priced the StandDesk properly so they can generate a profit.
As a cild, I’d lie on my canopy bed searching for faces in the wood grain slats above me. As I grew older, I continued to focus my imagination upward, standing on tiptoe on a footstool to stick glow-in-the dark stars to my ceiling (the adhesive would later become the bane of my parents’ existence) and helping a friend transform ceiling light cans into a tangle of psychedelic flowers.
Now that I’m thinking about having children of my own, I’m once again turning my gaze skyward as I begin to think about a space for our someday child. There’s one feature that’s a must-have: a magical ceiling to dream to.
Here are eight dreamy ceilings to inspire a child’s paradise.
Fort making was one of my favorite games as a child, and the best forts were almost always made with bedsheets and piles of pillows.
This magical draped ceiling evokes the adventures of Arabian nights. In this space full of hard surfaces and sharp corners, it provides just the right amount of softness to send its young occupant on a magic carpet to dreamland.
This vibrant mural is amazing on its own, but the dimensional features help make it truly out of this world. Artist Jeff Huckaby brought texture to a traditional drywall ceiling with a slight knockdown before handpainting the mural. I love the way he transformed a central pendant light into the sun for planets to orbit around.
A slanted ceiling provides the perfect opportunity to draw the eye upward — even if your space doesn’t include access to a loft playhouse. The three-dimensional detail of the ladder and fence helps this mural come to life, creating an “outdoor” playspace that can be used even on a rainy day.
We’ve all seen ceilings painted to look like clouds, but what makes this room truly special is the way the artist played on the curved shape to create the illusion of a horizon. By using every surface except the floor, the muralist created an immersive play and sleep space for imaginative children.
If you’re struggling to find a way to make the cloud idea all your own, consider a sunset. I feel like a unicorn is about to jump out of this surreal ceiling, making it perfect for a pair ofprincesses.
A geometric carpet helps ground the space, creating the feeling of a grassy patchwork while keeping the room from feeling like it has its head in the clouds.
If you want to do it yourself but don’t trust your skills as a muralist, consider a stencil. MJ Whelan Construction pulled in the same pastel lavender as on the wall for the ceiling, then used a wall stencil to add a delicate pattern in grays, whites and lavenders to create a subtle, almost textural effect.
Decals can be a great solution for a room that needs to grow with your little one. I’m used to seeing them on the walls, but I love the way this giant flower hangs its head over the bunks, watching over the wee ones during nap time.
Mobiles aren’t just for babies anymore. Groups of mobiles arranged in a creative tableau can help transport your child into the dreamscape of your imagination.
This idea works particularly well with curved or vaulted ceilings — as in this space — which add additional dimension and help prevent adults from knocking their heads on the decor.
COMMENTARY: Now that's what I call cool kids' rooms. The murals on the ceiling of their rooms conjures images of Peter Pan, Cinderella and Snow White. What a fantasy and so much fun for kids.
Courtesy of an article dated July 4, 2014 appearing in Houzz
We have to say we are usually very foreseeing when it comes to the new designs that are being created, but we really did not see this coming. Letto Zip comes from Florida Furnitureand is a dream came true for all those people who dislike making their beds in the morning. Its appearance can be changed by simply zipping and unzipping its stylish cover. This has a major effect on the overall room design, while in the same time being very practical for the user who can prepare the bed in a fast and simple way. The furniture piece is highly modern and elegant, perfect for a large variety of contemporary interiors. With a soft and slightly curved frame, this looks like a comfortable dreamy bed. Letto Zip comes in three charming color-combinations: white-red, gray-red and white-blue. Looks inviting?- via The Design Blog.
Click Images To Enlarge
COMMENTARY: Created by Italian outfit, Florida Furniture, the clever bunk is designed to let you skip folding the sheets, while leaving your sleeping area looking clean. How can that happen? By having a zip-up dress that covers the entire surface of the mattress, so when guests accidentally stumble in the room, they'll have no idea it is inhabited by lazy people.
