WEIRD WEDNESDAY: Solar Trees

Designer Ross Lovegrove believes that "intelligent products reflect the value we place on our civilisation. They must use resources wisely and celebrate the full potential of our emerging scientific and technological age." Working in his studio in London, Lovegrove takes inspiration from nature to create everyday items, including his SUPERNATURAL chair that weighs 2.5 kilos (approximately 5.5 pounds).

While many of Lovegrove's products may not be seen in the mainstream market, one of his designs--A Solar Tree--can be seen on the streets of several European cities. Solar trees are solar-powered streetlamps that are designed to look like a part of nature more than an artificial light source. Each Solar Tree has 10 "branches," which are actually solar panels that collect sunlight during the day and then use that energy to provide light during the night. The tree's "trunk" is green to add to the connection with nature.

The lamps were first installed in Vienna in October 2007 in collaboration with the Museum of Applied Arts there. Since then, Lovegrove's trees have been placed on the Piazza della Scala in Milan and the Champs Elysees in Paris.

Lovegrove is working on a second generation of the Solar Tree, which will feature solar panels that follow the sun to increase energy capture.

WEIRD WEDNESDAY: Off The Cuff Off Cuts Made Into Furniture

In the ongoing quest to reduce, reuse, and recycle, one aspiring furniture designer is expressing her artistic talent in the form of furniture made from factory waste—and nothing else. No screws, bolts—just wood waste.


Amy Hunting, a London, UK-based designer and illustrator, has introduced The Patchwork Collection—lamps, chairs, and storage/book boxes made out of wood waste and off cuts produced in the Danish factories.

These descriptions and images come from the artist's Web site:
The magazine box (picture, left) can be moved around and reconfigured for multiple uses and appearances.




These lamps (pictured below, right) were cut out of a large solid block of wood, made up of small off cuts. The pendant lamps were then cut out of the block until 12 lamps revealed themselves and all the wood had been cut out. The 12 lamps can be stacked inside each other for easy transport. They require no fitting and can be hung on any bare lamp bulb through the top.

WEIRD WEDNESDAY: Deskinacar????

At a time when cell phone use for drivers is consider a moving violation in several states, many "road warriors" are struggling for safe ways to conduct business on the road. And under initial scrutiny, the idea of conducting business in the car may seem downright dangerous. Unfortunately, it's a necessity for some professionals (including those in the facilities field). For the folks at Officeinacar, this was a problem just itching for a solution.

The company recently debuted its new product, Deskinacar, a portable utility desk that weighs less than four pounds and can be stowed in most 17" laptop bags. Deskinacar provides a car desk/lap desk for the businessperson on the move, whether traveling in and out of airports, rental cars, hotel rooms, college campuses, or sprawling business parks - whenever and wherever immediate desk space is needed.

"As an insurance adjuster, I am always on the lookout for any tool or gadget that might improve my 'mobile' office. With Deskinacar, the desk is much larger than the bottom of my car seat, so it can accommodate much more of my work, and it prevents me from tearing up my car seat. It also makes a nice sturdy platform for my portable printer. It fits perfectly inside my computer cases, so I can take it anywhere I go," says Randy Inman, president, Inman Insurance Services.

The Deskinacar has a durable polycarbonate frame with a soft, rubberized grippy material that resists items placed on it from sliding off. The desk measures 22" by 16 3/4" while open and can be leveled in the passenger car seat with the attached poly-web belt. It can be used unfolded as a very large lap desk or can be quickly folded in half to create a heat-absorbing laptop desk, measuring 11" by 16 3/4" by 1". Officeinacar, Inc. also has plans to develop the product with additions such as legs.

The inventor of the Deskinacar is Lee Evans, who, while working as a part of a catastrophe team for a major insurance company, found himself on assignments requiring frequent air travel and needing to carry more than one computer, a portable printer, briefcase, and luggage. In transit or on inspections, he had to have constant access to his computer and the Internet and able to set up a portable office, especially when he was in a foreign city.

The idea of lugging around a large car desk was simply out of the question. The problem he needed to solve was: "How do I set up a functional yet portable mobile office in my rental car?" Evans found the solution, and two and one-half years after establishing Officeinacar, Inc., he launched Deskinacar. The product is currently patent pending.

