A simple Art

It’s always great to see something wonderfully human arising out of (almost) nothing through astute observation and simple designs. Kaide Taide (by Finnish designers-duo Aamu Song and Johan Olin) transforms the spaces around the stairs and lobbies – most typically just dead spaces with little lingering value – into spaces for interaction (both with other humans or with the railing itself), whether for a quick rest, a hearty chat or a glancing peep down the stairwell.

Right now it exist simply as an art installation in Helsinki, but I’d say there’s plenty of opportunity for this to be brought to the public, particularly urban cities like Singapore where the large majority of its people live in flats that may have similar spaces.You can also see many more sketches and other types of manifestation over here.

It’s always great to see something wonderfully human arising out of (almost) nothing through astute observation and simple designs. Kaide Taide (by Finnish designers-duo Aamu Song and Johan Olin) transforms the spaces around the stairs and lobbies – most typically just dead spaces with little lingering value – into spaces for interaction (both with other humans or with the railing itself), whether for a quick rest, a hearty chat or a glancing peep down the stairwell.
Right now it exist simply as an art installation in Helsinki, but I’d say there’s plenty of opportunity for this to be brought to the public, particularly urban cities like Singapore where the large majority of its people live in flats that may have similar spaces.You can also see many more sketches and other types of manifestation over here.

Maezm “Sharing Watch”

It is the tiniest of gestures in watch design – but it’s one that I’m loving. As a young kid without a watch I often had to steal glances off other people’s wrists to determine the time, and I’ve always appreciated people wearing watches with very legible faces. The “Sharing Watch” by Korean design studio maezm takes the concept a little further:

When someone asks what time is it, the wearer simply has to raise his arm: the watch face is rotated clockwise 90degrees, making it easier for both parties to read the time.

And it’s all achieved by simply (though really, this is probably the difficult part requiring very sensitive observation) discovering and communicating this very natural habit; and the rest of the design was probably straightforward with no modifications (minus the watch face orientation).

Clever!