The Letto Zip Bed measures 7.87 x 6.56 x 2.72 feet, with a mattress slightly smaller in dimensions so it can be covered up neatly for effective camouflaging. Zippers run along the entire edge of the bed, where you can attach a completely detachable cover that can also double as an extra blanket (just in case the comforter isn't enough).
Each bed uses padded frames with a slightly rounded look for that modernist bedroom aesthetic. They use Emmecia fabrics throughout the whole construction, in your choice of white, gray or blue pallettes for the outer side.
Back in the day, there were only two ways a messy bedroom inhabitant can get a clutter-free sleeping area: marry someone who doesn't mind doing it or hiring a maid. With the Letto Zip Bed, there's now a third course of action. We have no idea on pricing, but you can learn more about it from the Florida Furniture website.
NOTE: According to my research, Florida Furniture no longer exits. The domain floridafurniture.net and italianocuccina.it (another company associated with the bed maker) are both avaialble for sale
Stainless steel tubes or half-tubes are being installed in homes and apartments as a fun way to get from a top floor to a lower floor while having a lot of fun doing it. (Click Image To Enlarge)
Take a straight shot between floors or twist up your ride with a spiral. An indoor slide puts the playground right at your feet
For some intrepid homeowners, their home is their playground. Bringing slides indoors is not common enough to call a trend that's sweeping the world, but we're starting to see it here and there, and the idea is spreading. From taking center stage in swanky Manhattan penthouses to providing the fun secret way to get from the laundry room to the basement in Minnesota, these playground pieces are anything but child's play.
We've all got our heads wrapped around an indoor slide like this one, but what about ...
This slide in New York City's East Village, originally in the pad of a bachelor professional poker player, received a ton of press online, in magazines and on TV. I saw it on one of those high-end real estate shows, and the slide's projected effect on resale value caused some entertaining manufactured-for-TV drama. When square footage is at a premium, taking up a lot of room with a slide is a very specific homeowner choice, but wow, it really dazzles, and I bet it gets the endorphins going if you slide downstairs to get the first coffee in the morning.
The slide was conceived by the creative minds at Turett Collaborative Architects. It connects an upstairs office to the middle of the open floor plan below; it's a half-tube design in stainless steel.
However you feel about its function and the room it takes up, the slide certainly stands up to the 18-foot-high ceilings in the large, open space.
This image shows what the apartment looked like afterJoyce Elizabeth staged it for resale.
This slide is for recreation and art; its beautiful form is a huge presence in Skyhouse, an artful Manhattan penthouse, connecting the attic to the guest room hallway, then continuing down in a second leg to the living room below. This place is like something out of a movie, perhaps a remake of Sleeper.
Inspired by German artist Carsten Höller, architect David Hotson's slide design has a futuristic form and serves as a sculpture in this unique space. It was fabricated in Germany and put together onsite, before many of the walls inside the penthouse went up.
The end of the slide makes a huge design impact and also serves as a work of art on its own. Houzz contributor John Hill put together a wonderful tour showing more of this one-of-a-kind home.
Rather than serving as a sculpture or major design statement, some slides are surprises hidden in the walls. The basement rec-room fun begins with the trip down a level in this Minnesota home. This one's entry point is tucked away in a first-floor closet.
The round opening does not give away what the slide experience will be, which builder Steve Kuhl describes as "severe tubular craziness." He estimates that installing a slide like this somewhere else would run from $2,500 to $5,000.
Two New York City penthouses were combined into a single two-story unit, prompting the owner to request a slide connecting the two. How great is that? I've seen people put fire poles in their homes, too.
COMMENTARY: Adding stainless steel tubes or half-tubes to slide from an upper floor to a lower floor is the coolest idea I have seen in quite a while. Kudos to the architects and interior designers who incorporated slides into the interior design of their houses and apartments. The slides definitely takeup a lot of room, and I would be concerned that very small children might use them, so parents will need to take extra precautions to prevent terrible accidents from occurring.
Little rugrats take the plunge down a stainless steel tube slide installed in their house. (Click Images To Enlarge)
Having said this, if you have a very large home or apartment with two or more floors, and can afford the cost of adding stainless steel slides, go for it. It is obvious that if you are going to hire an interior designer to add slides to your home, that you have already decided to make the necessary financial investment for such an endeavor.