WEIRD WEDNESDAY: A Low Tech Solution To A High Tech Problem

This story comes from Alex Papadimoulis of The Stalled Server Room. It was originally posted on 6/24/08.

According to Papadimoulis, one company was forced to move from its second floor space to another location on the first floor of the same building when its lease came up. The request seemed easy enough, aside from the slight disruption caused by the move. However, there was an unfortunate sticking point; the company would not have space (or the money, for that matter) to move its server room and all of the accompanying equipment from the existing second floor location.

So here's the weird part. Papadimoulis reports, to accommodate the new second floor tenant (who wouldn't want to deal with the inconvenience of interruptions from people traipsing through to work on the server room):

"building management and the company's executives came up with an alternative: wall off the server room door and build a new one. It seemed simple enough, but there was, however, just one small hitch. The only available wall to install a door was adjacent to the women's restroom. Inside the handicapped stall." (Pictured below.)

Here is a copy of the memo sent by the building management company as an explanation for the "creative" space planning resolution.

From: ---- --------
Sent: Monday, May 5, 2008 4:37 PM
To: Everyone
Subject: Server Room Access

Hi all.

As you all are aware, we have new tenants that have moved into the 2nd floor suites. The access to the server room is now via the women’s bathroom.

There will be a sign on the woman’s door that can be changed from OPEN to CLOSED and vice versa.

Should you need to enter the server room, please change the sign to CLOSED. Once you are done, please change it back to OPEN.

Once you enter the bathroom, you will be able to access the server room via the handicapped stall. Please close the stall door prior to entry, just in case someone doesn’t see that the bathroom is closed.

I know this isn’t ideal, but if we adhere to this protocol, I don’t think anyone will be disrupted.

Thanks! Let me know if you have any questions.

---- --------
Building Management


Questions? Gee, where do we start?

Many thanks to Jo Katz for submitting this story to FacilityBlog.

WEIRD WEDNESDAY: There's Something Fishy About This Desk

Danish office furniture designers SØren Kjær has introduced MILK, "a desk that will redefine what is expected of office furniture in the 21st century." Produced by Danish office furnishings giant Holmris, MILK offers an unusual synthesis of design, function, and customizable features.

Kjær was inspired to create MILK when he recognized a need for a desk that combined a sleek aesthetic with smart function and quality construction.

MILK is comprised of a monolithic rectangular top, finished in white or black high gloss lacquer that rests on a sleek aluminum pedestal base. The base is available in stationary or mobile versions. The mobile base allows the user to raise and lower the desk height at the touch of a button, adjusting electronically to accommodate sitting or standing. MILK easily adapts to users of different heights for ergonomic purposes.

The desk surface is customizable as well. Each top incorporates four built-in containers that offer numerous organizational possibilities. These cubbies are inset into the surface of the desktop, giving the user a place to keep essentials close without sacrificing desk space.

These containers can be customized in a number of ways. MILK offers lids in aluminum, chrome, black, purple, white, and frosted acrylic, or glass. A power supply can be threaded into a cubby, creating a discrete spot to charge an iPod or cell phone.

One or more of these dedicated cubby spaces can be further personalized with practical and playful accessories. MILK has created a built-in waste bin; pencil holder; shallow and a deep divided accessory trays; and even a fish tank.

MILK’s built-in cable exits allow power cords, firewires, and broadband cables to be neatly bundled together and kept hidden underneath the desk, while still being easily accessible from the desktop. A slot is integrated into the body of the desktop, creating a handy shallow space to store folders, notepads, and files that are in constant rotation for quick and easy access.

The product is on display at dkVOGUE’s New York contract showroom. Kim Nielsen, founder and CEO of dkVOGUE observes, “With its distinctive combination of adaptable elements, modern design, and exceptional Danish craftsmanship, this desk is truly an industry first.” dkVOGUE is the exclusive distributor of the product in the U.S.

WEIRD WEDNESDAY: Twisting And Turning

Plans for an 80 story building in Dubai reveal a structure designed be in motion. Italian architect Dr. David Fisher announced yesterday the launch of the Dynamic Tower, which he says will be constructed first in Dubai, then Moscow, with other locations planned worldwide.

