This Is No School
Learning is working best when kids are into subjects of study that match their interests. It also works well when projects are realistic.Also there has to be place for the making. It should be possible to make prototypes, do experiments, program shows and produce goods to express yourself.
This Is No School is the world on a stamp. A meeting square, workshops, labs, a theater, a fram, sporting facilities, restaurants, shops and a hotel.
80's T's
For my Youtube channel 2kB of Fun, I made several T-shirts based on logo graphics from 80's video games and electronic gadgets.
Retro Space 4.0
Sound and Vision in Hilverum was interested in buying Retro Space arcade cabinets for their museum.This request demanded an extra durable version of the Retro Space cabinets.
The new cabinet is fully re-engineered in folded aluminium sheets. The cab is fully modular, perfectly recyclable and gets prettier from a little use.
2kB of Fun
Never has a consumer electronic product seen such an extravagant variety in case design as early handheld games from 1976-1985. Never have computer games been so beautifully reduced to their essence as these handhelds offered. Never did 2Kb of memory offer so much fun.1983 was the best year with top titles like Amidar, Astro Thunder 7, Burger Time, Dig Dug, Ms. Pac-Man, Q*bert, Super-Cobra and Zaxxon.
Martijn Koch, architect from the Netherlands bought 180 of the best handheld games, photographed them, took them apart, analysed their tech, and put all the material together in this stunning book, a catalog like you never saw before.
M+ M- ???
Redesignme.com is a website where designers are challenged to create new designs for certain products.Garton Jones used redesignme.com to search for a redesign of the Ativa 10 Digit Desk Calculator.
I'm always puzzled by the fact most calculators still function like the early 1970 designs. A time when chip logic was very expensive, and the amount of components was kept to a minimum. Today's standard micro controller is way more powerful. So my primary goal was to create a new set of basic functionality.
Which means I had to redesign the layout of the buttons first. The design itself continues proved ingredients like injection mould plastic, the perfect shape of PTT's Zurich telephone and modern white OLED matrix displays.
My own challenge was to make the design in one hour on a Friday afternoon.
The result: a top 3 note among 109 redesigns. "Your redesign was part of my top 3. Very well done! Yours sincerely, Charlie Garton-Jones"
Lost in Navigation
Tokyo is a breathtaking city. Most metropolises have 1 urban railway network. Easy. Tokyo, the biggest metropolis on Earth, is a lot more complex.The city has 2 official subway companies, the national railway operates several lines that can be considered metro lines as well, and there are tens of private operated railways that serve may areas just outside the central part of the city. Another problem is that many transfer stations use different station names on each line connected.
Creating a understandable subway map for this city is extremely complex. Should it be schematic, or geographic realistic? When is it easier to have a short walk than to switch lines?
This metro map for Tokyo only shows the most important lines for visitors of the city. That is already 25 lines! All distances are realistic, and the connections to Airports and Shinkansen trains are clearly visible. The parks that give a good orientation in the grey urban mass of Tokyo are visible. Icons show the most important landmarks. Matching the million neon lights the map is drawn in a night situation with the lines as glowing neon tubes.
The map is printed on 100x75 cm photo paper in a limited run, an can be ordered. Send an e-mail or call if you are interested to order.
Want some Beers?
ZZEF asked me to photograph 2 projects designed by Johan van den Berkmortel for the architecture portfolio of ZZEF.One project is a beer cafe at the monk brewery Koningshoeve and the other is the Bavaria House in Helmond.
Black Box
Painter Bert de Haas and salesman in business outfits Chris Hendriks both wanted a new business building in Kesteren. Because of fire regulations it was best to combine the two buildings. Otherwise a big part of the plot was useless.To preserve each ones identity and to answer the request for a good cantina, both parts of the building were accented by a small tower. These towers contain a special room looking out over the polders of the Betuwe.
The building is clad with anthracite profile sheets to ease the implementation of the detailing and to maximise the abstraction of the black boxes.
I made this design as employer of Bouwkundig ontwerp en adviesburo Van Zeist BV in Opheusden.
Little Mermaid
When we visited Copenhagen, I was surprised by the complex metro map for the very small network. It should be possible to draw a map easier to understand and graphically more appealing to visitors.I designed a new metro map that shows the relation with the city. It combines all trains with different schedules on similar routes to bring back overview.
Autonomous work
Cinderella
While doing a creative portfolio course at the CKE in Eindhoven I worked on a new interpretation of the story of Cinderella.Thanks to model Christine Nabuurs, to Jeroen Roxs for the workshop location, and to John Körmeling for using his veranda.
Wanda Wanders
The avatar Wanda Wanders was born in a chatconversation with Margot Scheltens. Wanda wanders around the World and shares her sharp opinion on various topics.I created the website both technically and graphically. Many of the articles are written by me too.
Wanda Wanders is a registered Benelux trademark.
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Ghost World
Detroit is a weird city. The city disappears slowly and turns back to nature. Not caused by war or disaster, it vanishes because of economic irrelevance. De automotive industry moved towards the Mexican border. Jobs are gone. The city renders useless. The General Motors headquarters still shine as a major highlight downtown. Perhaps as an icon for the glorious past.These photographs are taken during a trip of the USA and Canada in the autumn of 2005.
Fake Wanders
The lamp is a joke. I had no space to place the Big Shadow Lamp by Marcel Wanders. I also liked the idea of the Fake Lamp by Sophie Krier, but not its shape. I mixed them and created the Fake Wanders. Definitely not for sale.
Blue Envelope
The Dutch Tax Administration feels like a family business. The atmosphere is open and relaxed. The organization is responsible for the total financial administration of The Netherlands Ltd. Dutch citizens expect professional civil servants. The office at the Quintax location in Apeldoorn expresses the two faces of the Dutch Tax Administration. The building looks severe and mimics the impregnability of Fort Knox. But internal, the building is totally transparent. Walls are exceptions, and voids open the floors to improve contact between employees.At JHK Architects, I was responsible for the concept of the building. I also worked out most of the technical details.