Courtesy of an article dated October 30, 2013 appearing in Houzz.com
Located in San Francisco's SoMA neighborhood, Pinterest's new 45,000-square-foot headquarters feature four "houses," architectural volumes where employees can collaborate in groups. (Click Image To Enlarge)
TO MATCH THE UNCERTAIN NATURE OF STARTUPS, COMPANY FOUNDER EVAN SHARP STEERED AWAY OF SLEEK DECADENCE IN FAVOR OF CLEAN SPACES THAT FOSTER CREATIVE COLLABORATION.
When talking about workplace design, the buzzword “collaboration” flies around the tech world faster than a speeding foosball. From startups working out of garages to sprawling corporate campuses, everyone is looking to harness the creative energy of people working together. Pinterest is no exception. The design-driven company is using its new 45,000-square-foot headquarters in San Francisco’s SoMA neighborhood as a test site for collaboration.
The hubs within the office are meant to foster community. But perhaps, in the spirit of Pinterest, they are more like fun houses, with something a little strange or unique in each one to bond people together. (Click Image To Enlarge)
The “war room” is designed for power-working sessions on deadline. Desks allow designers and engineers to work shoulder-to-shoulder on their laptops and then feverishly cover the whiteboard and glass walls with their brainstorming notes. (Click Image To Enlarge)
Employees moved into the space in April, filling a brick warehouse on 7th Street that had been stripped down to basics: large industrial windows, wood beams, steel structure. But into that raw space, concept designers Janette Kim, of All of the Above, and Anna Neimark and Andrew Atwood, from First Office, along with executive architect Neal Schwartz, inserted a grid of four white volumes. Each 20-by-20-foot cube-like “house” functions as a different kind of meeting, working, or gathering area. Almost totemic, these architectural interventions answer the challenge of how to have 150+ people working in an open-floor plan and still have places for quiet, creative intensity--and yes, collaboration.
Another meeting area. (Click Image To Enlarge)
The office is left intentionally unfinished. Says Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp: “The one certain thing about a startup is that the future is highly uncertain, and so like an information system, we wanted the design of the office to be flexible enough that the design would be able to adapt as the company changes over time. (Click Image To Enlarge)
Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp explained.
“The one certain thing about a startup is that the future is highly uncertain, and so like an information system, we wanted the design of the office to be flexible enough that the design would be able to adapt as the company changes over time. Like Pinterest (the service), we wanted our space to accommodate the most heterogeneous set of occupations possible. That's architect speak for, the space should enable you to work in many different ways. Whether you're comfortable working at a dedicated desk, on your laptop at a communal table, or in a dark corner in the basement, it's likely that you'll find a place that works for the way you like to work.”
“Like Pinterest (the service)," Sharp continues, "we wanted our space to accommodate the most heterogeneous set of occupations possible. That's architect speak for, the space should enable you to work in many different ways. Whether you're comfortable working at a dedicated desk, on your laptop at a communal table, or in a dark corner in the basement, it's likely that you'll find a place that works for the way you like to work.” (Click Image To Enlarge)
“We didn't want the space to give the impression of success or complacency or decadence, the way a lot of studio and agency spaces feel to me," Sharp says. (Click Image To Enlarge)
That doesn’t mean that emphasis is placed solely on efficiency or productivity. Like literal houses, the hubs within the office are meant to foster community. But perhaps, in the spirit of Pinterest, they are more like fun houses, with something a little strange or unique in each one to bond people together. For instance, an oversized circular table is intentionally too big for a single meeting or group lunch. Kim explains.
“We wanted to design a table that would be so large it would welcome anyone to work on it. If your table holds 20 people and five people are sitting at it, anyone can feel invited.”
By contrast, the “war room” is designed for power-working sessions on deadline. Desks allow designers and engineers to work shoulder-to-shoulder on their laptops and then feverishly cover the whiteboard and glass walls with their brainstorming notes.