Rotating Tower Dubai Development Ltd headed by the Dynamic Group, have announced the opening of the reservations list for the first Dynamic Tower in Dubai. The building will contain apartments and larger villas, and the entire building would run on wind energy from turbines sited on each floor.

Said Dr. Fisher, “The Dynamic Tower is environmentally friendly and the first building designed to be self-powered, with the ability to generate its own electricity, as well as for other nearby buildings, it achieves this feat with wind turbines fitted between each rotating floor, An 80-story building will have up to 79 wind turbines, making it a true green power plant.”

The Dynamic Tower would also be the first skyscraper to be built entirely from prefabricated parts that are custom made in a workshop, resulting in cost savings, including fewer workers on the construction site. “Each floor of the building can be completed in only seven days. From now on, buildings will be made in a factory,” Dr. Fisher said.

In terms of how building systems will remain intact as the building twists and turns, Fisher notes at the press conference yesterday that plumbing fixtures, for instance, would be along the lines of the flexible equipment used for aircraft refueling.

Plans Beyond The First Venture
Dr. Fisher also announced that the second Dynamic Tower planned for Moscow is now in the advanced design phase, with preassembling of the units to start soon and completion scheduled for 2010. The developer is the Mirax Group, headed by leading international developer Sergei Polonsky, The Moscow tower, which will have 70 floors and be 1,310 feet tall, will be located in Moscow City area.

“Our intention is to build the third Rotating Skyscraper in New York,” Dr. Fisher stated. “Additional Dynamic Towers will be built around the world, following an expression of interest from developers, governments, and public officials to construct a Dynamic Tower in Canada, Germany, Italy, Korea and Switzerland.

(Photo courtesy of Dynamic Architecture)

WEIRD WEDNESDAY: Is There Any Such Thing As Good Graffiti?

The relationship between the facility manager and the graffiti artist has always been a hostile one. There are many products on the market to help arm the fm in the battle against the rogue artist (or artists), but in this particular example, the "graffitist" is given free reign.

Here is an amazing short film by Blu. It features an ambiguous animation painted on public walls around Buenos Aires and in Baden.

WEIRD WEDNESDAY: A Chicken Partial To Fast Food?

For four months, a fair fowl took up residence at a California McDonald’s. Customers and restaurant management alike had tried to catch the chicken, which at times blocked cars from traveling through the drive through lane. Perhaps it knew customers might be ordering chicken nuggets?!

To read the story, which appeared at CNN.com the other day, visit this link…

BONUS WEIRD WEDNESDAY: Which came first? The bedbug or O'Reilly?

Here's another item for the "news to make your skin crawl" file. In New York City, the offices of Fox News are waging a new kind of battle. It's not about ratings, bias, or credibility; it's against bedbugs. A veteran employee for the company is suing Fox after experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder as result of the pest infestation.

From Reuters:

Jane Clark, 37, a 12-year veteran of Fox News, a unit of News Corp, said she complained to human resources after being bitten three times between October 2007 and April 2008. She said she was ridiculed and the office was not treated for months.

Beacon Capital Partners, which owns the tower in midtown Manhattan, said in a statement that it had not been made aware of the problem and that it was the responsibility of tenants to manage infestations.

Clark, who says she's been diagnosed with PTSD and can no longer work, has filed a separate workers compensation claim with News Corp, and the company is paying her medical bills and lost wages. A News Corp spokeswoman declined to comment because News Corp was not named in the lawsuit.

She said she believed a colleague who used her workstation on weekends, and who no longer works for Fox News, brought the infestation to the office. Clark's home was never infested.

Clark says she suffers nightmares and keeps a flashlight at her bedside so she can check for bugs during the night.

The suit names the owner and manager of the office tower in Manhattan where Fox employees worked. She has filed a separate workers compensation claim against Fox, Reuters reports.

