Lebanon to Bathroom Would Be Better If

"I know you did "Lebanon Would Be Better If" ...
and then at the 'Market Cities' exhibit we did a 'New York would be
better if' ...
at the end of November / early December I saw this in the ladies room
on the same floor where the exhibit had been ...

so goes the idea ... round and round ... thought you would like to see this ..."

This is an email I received from Manizeh from New York.

The idea has potential, and I'm so glad it's not copyrighted. It actually has a Creative Commons license.

Which means it encourages people to steal the idea, remix it and share it.

I am working on a project to make that even easier.

It won't be published until mid 2012.

Until then, there will always be the Free Kit at www.lebanonbetter.com.

 

[repost from lebanonbetter.posterous.com]

This Was a Stolen Bike - Interactive Furniture

I eat at the Brick Lane food market every sunday. The market is a public space with no furniture. People usualy sit next to each other on the sidewalk, or eat alone, or standing up.

See the full gallery on Posterous

I want to creat public furniture made from local materials, that forces people ot share a meal, face to face (when a conversation can happen). And I want the furniture to be a bit uncomfortable so that people can give a chance for others to use it too. The seesaw table you see is made out of a local resource.

In this case, a stolen bike.

 

Interactive Public Furniture is Taking Shape

See the full gallery on Posterous

Last week, the piece of furniture for the food market was on paper. And I was frustrated because it was hard to make decisions on which shape or material to use.

On Sunday night, I was able to finalize the design of a seesaw table made out of a bicycle.

Why seesaw?

Because it makes the table only usable when you have you share your meal with another person.

Why bike?

Brick Lane is lane is known to be the place to steal bikes and buy stolen bikes. So the seesaw is made out of a stolen bike.

Yes, I stole a bike, technically.

Interactive Public Furniture

See the full gallery on Posterous

p451.mov Watch on Posterous

When I have a meal, I always prefer to be eating it with someone. Good food with great people is something that makes me happy.

When I went to Brick Lane's food market, I found food from every country. Sizzling hot food in every kiosk. And plenty of young people walking around, choosing food. Picking it up in a plastic or paper or styrofoam. Then eating outside, standing or sitting on the sidewalk, side by side.

There is no comfortable seating. And if you do sit, you will be sitting next to someone and you won't be able to have an easy conversation.

I want to make a piece of public furniture that makes people sit together, in front of each other when they have a meal. and I dont want them to use it unless its with someone else.

If they came alone? Then they will meet someone knew and have a meal with them.

The sketches and fast prototypes you see here are of my development so far, I've been working around the concept of a see-saw. A system that can only be in equilibrium when two people participate.

I now feel frustrated because I'm not sure in which direction to go. I was aiming to use the waste from the market to make the piece but I don't think the form will follow the function.

I need your help, what should I do now?

Learn From the Barefoot College and Change the World

From illiteracy to solar engineers.

THE ULTIMATE DRAW OF A LIFE TIME

How To Uncover Your Depression Cycle

The Smoking Cessation Program at the AUBMC let's each participant fill out this test at every check up. This test allowed me to realize that I was happier in 2009 than in 2010 and 2011.

I will be using this test to uncover my cycle of depression, and to see if I really do have cyclothemia as some of my friends suggested. Download the test here and do it every week!

How_do_you_feel_this_week.xlsx Download this file

When you do the test, calculate your score and write it down. Do that for a couple of weeks or even months.

Any score above 16 means you are not very happy, any score below 16 means you are fine.

This post is dedicated to William Choukeir and his notesby.me