Your Neighbor’s Living Room Is Your New Office!
In april a new way of working was introduced in Amsterdam. Huiskamerkantoor (Living Room Office) is a new marketplace that enables users to turn their living rooms into co-working spots. The platform offers a great alternative to expensive office spaces or stylish macchiatos in the coffee bar, but above all Huiskamerkantoor introduces a new perspective on working together, meeting people, creating networks and sharing space. The living room is the new office! We spoke to Misha Velthuis, the man behind the new co-working platform.
Urban Catalyst: The Power Of Temporary Use
Back in 2008 we interviewed Klaus Overmeyer, author of Urban Pioneers (2007), one of the very first books on temporary urbanism. Now, five years later, at the peak of the bottom-up hype, he and his colleagues Philipp Oswalt and Philipp Misselwitz are back with Urban Catalyst: The Power of Temporary Use.
Abandoned Freight Elevator Houses Hidden Museum
What defines a museum these days? An impressive building? World-famous artworks? A star-curator? Maybe. One thing's for sure: the museum of the 21st century can take on different shapes and forms, online and offline. New York City's Museum proves that even an old freight elevator can be the perfect spot.
Urban Routines — Everyday Life In The Big City
Urban designers and architects almost always focus on future scenarios for cities. We tend to forget that, at the same time, many, many city dwellers are just living their daily lives. They drive their cars through over-populated streets, they sit in front of computers in offices, and they buy their daily groceries in the supermarket around the corner. Shouldn't we take a moment to look at the things that are happening now in our cities? The Strelka Institute in Moscow hosts a new program around the theme Urban Routines — everyday life in the big city.
Fliike Makes Your Online Reputation Visible On The Street
French tech start-up Smiirl has developed a great new device to show your online reputation to your offline audience. Their so-called Fliike is a real-time counter for Facebook fans that can be placed in a shopping window or on your desk. This way you can proudly display your digital community and easily convince people to join your Facebook page.
IKEA Launches Flat-Pack Modular Refugee Shelter
With plenty of experience in manufacturing prefab design, IKEA has launched a modular refugee shelter that can be set up in only four hours at any place in the world. The light-weight construction comprises of a steel frame with insulated light-weight polymer panels and comes flat-packed in a cardboard box, like all IKEA furniture. The panels, pipes, connectors and wires can be assembled pretty easily thanks to a classic IKEA manual.
Virgin Atlantic Changes Park Bench Into A First-Class Airplane Seat
Virgin Atlantic seems to have a creative ad agency. Earlier this year the company launched the world's first airplane art gallery, recently it changed a regular public park bench in the city into an airplane seat.
Milk-O-Mat Dispenses Fresh Milk From the Countryside
During a cycling trip last week I stumbled upon a 'milk-o-mat'. At a farm called Ons Verlangen in the North of Amsterdam a special vending machine dispenses fresh milk that comes straight from the cows. For only €0.20 a cup of cold milk can be tapped from the machine that is especially made for this purpose and opened till 10 in the evening.
AT&T Launches Solar Mobile Charging Stations In NYC
As part of an ongoing effort to keep New Yorkers connected, telecom provider AT&T launches free solar mobile charging stations in public spaces across the five boroughs of the Big Apple.
Eenmaal: No Shame In Eating Alone
During two nights in late June, pop-up restaurant Eenmaal served solo dinners in Bos en Lommer, Amsterdam. Marina van Goor, social designer and the initiator, chose the restaurant as a public and social place to break the taboo of being alone. Doen Foundation and branding agency Vandejong helped her to make the experiment happen.
Klebstoff #5 — Magazine For Urban Sticker Culture
Last year we reviewed the fourth issue of Klebstoff, the world's first and only magazine that consists entirely of stickers. Printed in a limited edition of 1000, Klebstoff features great sticker designs by a wide range of graphic talents from around the world. Some weeks ago we received the magazine's colorful fifth issue, that was co-produced by Berlin-based Lodown Magazine.
Belgian Artist Transforms Billboards Into Houses For Urban Nomads
Billboards are omnipresent in the contemporary city. Some of them are almost as big as small apartments. This must have inspired the Belgian artist Karl Philips to start his project 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly', in which he transforms urban billboards into small parasite apartments for urbanites.
Yelp Wordmap Shows Where Hipsters Hang Out
Yelp helps us to find good restaurants according to our preferences, but when you take a closer look also generates plenty of data about lifestyle clusters in the city. Yelp's new Wordmap service shows heat maps of Yelp keywords.
The Art Of Urban Camping
Summer is the perfect time for museums and artists to leave their walls and go to meet people. UrbanCampsite Amsterdam makes art and design more accessible and interactive at a campsite. It offers a fun opportunity to explore this idea of bringing art to unusual spaces.
Urban Normality Restored!
On the Westerstraat in Amsterdam the house numbers between 54 and 70 are missing. Big fuzz for Google Maps? Yeah. Big fuzz for the postman? Yes, indeed. But not any more! Advertising agency Natwerk decided to restore normality and build the seven missing row houses. In the gap. Between the buildings...