In his March 18, 2008 article, "Bedbugs at Fox News," Jacques Steinberg reports, "In an interview on [March 17, 2008] Warren Vandeveer, senior vice president for operations and engineering at Fox News, said the cable channel had realized it had a problem a few weeks ago, when an employee “caught a bug and showed it to us.” An exterminator determined that the incursion was limited to a “very small area in the newsroom.” But the source of the bugs was not determined until the exterminator inspected the homes of about 20 employees. Mr. Vandeveer said the exterminator later described one employee’s home as having “the worst infestation he had seen in 25 years in the business.”

And this from the Web site, Gothamist:

Fox swears the bed bugs have been “totally eradicated,” but the annoying thing about bed bugs is their tenacious ability to survive for months between feedings, and in some cases they can live up to a year before sucking blood again. The bed begs have clearly refused to let New Yorkers rest, but their sudden infiltration of Dick Cheney's favorite news source can mean only one thing: Al Qaeda training.

UPDATE: A tipster tells Gawker that the employee who caused the bedbug infestation has been terminated; he's described as "a satellite desk guy who was greasy and gross." Is that even legal? If New Yorkers can now be fired for a bedbug infestation, then the bedbugs have already won.

WEIRD WEDNESDAY: Workplace Malaise, Intepreted by Radiohead

A former co-worker forwarded a link to some amazing Flash projects, which eventually took me to the following facility themed adaptation of the Radiohead song, Creep. It's definitely weird, yet fascinating in terms of the evolution of computer graphics.

WEIRD WEDNESDAY: Shrink Wrap Your Building

Shrink wrap is nothing new. In addition to its product packaging applications, the technique is gaining popularity as a method of securing everything from luggage to shipping pallets. But shrink wrapping construction projects? Now that's an interesting concept. But it's a pretty practical idea, when you think about it.

Dr. Shrink, a company out of Manistee, MI, is pioneering this approach based on the practical idea that most construction and remodeling jobs are not completed within a single day. The company's UV-protected BioShrink shrink wrap has additives that resist mold, mildew, algae, and bacteria, including E. Coli.

If building materials are left out for weeks or months without any protection, they can end up covered in mold or mildew. By attaching BioShrink to walls, the shrink wrap can be used to cover an entire room or area during construction.

To protect materials that will be left outside, BioShrink can be heat-shrunk like regular shrink wrap for a tight-fitting cover. It will provide full antimicrobial protection during storage or transportation.

The tan shrink wrap is suitable modular and pre-fabricated buildings. It comes in widths up to 20'.

WEIRD WEDNESDAY: The Ants Go Marching...

Today's Weird Wednesday story comes straight from the "you can't make this stuff up" file. For facility professionals outside of the Houston, TX area, this story is odd, but amusing. For fms in the largest city in Texas, it's "A Bug's Life" with a nightmarish twist, and the siege shows few signs of ending anytime soon.

The story is about ants...crazy rasberry ants. What makes them doubly nightmarish (especially for fms) is their appetite for electronics (computers, motors, wiring) and their tenacity (it's nearly impossible to kill them because of their extreme numbers and the cost of the treatment).

First spotted about six years ago, paratrenicha species near pubens (their formal name) may have arrived in Houston by way of cargo ships from South America or the Caribbean. Their numbers have gone from the thousands to the millions in the meantime, and their infestations have spread to five surrounding counties. Moving at the rate of a half a mile a year, the ants (named after Tom Rasberry, the first Texas exterminator to do battle with them) do bite, but they don't sting.

Linda Stewart Ball of the Associated Press reports:

Exterminators say calls from frustrated homeowners and businesses are increasing because the ants — which are starting to emerge by the billions with the onset of the warm, humid season — appear to be resistant to over-the-counter ant killers.

And when you do kill these ants, the survivors turn it to their advantage: They pile up the dead, sometimes using them as a bridge to cross safely over surfaces treated with pesticide.

"At this point, it would be nearly impossible to eradicate the ant because it is so widely dispersed," said Roger Gold, a Texas A&M University entomologist.

The good news? They eat fire ants, the stinging red terrors of Texas summers.

But the ants also like to suck the sweet juices from plants, feed on such beneficial insects as ladybugs, and eat the hatchlings of a small, endangered type of grouse known as the Attwater prairie chicken.

