Epson table projector in the Hikarie creative space – popup office working space for the time/resource constrained on-the-go worker.

A Tokyo whirlwind tour.

Today’s office is a 31st story penthouse overlooking Singapore. Or at least it’s notionally a penthouse, with a frog team of four having turned it into a popup studio for a project we are currently running in the city state, with every available inch of wall space liberated to hang daily schedules, incoming data, observations, insights, ideas and iterations of the research plan.

Renting someone else’s apartment comes with nuanced perks: a glimpse at an opulent lifestyle; and understanding of tastes, textures, priorities; a sense of apartment block rhythm, lilt. The Egyptian motifs, the framed heavy brush strokes of women in various states of ecstasy, the plinths that turns out to be ideal for giving demos of our work-in-progress prototypes, and the champagne room – literally a room devoted to display of full champagne bottles all provide an edge. Working out of a home rather than a hotel can increase the team’s productivity by over 50% and makes for a far richer experience.

Most popup studios are not this lush, some are little more than a box-bed with clean sheets and a mosquito net. Whether marble or dirt floors it comes down to whether the team dynamics will work and whether the team is inspired.

Finding and appropriate space and setting up up a studio is relatively easy, and in an age of AirBandB is commoditised even. The bit that most people miss is understanding the dynamics within that space, understanding how to build trust with the local crew, taking the team to the edge without taking them over the edge. Being just on the right side of physical and mental exhaustion is a wonderful thing, if the team has delivered.

The team delivered.

Rolling up at midnight after back-to-back long hauls to review of the research and prototypes in preparation for a client meeting that starts at 9am, is not ideal. But the crew has also been applying smarts and putting in the hours and it shows in the quality of the work. Being the last member of the team to arrive I get the sofa or the maid’s quarters, sans maid. I opt for the latter. The principle of having the most senior member of the team have the least favourable space to sleep is a good one. The mind is liberated when the normal rules don’t apply.

What are the rules worth breaking?

Two hours of Zzz’s, crank out emails, a 6am run, fresh mangos on the deck at 8. Crash and burn by 3pm.

Back alley for smaller retail outlets in Singapore’s Chinatown. What the diversity of air conditioning units in use can teach us about the products sold, competition in the retail air conditioning market and the replacement cycle?

Imagine never having to look for a parking space ever again.

An essay here.

Someone dislikes the Touchmedia tax.

China has everything one might need for a road trip: a massive network of roads; exotic locations with stunning vistas and some incredible mountain landscapes – good for getting your knee down, and relatively cheap gasoline. The newly asphalted highways driving in from the coast only adds to the allure. With a rising income and a penchant for luxury BMW, Harley and Ducati much be chomping at the bit.

Except that in China the ‘road trip’ storyline is still a hard sell for true adventurers and weekend warriors alike. The volume of accidents; the fact that motorbikes are still considered the first affordable motorised transport (supplanted by electric bicycles in urban centers) – anyone who can afford an up-scale brand will still have vivid memories of 5 people to a motorbike, the motorbike tractors and other forms of 2-wheeled workhorses.

Related: the motorbike thread from here and abroad.

Photo: motorbikes for the disabled are a common sight – in some parks ‘gangs’ of disabled motorbikes cluster like wagons circling.

Handmade, with traditional metal bowl on the base as an anchor.

Those little cues that divide here (in this instance a traditional Shanghai lane/cul-de-sac) from there.

Tax returns.

“Thank you for your contribution to China’s flourishing and prosperity!”

Beautifully minimal design.

A sign, with less to do with cultural notions of the elasticity of time, and more to do with having transiting passengers arrive late.

The line between context and culture.

Combinations of words to imply swiftness-of-payments.

Poster advertising the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases from a back-alley, close to the office. Contextual advertising, indeed.

American corner in this Dire Dawa library.

“outside food not allowed”

Line in front of this bank’s outdoor ATM.

How we learn what distance is enough.

Increasing the shy distance by introducing other objects into the mix.

Exposing customers to elements of the process as a branding exercise – in this case wood for the oven.

A true homage to physical content and a fine attention to detail in the T-site (architects Klein Dytham Architecture, signage/branding by Kenya Hara). For those that know the neighbourhood it makes for an compelling counterweight to other more commercial ventures.

A Tokyo destination worthy of significant time investment.