Firing Synapses

Where do you do your best work?

So, we’ve all heard about the Googleplex (page down) and the fun, creative work environment they foster there.  But, if your computer programming skills are a bit out of shape, where else might you be able to get your creative juices flowing?  Here are some of the most creative or cool work environments out there.

PIXAR – Designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

The animation company Pixar, of films such as Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, etc., has some pretty great digs.

Here, animators work in small cottages, all under one roof.  (It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer put a screen door on his indoor apartment.)

Other employees design their work space from scratch.

More photos on the BCJ Site.

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LEGO – Designed by Bosch & Fjord

I loved Legos as a kid (by kid I mean 26 year old).  I had/have a huge bucket of them and have even been in meetings where buckets of Legos were dumped on a corporate conference room table and we had to use them to solve a problem.

Somehow, I just imagined that the LEGO headquarters would be much like my basement when I was a kid — cluttered with every imaginable LEGO and toy.  Yet, it appears they are actually very tidy.  Seriously, the thing I noticed in looking at these photos is the amount of bright, airy light that floods these rooms.

Be sure to Press your overhead call button to see more photos.

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RED BULL LONDON – Designed by Jump Studios

The above photo is a slide.  Like, well, a playground slide.  It is in the really cool offices of Red Bull in London.  The photo in the top right is a ping pong meeting table.  This place is pretty awesome.

The designers, Jump Studios, said the main idea was to encourage interaction between employees and to further the brand values.  The offices are 3 floors of a 19th century building, including a cool roof (top left photo.)

See more photos here.

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Volkswagen Phaeton Assembly Plant – Dresden, Germany

The has to be the coolest assembly plant or factory in the world.

Be sure to check out this plant tour and the plant’s website for more wonderful photos.
(source)

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MINDLAB – Designed by Bosch & Fjord

This is actually a government building, but you couldn’t know by looking at it.  This is Mindlab, a communal office available to all the employees of the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The photo above is of an egg room, which is basically a room of whiteboards.  The offices and workspaces are very modular and portable, so the building can be reconfigured based on changing need.

More at the Bosch & Fjord website.

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Kathy Sierra’s Trailer – Designed by Kathy Sierra

Kathy Sierra, who writes a cool blog, made a home office in this old trailer.
(Source)

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GOOGLE

OK, here it finally is…the Googleplex.  I’m sure you’ve seen the photos before, but it’s worth looking at again.  Pets are allowed as long as they are as clean as you.

The photo above is the Sergey Brin and Larry Page (Google Founders) support area.
(source)

I am completely amazed and inspired by creativity and ingenuity, especially as it pertains to one’s daily life.  Here are some examples I found from around the globe.

The BodaPhone – a bike-mounted pay phone in Uganda

From Afrigadget.com

I met this phone operator off Kampala Road this afternoon, who was riding round on this bike. Luckily he was a fellow Liverpool supporter so we hit it off straight away – and he let me take a photo of his BodaPhone setup. Pretty neat, and with a spare battery to allow him to stay on the road longer. Uganda is really hotting up on the mobile front, with two new operators about to enter the market towards the end of the year.

By the way, 200 Ugandan Shillings are approximately US$0.11.

The Knife-Sharpening Bike

From Afrigadget:

Peter Kahugu of Banana Hill just outside Nairobi makes a living using his bicycle.

And no, he is not a professional cyclist.

AfriGadget reporter Afromusing and I had an opportunity to interview Peter who has modified his bicycle with a belt, a set of tensioning pulleys and a grinding stone to make it a knife-sharpening machine. By kicking the bike up onto its stand and engaging a gearing system, he is able to use “leg-horsepower” to drive a grinding wheel and sharpen knives while “on the move”.

Peter has been at this for 2 years now and he makes about Kshs 500 ( app. 10 US$) a day by riding his mobile workshop from client to client sharpening all their knives as he goes. The grinding stone he uses has lasted an astounding 2 years and he has had to replace his drive belt a couple of times but that is as simple as cutting up a long strip of rubber from an old car or bicycle tire inner tube.

Pop-Up Market Shares a Train Track in Bangkok

This video shows a street market in Bangkok, Thailand that has found a way to make the most effective use of space possible.  The real action happens when its time to resume business.

Bike Mower

I want to know where this idea has been living?

From StreetUse:

It is apparent that thousands of people who have to mow the lawn decided there must be an easier way  and had exactly the same idea: Why not hook the mower to a bike? And so the bikemower is born  in a thousand of garages around the country.  Judging from the pictures, they are still in the garages. Most of the pics rounded up by McLaren look as if they were taken at garage sales. I have my doubts that the bike mower is very useful, or easier to use than pushing on your feet.

Pot-in-Pot – Low cost refrigerator from Mohammed Bah Abba

This is a simple invention that has gone on to change the world.  If you live in one of the 90% of villages in Africa that don’t have electricity (or the money to afford a refrigerator), this invention can literally save your life.  It is pretty simple — just put one terracotta pot inside another and fill the space between with moist sand.

From Treehugger:

… what is remarkable here is that Nigerian teacher, Mohammed Bah Abba, did not merely reinvent the idea, he made it a reality for tens of thousands of impoverished Nigerian women and farmers. By setting up the local production facilities to provide the pot-in-pot for $2 (since lowered to just 40c), he allowed perishable food to extend their spoilage rate. “Eggplants, for example, stayed fresh for 27 days instead of three, and tomatoes and peppers lasted for three weeks or more. African spinach, which usually spoils after a day, remained edible after 12 days in the pot-in-pot.”

This simple innovation provides small farmers with the ability to sell their excess food for money, rather than have everything spoil quickly.  Also, if the women had to sell their food before it spoiled, now they can save the food and use the time to attend school.  He was awarded a Rolex Award and 2001 Time Invention of the Year.

Know of any others?  Please let me know in the comments.