Worse, they, like some other species of ants, are attracted to electrical equipment, for reasons that are not well understood by scientists. They have ruined pumps at sewage pumping stations, fouled computers and at least one homeowner's gas meter, and caused fire alarms to malfunction. They have been spotted at NASA's Johnson Space Center and close to Hobby Airport, though they haven't caused any major problems there yet.

Apparently, Moscow has called Houston to make sure everything was safe at NASA.

Here's more on these critters from the Center for Urban & Structural Entomology, Texas A&M University, Department of Entomology:

They have been known to short out many different types of electrical apparatuses. In some cases the ants have caused several thousand dollars in damage and remedial costs. These ants often cause great annoyance to residents and businesses.

Currently, little is known regarding specific biology of this ant. Texas A&M's Center for Urban and Structural Entomology is currently investigating food source attraction (Rachel Wynalda, M.S. student), colony growth, and immature development (Jason Meyers, Ph.D. student). However, research regarding other Paratrechina species is available and may offer close approximations of this species.

Colonies are polygyne (multiple queens) with moderately sized numbers (several hundred to few thousand). However, size of the colony can be much greater, especially when considering their unicolonial (supercolony) behavior. The colonies can be found under or within almost any object or void, including stumps, soil, concrete, rocks, potted plants, etc.

Check out this news footage from a local Houston station:

This story makes me itch.

WEIRD WEDNESDAY: Play That Funky Building, White Boy

On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from May 31, 2008 to August 10, 2008, there will be concerts on the Battery Maritime Building. Yes, concerts ON the building. David Byrne (formerly of The Talking Heads) has transformed the interior space of the structure into an interactive sound installation for all visitors to play.

Creative Time presents Playing the Building, a 9,000-square-foot, interactive, site-specific installation. The project consists of a retrofitted antique organ placed in the center of the
building’s second-floor gallery.


The organ controls a series of devices attached to its structural features—metal beams, plumbing, electrical conduits, and heating and water pipes. These machines will vibrate, strike, and blow across the building’s elements, triggering unique harmonics and producing finely tuned sounds.

As Byrne explains: “Typical parts of buildings can be used to produce interesting sounds. Everyone is familiar with the fact that if you rap on a metal column, for example, you will hear a ping or a clang, but I wondered if the pipes could be turned into giant flutes, and if a machine could make girders vibrate and produce tones.”

Playing the Building marks the first time in decades that the second floor of the Battery Maritime Building (located at the southern tip of Manhattan next to the Whitehall Ferry Terminal) will be accessible to the public. The space will be open and free on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays throughout the summer of 2008. Everyone will be invited to sit at the organ, tap on the keys, and create sounds that travel through the space.

“David is most widely known as a musician, but he is an extraordinary writer, visual artist, and director who resists categorization, plays around with grey zones, and favors a life of broad creativity,” says Anne Pasternak, curator of the exhibition and President and Artistic Director at Creative Time. “Playing the Building is deceptive in its simplicity; it's layered with rich meaning relating to human nature, our contemporary relationship to place and sound, and considerations of shifts in culture at large.”

The exhibit and subsequent development of the Battery Maritime Building will preserve the historic features of the building, bring the grandeur back to the second floor Great Hall, and create a waterfront destination for all New Yorkers and visitors to enjoy. The Battery Maritime Building will be a great catalyst for the continuing revitalization of Lower Manhattan and the evolving New York Harbor District.

Designed by Richard Walker and Charles Morris and completed in 1909, the Battery Maritime Building is the last surviving East River ferry building from an era when 17 ferry lines traveled between Manhattan and Brooklyn. The building, which is in the Beaux-Arts Structural Expressionism style, was designated a historical landmark in 1967. The second story was home to the Great Hall, one of New York’s distinguished public spaces, which was at one time illuminated by a stained glass skylight. The Great Hall was used as a waiting area for many years, and in the 1930s was connected to the neighboring Whitehall Ferry Terminal by a pedestrian bridge. The Battery Maritime Building shut down its ferry service to Brooklyn in 1938, and consequently suffered structural deterioration due to lack of maintenance. It is now the property of the Department of Small Business Services and it is managed by the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Playing the Building was originally presented and commissioned by Färgfabriken, Stockholm in 2005.

