INSPIRATIONAL WORKPLACES AROUND THE WORLD

Iwan Baan designed this below-ground woodland workspace for architects at Selgas Cano.





































Mass Studios in Seoul, Korea is one of the only buildings in the world that was landscaped both outside and in.



























I've got to include one form my hometown. This is Upperkut - a communications agency that resides in the basement Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church here in Montreal.



























Designed by the architecture and design firm Camenzind Evolution, Google’s EMEA Engineering Hub office in Zurich takes up seven stories of 12,000 square metres of floor space for up to 800 employees. Each floor has a cohesive theme throughout. The communal spaces have large, cocoon-like meeting areas and employees can slide down a pole from the floor above into the space.











































Ogilvy & Mather’s Guangzhou office received China's Most Successful Design Award in 2008. Designed by M Moser and Associates, Ogilvy & Mather’s carnival themed office is the first interior design project to receive this award.

WALKING BOOKSHELF

The Circular Walking Bookshelf (Archive II) is part of the Archive series by architect David Garcia. The series aims to blur the border between art and design. Archive II transforms into a "micro room" where walking and reading coexist as refuge and transport in the imagination.

WHERE WE DESIGN

Where We Design showcases the spaces in which designers, artists, architects, freelancers create. The above image is of MSCOMM Group's boardroom designed and style by Antigoni Kapsali.

VERSATILE SEATS

The Magic Hole chair, designed by Eugeni Quitllet in collaboration with Starck design, is meant for use outdoors and incorporates a hole to hold newspapers or other objects.



















The Barnacle chair by Ania Wagner is made from sustainable wood and lined with a cultivated industrial felt. You can sit in it or flip it over for multiple people to lean on it while seated on the floor.














The Flip Stool is another multi-purpose piece by Ania Wagner that I had to include. It can be used as a stool, storage piece or magazine rack.



















The New Bambini by Toshimitsu Sasaki is an adjustable chair for the whole family. The chair easily adjusts from a rocking chair to a baby's high chair to a stool for kids and adults. Brilliant!
















The Oz chair by Cate & Nelson is a low chair with layers of felt you can flip to change it's color. A chair you can match to any space or mood.

REDUCE REUSE REDESIGN

Shown above is the Hangelier 1.2 By Organelle Design. Organelle is an independent design studio based in Vancouver, BC that re-purpose off-the-shelf, and found objects in innovative ways. Who knew plastic hangers could looks so classy?















Ramon Coronado Mercado Negro, a cross-media visual designer based out of Los Angeles, creates recycled furniture from shopping carts as part of his Reclaiming & Furniture Design series.


















Designers at Reestore re-purpose old bathtubs into modern love seats using contemporary colors, fabrics and finishes.


















Designer Andrew Gregg from Bike Furniture Design in Michigan specializes in creating modern furniture made primarily from recycled steel and aluminum bicycle rims, handlebars and frames. His work is stunning and can be ordered online. Sweet!

RGB LIGHT

German and Swiss product designers Fabian Nehne and Martin Meier created this lamp inspired by the additive color model RGB. Fabian Nehne is working as a senior designer at Deutsche Telekom and Martin Meier is the senior designer lead at IDEA Munich. I haven't been able to find out if it's being sold anywhere yet or if it's still in the prototype stage.

WORKSPACES

Meet the K Workstation by MisoSoup; an innovative and space-saving desk design. This desk is perfect for small apartments, dorms or any other trend-setter's room where space is at a premium.



















Got More room? The MILK desk by Scandinavian designer Holmris Hansen A/S is an Apple user's dream. This desk has 4 customizable sections on the left hand side that can be used for anything from storage compartments to trash bins and pencil holders to a fish tank. This sleek design neatly stores cables out of sight and is height adjustable.













Once I found out about height adjustable desks I was sold on the idea of getting one for my workspace. About 6 months ago I purchased Geek Desk legs from Bonanzle and bought a desktop from IKEA. Having a desk that adjusts electronically in seconds from seated to standing height is irreplaceable for those long days at the computer. I'll never work in a cubicle again.

(FYI: The picture above is not my space- I'm not a dude....)

PUTTING THE "FUN" BACK IN "DYSFUNCTIONAL"

Chairs for the Dysfunctional are a series of seats designed to illustrate different social sitting habits. More than that, they question the way we interact with inanimate objects in our daily lives. The chairs were designed by Alice Wang; a recent graduate of MA Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art.












I particularly like the above work that allows you to update your status on the back of your chair. It brings to light the ridiculous behavior of letting the world know what we're up to or what kind of mood we're in at all times. This chair will be shown at the Salone Satellite at the Milan Furniture Fair (22-27 April, 2009) next week.

There's also the chair that equalizes heights


















and the fart amplifying chair.



















Click here to read more about this and other Alice Wang projects.