Archive for December, 2011
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drop ceiling tiles
Object: drop ceiling tiles
Location: MIO Culture, Loft District
Background: MIO’s m.o. is to create “green desire,” or to design products so drool-worthy, people will want to buy them regardless of their sustainability cred. Principal designer Jaime Salm grew up in Medellin, Colombia and came to … Read more
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working in a coffee shop
Object/System: working in a coffee shop
Location: the preferred spot is Philly Java on 2nd and Christian
Background: Not sure where to start with this one — the invention of electricity? The first laptop, designed by Bill Moggridge? The birth of coffee shop culture in … Read more
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gigantic LED screen
Object: Largest four-millimeter LED screen in the world
Location: Comcast Center, 17th and JFK Blvd
Background: Soon after the Comcast Center opened in 2008, the giant LED screen in its light-filled lobby became a tourist destination. The cutting-edge video wall with its quirky to breathtaking content has … Read more
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screw thread
Object: the screw thread (the ridge encircling a screw)
Location: at home, assembling a toy
Background: Before 1864, every manufacturer in the U.S. had its own system of screws, nuts, and bolts. In today’s context, that means if your kid’s toy fell apart, you’d have to track … Read more
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vintage Smurf figurines
Object: vintage Smurf figurines
Location: a toddler area downstairs at the Please Touch Museum
Background: The Smurfs began as “Schtroumpfs,” created by Belgian artist Pierre “Peyo” Culliford in 1958. According to Time magazine, his wife chose the color: ”They couldn’t be green — they would have vanished … Read more
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boom box
Object: boom box, blaring B101
Location: Queen and Passyunk, to accompany a flash Xmas tree sale
Background: These stills from the 1980 movie, Times Square, show the ubiquity of the boombox. Back then, they were an unapologetic piece of the everyday. Today we’re so used to sounds … Read more
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pop design chandelier
Object: pop design chandelier
Location: the main dining room at XIX, the restaurant atop the Hyatt (formerly the Bellevue Hotel) at Broad and Walnut sts.
Background: In summer 2006, the restaurant atop the Bellevue underwent a dramatic redesign, courtesy of Marguerite Rodgers, Ltd. Its most … Read more
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