Coworking gets weird
Co-working, being spaces, third place works spaces---all names for a trend that has its roots in the 80's and has really started to pick up in recent years.
As more and more people leave traditional jobs and offices to ignite start-ups or freelance, these laptop nomads, as they're called, need a place to work. Coffee shops provided that outlet for a short time, but as anyone who has ever suffered through the incessant sounds of espresso being made or coffee being spilled on a keyboard knows, coffee shops have become louder, more crowded and more distracting over the years.
That's where the idea of coworking stepped up to the plate. Defined by wikipedia as "a shared office environment, utilized by multiple individuals and companies. These companies are either small start-ups looking for an alternative to the home office or the local café. This work environment also appeals to individuals that primarily work in the field, but require a “home base” at the beginning or end of a given day," these futuristic spaces are slowly changing the way we work.
Beginning ion both coasts, the first co-working spaces have inspired legions of followers in many other cities in this country, as well as other countries. For a complete list, visit: http://wiki.coworking.info/
Today's spaces, like those that began, often feature cafe-like atmospheres, with an emphasis on better workspaces and varying levels of privacy. Most users of coworking spaces thrive not just on the ability to have a desk somewhere other than their home, but on the community and collaboration that occurs. Whiteboards are often featured in these places to allow for group brainstorming of individual problems or ideas. Coworking relies on the age old tenet that two minds are better than one (of course in coworking's case, three or four or five...).
Coworking spaces are changing the face of the office and workspace design field also, creating new challenges and new needs for clients and pushing designers to think outside of the long-standing box. And by box, I mean cube, as in cubicle. No longer is the design paradigm to fit as many workers in a space as possible. Now, clients are approaching designers with desires to increase creativity, innovation and collaboration within their workforce.
Here in the Lone State
LaunchPad Coworking and Conjunctured Coworking are both slated to open sometime this summer. These spaces stand to increase the already innovative start-up, tech and media culture that is thriving in Austin
*Please note that all these lovely photographs were taken from various websites and are not taken by me.
Since writing about the new record breaking Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit (below), Team USA's customized suit by Comme desGarcon's famed designer Rei Kawakubo is now unveiled. From 
But, that doesn't mean the athletes won't be, especially the swimmers who reportedly have been given the razors edge with the Speedo LZR Racer full body swimsuit designed by infamous Comme desGarcon designer Rei Kawakubo in conjunction with NASA. The material developed by NASA apparently "reduces skin vibration and muscle oscillation," in short, produces less drag. Designer Kawakubo made sure it looked good by incorporating a Japanese character ‘kokoro' - meaning heart, mind and spirit - by the calligrapher Inoue Yu-ichi to a side panel. 
FINA, the international governing body for the sport, has studied the suit to ensure it meets its guidelines and it has....their only concern is that everyone competing have access to the suit. And by the Olympic meets that is something other teams plan to allow to happen regardless of their contractual agreements with rivals, such as the Japanese swim team. As it is, the US swim team will have customized suits created by Kawakubo bearing the stars and stripes (its unveiling is tomorrow). She offered to do the same for other teams but the U.S. was the only team who accepted.
