Interesting design solutions for a very small house.

Hayaku: A Time Lapse Journey Through Japan from Brad Kremer on Vimeo.

Another beautiful smallish (99 m2)  house in Yokohama. I like the way the view is almost part of the interior. Via what we do is secret.

Short clip of Tokyo in 1963

I’ll be speaking at the PinkCow next Thursday.

Pink Cow Connections #64: WorkVitamins, Bringing Perspective to the Office:

“Maximizing your working environment assets. Productive spaces to improve your business.”

Anyone who has worked for a typical Japanese corporation has horror stories to tell about the workplace. The rows and rows of small, steel desks with files and paper stacked above and below, the colour tones of Stalinist grey evenly distributed throughout the whole space except for the yellow smoking room , the artistic coffee stains on the carpet, the direct translation of the company’s hierarchy onto the design (buchos on the window, kachos on the end of each row, last hire at the end of the row), the blinds that are consistently closed and despite the top location of the office allow no views outside, etc.. etc… Is it any wonder that Japan has one of the world’s highest suicide rates? Studies have shown that the work environment has a significant influence on our well being. The work environment is business’ last frontier, as companies should stop to treat their work space as a warehouse crammed with stuff and staff. It is time to view the work environment as a powerful motivational tool to create a place where people enjoy working in, encourages communication and team work. The workplace can either hinder or encourage this.
During the presentation Martin will show an analysis of a typical office and the potential for change. He will explain about the methodology he created called WorkVitamins, which through a series of 5 steps has helped his clients to implement a work environment where work can actually be fun. At the end of the presentation he will also briefly discuss a book he is writing on the subject, including the growing influence that the internet has on our rapidly changing definition of what work is.

More here

Saw these amazing night shots of factories in Japan at Bouncing Red Ball. There is something beautifully haunting in these pictures.

The slides of my presentation at the Economist Intelligence Unit are available here:

economist_090616

The Japanese magazine Pen has an article on our work and my ideas on WorkVitamins. You can download the Japanese article here pen0011.

Very interesting work by Sashie Masakatsu.