Pizza Express Test Lab

I found out about the new Pizza Express in Richmond, from a friend who lives there. The chain have opened the restaurant as a 'living lab' by testing out new opening hours (8.45am), new menus and a new service style in the form of a takeaway kiosk. The idea is that they will see what works in this restaurant, and then roll it out over the rest of the chain.

A lot of companies seem to make assumptions on what they think will and won't work so I really liked the idea of Pizza Express doing some 'real' testing with their customers. Not only are they updating the brand by bringing into light key trends, but they are also ensuring that they will work with their clientele.

Victor Churchill Butchers

I came across this retail design for Victor Churchill Butchers on the internet a while ago now. Unfortunately it's in Sydney so I haven't had the opportunity to check it out but it beats the butchers in the village I live anyday!

By displaying the meats in this way it's almost like you're walking into a high-end clothes shop rather than a room filled with animal carcasse. Using lights and cabinets to make specific meats focal points of the store is really clever and although I'm not sure how good the meat would be it would definitely be a new buying experience!

I wouldn't be a Leeds Uni student...

...if I didn't show the Parkinson Building to any 'lucky' person who chooses to visit me for the weekend. It's a standard phrase for most Leeds students to say 'meet outside the Parky steps', usually meaning at peak hours it incredibly hard to single out your friend who you've arranged to meet.

However, whenever I've been away from Leeds for a while it's always a reassuring feeling when the clock tower comes into view. Right beside what could be considered as the main entrance to the university it's the main thing I remember about my first trip to Leeds. Those steps. I passed them about 5 times whilst lost on the ring road.

The Parkinson Building was named after Frank Parkinson, a Yorkshire electrical engineer and millionaire, who helped to partly fund the building, and opened in November 1951. It hold the Brotherton Library...something similar to that of Harry Potter's Hogwarts library.

A Leeds landmark, through and through.

Spinalonga

Sorry for the lame attempt at the 'I went on holiday and saw this...' post, but in all honesty although I did go to Crete during the summer it wasn't on this trip that I visited Spinalonga.

Spinalonga is the old leper colony of Crete,  a small island on the Eastern coast of the country. I went to visit it when I was about 10, and only recently remembered whilst having a chat with our holiday rep about places to visit in Crete.

Since 1962 the island has no longer been in action, however you can get a boat over for a tour of the island to see the old derelict buildings, fortress and graveyards. It's an incredibly moving experience, and really makes you think about the way that medicine and sociable acceptance has progressed over the past few centuries. The island was a vast improvement to the leper colony as before they had been banished to the area's caves to keep them away from civilization. On this island however, they received food and medical care.

A far cry from the crazy Malia nightlife on the other side of the island!

Give Peas a Chance

Every time I drive northbound up the M25 (usually on the way to Leeds) I see this piece of graffiti across a bridge between J16 and J17. It was done by a graffiti artist who posts this phrase all over London. Encouraging healthy eating maybe?

It began to make me think about roadside advertising and the potential for advertising on certain parts of the  motorway. You regularly get random old vans in the middle of fields promoting a gadget website or 'use this space', however maybe larger brands could look into using this as a potential advertising space. 

I think the only reason people would be skeptical about it would be that it would distract drivers who were driving at a high speed, and could cause accidents. However, this could be a possible design issue that could be overcome in some way. If you imagine how many people travel on the motorway everyday, it seems like too good a chance to miss! 

Cold as Ice!

I found this architectural project by photographer Gregory Holm and architect Matthew Radune, mentioned on the Creative Review blog a few months ago. As much about raising money and bringing to light an area where change is needed, as it was about creating an amazing installation – the Ice House Detroit. This project saw one of the city’s 20,000+ abandoned houses covered completely in ice. Once the project is over the house will be disassembled rather than demolished so parts can be reused and recycled.

I've enjoyed looking at the blog of this project over the past few months as it has shown the progress of how the house was covered in ice through installation processes, as well as fundraising for the project. It also brings to light the problems that detroit has with the immense number of abandoned house in the city, many of which are demolished meaning that the materials can't be reused.

To see more this is the projects blog http://icehousedetroit.blogspot.com/

Telemegaphone

Ever felt like you're not being heard?

A couple of weeks ago I globe trotted over to Norway to visit a friend who was doing an industrial design placement at a design centre in the middle of the Norwegian mountains in a remote village called Dale.

Norway is well known for its innovative design ideas and Dale is no exception. On the first day of our trip we decided to attempt to climb one of the many mountains surrounding the village to check out an art installation at the top.

The Telemegaphone is an art project by design studio ‘Unsworn’, and broadcasts incoming phone calls across Dale and the fjord beside it. The idea supposedly came about when one of the creators behind the sculpture was climbing to the top of the mountain and broke his leg. Because of how high up the mountain he was it was almost impossible for help to get to him, contributing towards the idea of creating something to make communication easier in such a remote location.

Unfortunately, when we tried to phone the Telemegaphone it was closed for the season, but the idea of having something like this in England seems ridiculous. Even if it were allowed, it would no doubt have to be censored or turned off after a short period. The creators of this definitely chose the best location, and it seems there are ideas of trying the project out in other countries.

No excuses for not contacting your Mum to say you will be late for dinner then.

As well as making us address our preconceptions of what makes a place ‘remote’, the Telemegaphone has also given Dale the opportunity to interact with people around the world through modern technologies.