Design News You Can Use

Looking for a major dose of news you can use? Well look no further. Joelle Jach brings you this month’s design news and trends so you can take your rightful place as the brightest crayon in the box.

 

Meet me in the hot air balloon: If you’ve ever seen photos of Google’s workplaces, you may be familiar with some of the more outrageous workplace elements commonly used by technology companies or startups. So is Chappell Ellison – and she’s tired of it. Her tweets take a stab at the goofy offices favored by techies, and they just may help you look at your office in a new way.

Wacky tacky: In a revolt against the straight lines and subtle nuances of universally-regarded “good” architecture, Vasily Klyukin has taken matters into his own hands. As a self-styled wannabe starchitect, Klyukin has skillfully rendered proposals for what might be the world’s tackiest buildings. Check it out – and decide for yourself how weird the Cobra Tower really is.

My generation: As millennials in the workplace move up the ranks and assume leadership roles, many worry that millennials’ oft-panned generational shortcomings will lead to crashing and burning in the workplace. Adding fuel to this argument? This New York Times piece about the successes and stumbles of millennial-run media company Mic.

Blockheads: It seems like Legos are everywhere these days, but it’s not exactly time- or cost-effective to bring everyone’s favorite toy bricks into your home. That is until now, with Arnon Rosan’s polypropylene EverBlock. The blocks function like life-size Legos for your home, giving new meaning to a brick house.

Design Ability: Washington’s Gallaudet University is the only school of its kind; geared specifically for the Deaf and hard of hearing, the school is a cultural and educational marvel. This is where a design movement called DeafSpace was born as a way to use the Deaf experience to shape the built environment.

Please stand up: To add to the continued debate on sit-stand desks, a recent report shows little evidence that standing desks increase mobility. According to Dr. Alan Hedge (one of my old professors!), ergonomic equipment requires education on the how as well as the why. In other words, standing all day can be almost as bad as sitting all day, so be sure to mix it up!

Think fast: Stuck with writers block? These five strategies can help you look at things in a slightly different way, and kick-start your brain. My favorite? The 30 Circles Test, which can help you learn to embrace creativity and the imperfections that come with it.

Future people: the past few years have seen enormous surges in popularity for some workplace trends, and dips in popularity for others – but what will the next few years have in store? David Sturt and Todd Nordstrom hypothesize that these workplace buzzwords will fall out of fashion in ten years.

Posture perfect: With changes in technology, as well as increases in unassigned or activity-based workplaces, the way we interact with office furniture has changed. Here, Amanda Schneider examines the changing ways in which we sit on chairs, work on tables, and gather for meetings.

Park it right there: This year’s eVolo Skyscraper Competition winner is certainly a bold, innovative idea – oh, and it also involves digging up Central Park in its entirety. Far from encouraging the far-fetched ideas of the world’s boldest architects, Kriston Capps urges that Contestism creates architectural madness.