“In the fiercely competitive world of New York dining, restaurants are always trotting out a new shtick to separate themselves from the pack. What Happens When is trotting out nine shticks.”

“Each month for the next nine months, the new restaurant from vaunted NYC chef John Fraser (of Dovetail and Snack Taverna, by way of French Laundry) will change just about everything about itself, from the menu and the soundtrack down to the look of the place, according to a loose theme. One month it might serve potato skins with wheat beer fondue in an icy Nordic environment; the next red velvet cake in a Gatsby-esque setting of lush fabrics and sultry lighting. What’s more, the old designs will be commemorated as life-sized blueprints mapped on the floor and walls. (No word on how they’ll commemorate the food.)”

“Albeit a playground with a budget of zero. So What Happens When turned to Kickstarter to raise money. Pledge $5, and they’ll put your name on the wall of the restaurant. Pledge $100, and you a package of three flavored salts handmade by Fraser. (Go here to see all the donor levels.) The restaurant’s collaborators will even select monthly themes based on donors’ suggestions. Some past — and particularly creative — suggestions, per Kunnos de Voss: a “hell/ igloo” theme (?) and headlights in a cornfield (???).

Thus far, What Happens When has raised $21,000 — an impressive sum by Kickstarter standards, but pennies in the restaurant biz. So The Metrics have learned to work a little magic. For the debut theme — a stark Nordic winter — they bought chairs on eBay from a real estate agent in Texas for $10 a pop, then upholstered them on their own. Many of the tables came from the restaurant that had occupied the space before. As for the lighting, they handcrafted chandeliers out of cardboard and minimalist lamp shades out of the pages of a $1 book they found at Housing Works.”

-Via Notcot

BKK Architects is a great architectural firm based out of Melbourne, Australia (the house itself is located in Victoria). It seems a number of their residential projects utilize wood and lots of it. The vertical wall planks of the first few photos and slabs of rock of the chimney faintly remind me of mid-century housing.

-Via Iso 50 Blog

Wikileaks

I bet if you closed your eyes and pictured what the Wikileaks offices would look like, it would come pretty close to the real thing. That’s because it is housed inside no other than a defunct war bunker located 100 feet underground! This is also where they keep some of those precious servers that contain their damning data leaks. Eat your heart out, Batman.

Etsy

This office space is a beautiful hodgepodge of furniture and décor — the perfect illustration of their own website. It all blends very nicely with the raw loft space. The large windows make the rooms feel lively while the open floor plans seem to be a common theme we continue to see in new offices which encourage collaboration and dialogue between workers.

Yelp

Situated in sunny San Francisco, this vibrant space is really the antithesis of a traditional work environment. We love the stickers/posters that adorn the walls as well as the awesome “bike lobby”. This is another space that feels much more like a home than a stingy office.

-Via Unplggd