Hasta La Ideas

Several readers voiced various plaints about Balzer & Kuwertz’s recently-seen Pallet Chairs, but I was most convinced by Scott #2’s comment that “Pallets are reused for shipping over and over, so it’s not like you’re saving materials from the waste stream.” According to IFCO—”the largest pallet services company in the county”—”less than 3% of the nearly 700 million pallets manufactured and repaired each year end up in landfills according to a study by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the USDA Forestry Service.”

Even so, pallets remain a compelling material for their pragmatic provenance and rugged aesthetics, as in Toronto-based Dubbeldam Architecture + Design‘s recent Pop-Up Office. Designed for the How Do You Work special exhibition at last month’s Interior Design Show in their hometown, the workspace concept consists of five different modules come in standard dimensions based partly on their source material.

There has been a profound shift in the way we work; when all we need is a surface to work on and a place to plug in, the working environment is no longer static. Mobility, adaptability and flexibility are the new key elements of the modern office.

The POP-UP Office is an installation that explores the evolving way in which we work. Using modular units that can be combined in different ways, the result is a workspace that is simultaneously bare bones and tailored to the individual. Built out of reclaimed wood pallet boards and their frames, separate modules collectively form the modern work place facilitating both individual work and collaboration—a workspace, collaborative space, lounge area and refueling station. In sinuous forms, the reclaimed boards morph from the wall and floor into furniture elements, sanded where the human body comes in contact with the wood and left rough where it does not. The modules are comprised of separate planes (floor, wall, ceiling) and furniture elements that are assembled in different configurations. Modular shelves can be inserted into slots between wall boards, creating adjustable display and storage areas. Smaller ledges slide into gaps between the wood slats.

The possibilities are endless; easily transported, reconfigurable and rapidly deployed, pop-up offices are designed for short term use, atypical applications such as outdoor festivals or disaster relief situations, or start-ups looking for modest office space. With the playful use of materials, lighting and furniture components, each module is made distinct, while being easily reconfigured to fit individual needs. Stripping away the superfluous, the POP-UP Office embodies adaptability—the space itself morphs in conjunction with workplace needs.

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Montana TV station KRTV reported that someone hacked into their Emergency Broadcast System and broadcast of an impending emergency in several Montana counties. According to Great Falls Tribune, regular programming was interrupted with a voice-over that warned that bodies were rising from their graves and attacking humans.

I bet it was Dade Murphy.

Bethany Koby and Daniel Hirshmann of Technology Will Save Us explain how their DIY technology kits and workshops help people “understand what goes into the stuff in our lives” in the penultimate movie filmed at our Designed in Hackney Day.

Technology Will Save Us design kits that contain all the parts and tools needed to build objects such as simple speakers or musical instruments. “A lot of the time it’s hard to navigate online resources in order to find all the things you need to make things with technology,” says Koby.

Other kits include conductive playdough and programmable bike lights, all sold both online and at small pop-up kiosks they call Haberdasheries for Technology. “These are shops within shops where we can give people information about our kits,” she says.

Created with designer Yuri Suzuki, their Radio Kit includes small circuits that fit together like a puzzle to form a working radio. “It contains PCB boards that you can piece together to create connections for a radio,” Koby says.

Hirshmann then describes the workshops run by the studio in the local area, which include teaching groups how to wire a plug, solder and create small circuits. “We’re interested in creating these workshop experiences where people can come in and join us as a community,” he says.

They also arrange “meetings with experts” where they ask people in the community about specific needs that could be solved using simple technologies. “We had a gentleman called Mr Lewis who couldn’t hear his doorbell and he wanted to see it,” says Hirshmann. The solution was to hook up LEDs from their musical instrument kit to his doorbell so they flashed when it rang. “The key thing to remember is that he was one member in a community that potentially had a similar need, it’s possible that this solution could help a lot of people,” he says.

The studio also organises technology demonstrations and live “teardowns” of products. “We get an expert to rip apart something that’s everyday in our lives, like a toaster, and explain what goes into this thing that makes it so good at making toast,” says Hirshmann. “It’s really fascinating to understand what goes into the stuff in our lives.”

To conclude, he demonstrates light glasses built from their Bright Eyes Kit, which are sunglasses with LED video screens instead of lenses.

Dezeen’s Designed in Hackney initiative was launched to highlight the best architecture and design made in the borough, which was one of the five host boroughs for the London 2012 Olympic Games as well as being home to Dezeen’s offices. Watch more movies from our Designed in Hackney Day or see more stories about design and architecture from Hackney.

The post “We’re a haberdashery for technology and
education” – Technology Will Save Us appeared first on Dezeen.

Here in New York, from time to time I’ll still spot broken safety glass in the gutter. Sometimes the burglarized car is still sitting there, the seats picked clean, the glovebox open. I’m amazed anyone in NYC would leave anything in their car to tempt a thief, but I think our declining crime rates are making people complacent.

For those who live in areas where burglary isn’t a problem, a car can be a handy place to store things. Off-road vehicle accessories manufacturer Smittybilt makes a line of gear for just that purpose: Their G.E.A.R. seat covers use what looks like the military’s PALS (Pouch Attachment Ladder System) webbing to modularly attach a series of bags, pouches and tool rolls.

The bulk of the G.E.A.R. line-up is made to custom-fit different models of Jeep (CJ, Wrangler, and Wrangler Unlimited models made from the mid-’70s to today), though they also offer Universal models without the seatcovers.

While I like the concept and design, they may need to upgrade their materials; if one Amazon review is to be believed, the front seams frayed after six months of top-down, always-exposed-to-the-sun use. My guess is they used polyester thread rather than nylon, as the former tends to break down under constant UV.

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The Stock Chair was designed for the recently redesigned Materials and Products Library at Central Saint Martins, UAL (more here). Stock has a raw and..