WEIRD WEDNESDAY: X-treme Dress Down Friday

Just when you think you've seen it all, there are rumors (but no confirmation on the BBC's Web site) of a new reality television program in the works. Yes, BBC 3 has been putting out feelers for companies to participate in a show that will feature employees willing to report to work naked.

Sajeda Momin of indiainfo.com writes:

The first few episodes of the series, called Naked Office,will have cameras following fully clothed employees at work to gauge their views on nudity. Some will be asked to pose in the buff for life-drawing classes and it will be seen how comfortable they are about being naked in public.

In the next set of episodes, the channel will ask its employees to participate in a no-clothes event called Naked Friday.Cambridge University professor Chris Smith, notes, “The amount you spend on clothes shows how well you have done or are doing [in career] and where you stand in the office hierarchy. If you look at Britain of the 1950s, you will see an entrenched hierarchy in clothes; the idea of white or blue collar workers stems from there.”

Uniforms and “correct clothing for people holding particular positions” in certain professions outlines this hierarchy, Chris said.

“But these days, as people are dressing more casually, this hierarchy is being eroded. Even then, if we look at job interviews, it still stands that interviewers will see the shine on a candidate’s shoes to gauge how much effort he has put into the application and how serious he is about getting the job.”

So if you're interested in volunteering your workplace for this kind of "exposure," contact the BBC ASAP! Producers of the show are promising "a dress down day to remember."

WEIRD WEDNESDAY: Strange Coffee Break Activities

When you have project files piled so high on your desk that you can’t see your neighbor in the next cubicle, what’s the only thing that gets you through the day? For many workers, it’s their daily coffee break.

According to a CareerBuilder.com survey, 49% of workers take a coffee break at least once during the workday, and 32% take a coffee break twice a day or more. However, not all workers are merely drinking java during these breaks, and CareerBuilder.com has named the top 10 most unusual activities workers did on their coffee breaks in its 2007 survey:

1. Proposed marriage
2. Judged a “Best Legs” contest
3. Shrink wrapped a co-worker’s new car
4. Did step aerobics by his cubicle
5. Left the office to chase a weasel outside
6. Had a burping contest
7. Ran a race in a wedding dress
8. Kissed another employee in the stairwell
9. Did a fast re-enactment of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show”
10. Walked a new-born turkey around the building

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 5,600 US employees, (employed full-time; not self-employed; with no involvement in hiring decisions), ages 18 and over within U.S. between June 1 and June 13, 2007. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region, and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. The data has been weighted to reflect the composition of U.S. employers, and propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

With a pure probability sample of 5,600, one could say with a 95% probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/-1.3 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies. However that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated. A full methodology is available upon request.

WEIRD WEDNESDAY: Earth Day Goes to the Worms, So What?

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) announced winners of the 2008 national Professional Awards on April 15 in Washington, D.C. Culver City-based ah'bé landscape architects was selected for an Honor Award in Communications for the short film So What?, which chronicles the planning and implementation of an art installation composed of 2/3 ton of paper waste generated by the firm over a 12-week period.

The film, which was hailed by the professional awards jury as "an incredible message that speaks beautifully to designers and the public about an important issue, was produced by firm president Calvin Abe, FASLA, and created and directed in-house by Evan Mather, an award-winning filmmaker and landscape architect who has a unique insight into the design process and the core issues raised in ah'bé's recent series of art installations.

"The basic premise of the film, and indeed of the installation itself, is that the term 'sustainability' has been overused to the point of becoming meaningless, and that it is time to reflect on the true meaning of the word," says Abe. "The firm created towers of shredded paper that were exhibited at a local gallery space in the form of a reconstructed forest to create a provocative statement on the nature of sustainability. By manifesting the concept of sustainability in a uniquely entertaining fashion, the film seeks to educate viewers and spur them to action.

The film, which follows the project from start to finish, when the "trees" were fed to worms to create compost, forces viewers to confront the impact even small businesses have on the environment. As the narrator informs us, American companies produce enough paper every day to circle the globe.

According to Abe, the impact of the installations has been surprising: while many viewers were amazed or amused, most expressed a profound sadness at witnessing the quantity of paper generated by a small company in such a short period of time. "These installations are not only temporary 'gardens,' but awakenings."