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Rent versus buy
In this Hong Kong alleyway amidst pasted bills advertising a commodity more traditionally thought of as either being rented or bought - namely, physical space - is a seemingly novel offer. Consider...
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a thought on fit
The head waitress/matriarch of this family-owned dumpling restaurant in Shenzhen was quite proud of her improvised viewing solution. “It makes it a lot better when things are slow around here and I...
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Roadside necessities
Upended cans line the shelves at this rest stop, illustrating a simple way to have a customer's first contact with a beverage not also include a mouthful of accumulated dust from the adjacent dusty...
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Tire swing
A different sort of tire swing (both seat and straps of recycled tire), and its wear patinas. An indefinite (self-propelled) ride will set you back one kuai (US $0.16). In isolation this business...
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Material logic
A place’s excess materials are partial determinants of what ends up being repurposed within it. As a corollary, the material-intensive activities taking place in that context tend to determine the...
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Cultural commodities
Proximity to borders as the fruitful grounds for language (and market) mixtures/overlaps. Here, Tibetan script tops a sturdy bag of woven fibers, while the writing below is in Chinese. Consider how...
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Sensor dense, sensor defense
Given the dizzying number of options for this airport climate control system, and considering that said systems expresses feedback relatively slowly, this cluster of controllers, identical except for...
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Threats, old and new
Besides being used to mark the passage of time, drum towers in the centers of traditional towns were used by the state to raise the alarm and prepare for defense (or to seek refuge) when hostilities...
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Chinachairs
The above chair was handmade by a tractor driver with whom I spent a morning riding along and interviewing. He crafted it himself, using scrap wood and metal he found around construction sites,...
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New Library Models: I
A new member of the colorful family of objects that populate urban China’s streets is spreading gradually across the country's largest cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen. Notable is that such an...
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Occupation and Intention
The overlaying of traditions by brands, with some interesting resulting friction as EMS unconsciously (?!) colonizes the common act of adhering a “double happiness” paper decoration to a wall through...
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Rural color palettes
Out gathering a pillion’s eye perspective on one of my favorite towns in China, and was struck by the colors. Besides the walls of mud and stones and verdant shoots of new growth, a few...
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Formalizations + Transformations
Improvised motorcycle-based cargo carrying solutions are readily visible across China.* As above, cardboard bins become cargo containers and vests become storage for small objects. Here, a practice...
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Simple choices
In designing a service, it’s easy to become bogged down in over-designing, as the material/physical restraints of creating a completely physical product are not as present, and one can become mired in...
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Storage with a view
Consider the cost of spatial constraints, and the sacrifices both accepted (and asked of others) to deal accommodate them. Of all the ways people react to limited space, some of them even vary by...
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Points of Predictable Contact II
Pieces of modular flooring mat are laid out against the side of falling-down shack along a steep mountain road outside of Taibei, Taiwan. Meant to protect the vehicle from the building (and...
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Journey Punctuations
The punctuation marks that accompany a given journey change by context, though tend often to involve food and drink in varying ways. In China, this is even built into sayings, such as 上马饺子下马面...
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Stored potential smartly used
As we were discussing choices and behavior around resource usage in class recently, a colleague mentioned the different chains of thought and action that governed the temperature in his room. Working...
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"Full"
The characters “客满” (plus the “Full”) on the front of this bus outside of Taibei, Taiwan indicates its inability to accept more passengers. Consider the implications behind this design, and what it...
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Service familiarity
When I arrived at this restaurant in back alley Jiufen, Taiwan for breakfast, I walked across the threshold and pointed myself towards a table. Once seated, the server approached, brandishing a...
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Jiufen micro/macro
Struck out to from Taibei to Jiufen, home of the teahouse that inspired Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. Enchanting textures and vistas abound as well. Repurposed styrofoam cooler gardens lined the city's...
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Service details: Otafuku x Medetai
Otafuku x Medetai is a closet-sized restaurant with few menu items. I was struck by the density of endearing service details packed into both the restaurant’s limited space, and the short amount of...
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Desire paths and daily life
In snowbound New York back in March, while looking at a rooftop across the street I found myself thinking about “desire paths” and the environments and contexts across which they reveal themselves....
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Touchpoint teardown: yardstick
Quite a brilliant little analog object, this.* On a basic level, yes, this is indeed “just" a yardstick. With proper use, though, it can also be a means for increasing revenue through selling more...
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Conversation
Much ink has been spilled, conferences convened, and marriages dissolved over humans' ability (or lack thereof) to converse. The foundation of much of our daily lives takes place through conversation...
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Wear points, pain points
What can be inferred from how users have previously interacted with this public wayfinding element? This route map shows the potential journeys for passengers of Boston's rapid transit system, the T....
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Lock box density/clustering
The interesting repurposing of a previously ornamental architectural element into a newly functional one. Equal parts creative and ingenious, Boston. Consider the motivations behind this density of...
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Ferry textures / shapes / behaviors
Contain / pry Announce Buffer Exhaust Direct / observe Solitary Escape Feed / record
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