Urban Planning Blog

Dare you to sit. The World’s 13 Most Uncomfortable Chair Designs.

I’ll be reviewing one of Kovacs-designed lamps soon. So some background on him before I do:

One of the most recognizable names in the lighting industry, George Kovacs wore many hats throughout his forty-plus year career. Part lighting designer, part lighting manufacturer, part lighting importer – Kovacs’ design aesthetic stood out above the rest and helped to define modern lighting as we know it today.

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Kamal Meattle reported the results of his efforts to fill an office building with plants, in an effort to reduce headache, asthma, and other productivity-sapping aliments in thickly polluted India.

He presented his innovative idea at the TED Conference this year.

A review of global studies into the impact of modern office design found the switch to open-plan spaces had been overwhelmingly negative, with 90 percent reporting adverse health and psychological effects.

Open-plan offices not so good? Contrary to the popular opinion in business circles, Australian researchers have found open-plan offices counter productive and in fact, harmful to the health of the employees. Now let me get back to my cubicle and get some work done. Hopefully.

Quirky home decor is not only fun but also helps your home to stand out in the mundaneness of cookie-cutter furniture. Home Decor for Absolute Geeks celebrates the geekiness of our culture by unabashedly decorating homes with uber-cool gadgets and appliances. Of course, as they mention no wife in her right mind will allow these in her home so enjoy it while you’re single.

PUNK HOUSE documents a journey that most of us will have never taken; it shows us homes that most of us have never seen; it gives a small taste of a way of living most of us have never lived, and it does so in an easy yet successful way. The photos range from disgusting (the bathroom at Casa de Otto comes to mind —is that blood or hair dye?) to the artistic (is this a junk pile of sticks or is it considered sculpture?).

Timothy Findlen along with photographer Abby Banks spent three months driving cross-country to visit and photograph sixty-five punk houses—communal, low-rent houses typically crammed full of punks, squatters, and artists.

Abandonment especially abrupt always fascinates us; just like those abandoned cities in 28 Days Later or I am Legend. Apart from the ghost towns of the West, we also have the ghost offices from our changing economy as captured by photographer Philip Toledano.

I love IKEA’s simple and elegant designs (although I hate their cashiers). What better way to get the word out than to pimp out your local transit train?

Public restrooms/bathrooms/toilets need not be bare, monotonous, and dull. Here are some of the more unique ones. No foot-tapping permitted in these though.

Now if I had one of these, I would grow roots in this thing. Really innovative [via Boing Boing].

Hackers are not always bad especially when they are called Ikea Hackers. These funky DIY-ers create innovative and eclectic furniture mods from existing models and since Ikea allows you to play around and assemble your own stuff, they couldn’t have looked too far for inspiration [via].

Shake hands?

An interior design competition results are always fun to browse through. A competition conducted by FabulousStationary and decor8 brought forth more than hundred joy-inducing entries [before and after pictures provided].

For a while I lived with a ‘rocker’ roommate who had drums, electric guitar, and the works and regularly practiced his art. He was considerate enough to pipe down when I asked him to and I actually even enjoyed some of it. But I wasn’t sure our neighbors appreciated it much. Heck, we even got the cops sent to us once for a noise violation. So how do we go about avoiding that?

Alexander  Gelfand and his percussion-crazy wife found themselves in a similar predicament when neighbors vowed to boot them out of their New York apartment. But they decided to be proactive and soundproof their apartment. They sure have some interesting suggestions and I had never heard of green glue or mass-loaded vinyl before. But of course, it didn’t come cheap:

Our total labor and sheetrock costs were around $4,000, with an additional $3,000 for materials. (We also invested $1,000 to have fiberglass insulation pumped into our walls to give the apartment a smidgen of sound isolation before the real work began.)

So unless you are really serious about your percussion skills, it may not be worthwhile. And of course, your spouse must love it too. There is no way to soundproof a marriage.