Design, Entertainment

Serenity 1:250 Scale Cutaway Replica / Quantum Mechanix

At 12 inches long, the Serenity Cutaway Replica is 1:250 scale. The real fun starts when you lift the upper hull sections, which attach securely to the lower half of the model using magnets. You can view the cockpit, main corridor and galley furnished with chairs, consoles, rugs and storage lockers. All the key elements of those sets are reproduced in the model, with some of the interior details measuring barely two millimetres. The Serenity Cutaway Replica is made of polystone resin and is comprised of more than 200 hand-painted parts — via Quantum Mechanix

Design

Modernist Dollhouses / Miniio

If you can’t afford one of the classic modernist or mid-century modern properties featured over at WowHaus, you can always get yourself one in miniature. Like one of these Miniio modernist dolls houses and furniture. Inspired by mid-century architecture and interior design we would presume, you can choose from three houses and various furniture sets, all constructed from the likes of oak and plywood and all hand finished — via Retro To Go

Craft, Design, Wildlife

Katzenzimmern / Goldtatze

Talk about cat climbing heaven! This incredible line of hand-crafted designer cat climbing furniture comes from German company Goldtatze, which seems to translate to Gold Paw, a fitting name since any cat who is given such luxurious accommodations is certainly living the good life — via hauspanther

Design

The Open-Office Trap

The open office was originally conceived by a team from Hamburg, Germany, in the nineteen-fifties, to facilitate communication and idea flow. But a growing body of evidence suggests that the open office undermines the very things that it was designed to achieve. In June 1997, a large oil and gas company in western Canada asked a group of psychologists at the University of Calgary to monitor workers as they transitioned from a traditional office arrangement to an open one. The psychologists assessed the employees’ satisfaction with their surroundings, as well as their stress level, job performance, and interpersonal relationships before the transition, four weeks after the transition, and, finally, six months afterwards. The employees suffered according to every measure: the new space was disruptive, stressful, and cumbersome, and, instead of feeling closer, co-workers felt distant, dissatisfied, and resentful. Productivity fell.

In 2011, the organizational psychologist Matthew Davis reviewed more than a hundred studies about office environments. He found that, though open offices often fostered a symbolic sense of organizational mission, making employees feel like part of a more laid-back, innovative enterprise, they were damaging to the workers’ attention spans, productivity, creative thinking, and satisfaction. Compared with standard offices, employees experienced more uncontrolled interactions, higher levels of stress, and lower levels of concentration and motivation. When David Craig surveyed some thirty-eight thousand workers, he found that interruptions by colleagues were detrimental to productivity, and that the more senior the employee, the worse she fared.

Psychologically, the repercussions of open offices are relatively straightforward. Physical barriers have been closely linked to psychological privacy, and a sense of privacy boosts job performance. Open offices also remove an element of control, which can lead to feelings of helplessness. In a 2005 study that looked at organizations ranging from a Midwest auto supplier to a Southwest telecom firm, researchers found that the ability to control the environment had a significant effect on team cohesion and satisfaction. When workers couldn’t change the way that things looked, adjust the lighting and temperature, or choose how to conduct meetings, spirits plummeted — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Design, History

Abbey Mills Pumping Station / Charles Driver + Joseph Bazalgette + Edmund Cooper

The Abbey Mills pumping station is a sewage plant designed so elaborately it looks like an authentic Byzantine monastery. It was thus named the Cathedral of Sewage. Located in the Thames estuary, this one-of-a-kind pumping station was built between 1865 and 1868 to siphon London’s sewage from the low level sewers up to the high level plant which processes the waste waters. Designed by architect Charles Driver and engineers Joseph Bazalgette and Edmund Cooper, the Cathedral of Sewage has a cruciform layout with intricate Byzantine architecture, a special touch that earned it a place in the United Kingdom’s Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. Not to mention, the fascinating building got a starring role in Batman Begins (2003) as the Arkham Asylum Laboratory with the Scarecrow and Rachel Dawes — via When On Earth

Design

Lambretta office chairs / Iconic Design

Fancy wheeling round the office on a classic scooter? Well, we can’t help with that, but we can offer the next best thing — the Lambretta office chairs by Iconic Design. The work of Jim Piester of Iconic Design in South Africa (but available to buy worldwide), the chairs are based on the leg shield of a classic Lambretta scooter, with the model down to your choice, as well as the colour and the detailing, as well as the leather for the actual seating — via Retro To Go

Design, Entertainment

Star Wars Death Star inspired wall tiles / Tom Spina Designs

We created fourteen master tile sculptures, each 12”x12” with a depth of 3”-4”. The overall look is intentionally big and chunky, with layers of smaller detail as a bonus for folks who look more closely at the home theatre’s walls. We also created a number of custom mannequins for replica movie costumes the client owned. As an alternative to ill-fitting mass-produced mannequins, we created customized, dynamically posed forms to capture the characters! A museum style base completed each display. For more work like this, please visit our Custom Mannequins and Displays page Want truly unique, hand-made custom décor for your home or office? Contact us today! Each master tile was moulded and expertly cast in tinted resin by Lonnie Hale. From there, details were randomly highlighted in colours chosen by the home’s decorator, to help add a sense of variation to the 120 finished tiles that would be applied to the walls — via Tom Spina Designs

Design

The Gobbler / Helmut Ajango

Imagine the pitch to the investors: It’s going to be a futuristic, state-of-the-art motel with every modern convenience from water beds to 8-tracks. The entire dining area will be covered in deep-pile pink and purple carpet. But wait — here’s the best part. It will look like an abstract sculpture of a giant turkey. We’ll bill it as a romantic getaway — and call it The Gobbler! — via LILEKS (James) :: the Gobbler

A man considered to be Fort Atkinson’s own Frank Lloyd Wright has passed away.

Helmut Mike Ajango, whose numerous creative designs became regionally — and even internationally — known landmarks, died Friday, 15 November. He was 81 years old.

Closer to home, Ajango’s innovative, forward-thinking architectural style was well represented in two Jefferson County restaurants: The Fireside Dinner Theatre in Fort Atkinson and The Gobbler Supper Club and Motel in Johnson Creek — via Daily Union