Still, there's an element of fun, with vintage signs and tchotchkes brought in by employees. (Click Image To Enlarge)
The office is housed in a renovated brick warehouse on 7th Street. (Click Image To Enlarge)
The conversation of how to work collaboratively began for Kim long before she sketched a plan. Sharp was her student in 2008, when he was a graduate student studying architecture at Columbia University in New York City. Kim and Sharp remained in touch after he founded Pinterest in a garage and would discuss the connections between architecture, startup culture, and information design, contemplating how meaning is generated for spaces, objects, and photographs. Recalls Kim.
“We talked about a square, a circle, a cross--really basic things--but it was also a way to talk about the collaborative culture of the office, of relationships between people.”
The four "houses." (Click Image To Enlarge)
That dynamic culture expresses itself in the architecture and in the ever-changing displays of vintage signage and funky objects brought in by the staff. DIY art projects made by crafty “Pinployees” hang from the rafters, evidence of after-hours creativity.
Sharp explains.
“The office feels intentionally unfinished. We didn't want the space to give the impression of success or complacency or decadence, the way a lot of studio and agency spaces feel to me. We wanted it to feel like one stepping stone on a larger journey. This helps remind us how far we are from our ultimate aspirations for what Pinterest will become.”
COMMENTARY: I have always preferred the simplicity of open space plans over the confinement of office cubicles. Pinterest's new headquarters are quite typical of today's high technology startups: fast growing, team-oriented, highly social, creative and innovative. You almost have to do away with the cubicles in favor of just a few private places where peope can gather for collaborative brainstorming and private meetings. It means less investment in office furniture and sacrificing some privacy, in favor of clear lines of communication and social interaction and collaboration. When done properly, the architecture and interior space plan can, as in the case of Pinterest, appear very impressive and appealing to the eye.
I love the interior space plan concept of the "four houses," because the office spaces are purposely designed to foster a sense of community and belonging. Pinterest's HQ is probably a very noisey place, especially the lunch room area. It gives one the feeling of a community, a corporate family, if you will. Everything is out in the "open." Even the conference rooms have glass walls, so there is no attempt to hide anything. I didn't see any curtains, so I wonder how they handle confidential information. Just the same, Pinterest's new HQ came out quite impressive.
Courtesy of an article dated October 22, 2013 appearing in Fast Company Design
The Footloose by Mando is doubtless going to make you want to test ride it. Asserting that it is the world’s first chainless hybrid electric folding bike, Korean auto suppliers Mando Corp and Meister Inc have collaborated to bring us this beautiful design.
Click Images To Enlarge
Designboom states it can go up to 18.6 miles with the motor alone, and farther with pedaling by the rider.
“By directly transforming electricity via an alternator connected to the crank, power is generated directly from the user. The energy stored in a lithium-ion battery, which is then used to actuate the engine. Using an electronic control unit (ECU), the ‘footloose’ works with sensors and an automatic gear changer to monitor terrain and adjust the motor’s output as necessary. It monitors the system for problems, which it displays via a handlebar-mounted human machine interface (HMI).”
Click Images To Enlarge
It will apparently be available in the European markets starting 2013. Here is a video illustrating the bike a bit more:
COMMENTARY: This is a paradigm change in the e-bike world for sure. It is a clean and simple design. It removes all of the typical bicycle drivetrain components: the chain, chainrings, cogs, derailleurs, and shifters. This also removes the dirty, greasy chain!
Of course it adds the alternator and some other electronic components but overall it appears to be a system with less components. As long as it proves to be reliable, the series hybrid system could be a great e-bike drive system for the future.
The Footloose was developed in a partnership project of Mando Corp. and Meister Inc. (automotive suppliers in South Korea). British designer Mark Sanders and Dutch e-bike expert Han Goes were very involved in the design.
Footloose Design By Mark Sanders
Click Image To Enlarge
Footloose Advanced Technology
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Footloose Specifications
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Footloose Color Options
Mando Footloose in white and black colors (Click Images To Enlarge)
Mando Footloose in grey and light blue colors (Click Images To Enlarge)
Courtesy of an article dated November 26, 2012 appearing in FeedBox
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