Adjacent Weekend

This week: a robot-housekeeper test drive, a 3D-printed brick phone built to be boring, the stories behind a Bangladeshi rug factory and a Chennai community centre, and a photographer's tour of the discotheque as architecture. Plus the rule black holes of every size seem to follow when they launch jets, and a few more reasons to look up from your screen.

nightswimming: giovanna silva on discotheques, light, and nightlife

An excerpt from photographer Giovanna Silva's book on discotheques from the 1960s to today, treating the dance floor as serious architecture. The essay covers how light, darkness, and space shape the way people gather after midnight. Best read slowly, like walking through an empty club in daylight.

designboom · 12 min read

Factory in Bangladesh that "redefines manufacturing architecture" wins RIBA International Prize

A rug factory in Rangpur, designed by Dhaka's Nakshabid Architects, was built to dismantle workplace hierarchies, and the jury gave it the RIBA International Prize. The pitch is that a factory can be a humane building as well as an efficient one. The piece looks at what architecture can do for the people who spend their days inside it.

Dezeen · 7 min read

“Stack enough Børsstolen chairs and the column begins to read as the twisted spire of Børsen, the fire-damaged building in Copenhagen.” — Leibal

3D-printed brick phone brings back the art of simply answering calls

Cologne-based designer Kevin Noki revisits the 1980s brick phone as an antidote to smartphones that are increasingly hard to put down. The ADHD One is a design object with a clear argument: a phone that does only one thing might be the most radical gadget around. Pair it with the Scientific American episode on screen addiction below.

designboom · 6 min read

Are you addicted to your phone? What scientists say about screen time and social media

Experts walk through what the research says about screen addiction, and what it takes to build a healthier relationship with the devices in our pockets. The tone is measured in a conversation that tends toward panic. A useful companion if you've been meaning to rethink your own habits.

Scientific American · 20 min listen

Astronomers discover a strange universal rule behind black hole eruptions

Black holes of vastly different sizes appear to launch their powerful jets according to the same underlying rule. The finding makes the universe look more orderly and a little more mysterious at once.

ScienceDaily · 6 min read

‘You Can See Everything’ Through Nathan Fielder’s Looking Glass

The Ringer takes on Nathan Fielder's work and the uncomfortable clarity it produces. For anyone who has watched one of his projects and felt both squirming and transfixed, it's a thoughtful attempt to explain why. A cultural essay on what the show is doing.

The Ringer · 15 min read

A Beautiful Former Chapel on Gotland Turned Airbnb

A Swedish island, a former chapel, and a home conversion that keeps the building's calm intact. The piece is a visual wander through how old sacred spaces can find a second life as places to stay.

My Scandinavian Home · 5 min read