I think my heart skipped a beat when I set eyes on this latest skyscraper set to join the skyline in Tianjin, China. Composed of three towers made up of stacked and slightly rotated eight-story blocks, Atkin’s TEDA Landmark towers (appropriately nicknamed “the pile of boxes” by Tianjin residents), will make use of a geothermal heating/cooling system and an in-house turbine system (encased in the crowning mesh-like structures) to help supply electricity. The three towers will also display sky-gardens in rotating corners of the glass blocks that will “light up the corners of each tower, creating an illusion of glowing lanterns rising up into the sky,” a feature that I’m anxious to see executed by virtue of its potential surreality. The towers will hold (in their over 400,000 sq. feet) residential apartments, retail shops, office space, and - yay for us - a luxury five-star hotel. No word on date of completion as yet, but once we know, I think a field trip may be in order.

As the only child of environmentally-conscious parents who own color-coded recycle bins for every imaginable item, I have an innate attraction to anything made from renewable materials. So, when I saw a picture of the Reee Chair, which is composed of recycled Playstation 2 castings, I naturally began mentally placing one in my apartment. The Reee is the product of British designers/manufacturers PLI and design consultants Sprout Design, and while it won’t be available to ship for a few months, you can pre-order yours now for just under a hundred pounds from PLI’s site. And, unlike other chairs made from recyclable materials, the Reee is ergonomically designed for lower and upper body support. Now (read: September) you can play your Playstation 3, eat dinner or study in geektastic comfort and style.

–Stephanie Young

Alright guys, it’s time to start unwinding for the weekend, and to send you well on the way to utter relaxation, we offer an internet classic: The Dumpster, a cruelly hilarious peek into the world of teenage break-ups. The Dumpster, an “interactive online visualization that attempts to depict a slice of the romantic lives of American teenagers,” used real postings from millions of online blogs and interactive graphical tools to guide viewers through over 20,000 “tumultuous” break-ups from back in 2005. The result was a darkly laughable portrait of the similarities, differences, and patterns innate to failed adolescent relationships that, however immaturely communicated, we could probably all stand to learn a few things from. For those of you still stuck in office cubicles, here are some angsty pulled quotes to help you keep your chin up through quitting time:

“Larchie thinks Bad Religion is better than Fugazi, so I broke up with her. Then she played Sublime.”

“today really sucked i wanna die my parents hate me omg waaa waaa waaaa i cut myself the prozac doesnt work my bf broke up with me and i got stuffed into a locker”

“Click here to view my new Dance Dance Revolution video. This is what I do on Saturday nights since Niki and I broke up.”

….Or maybe those just bring back bad memories. And if they do, we’re sorry. You’ll move out of your mother’s basement one day.

This week has brought us some of the most gorgeous weather we’ve had so far this week in NYC, and something that marks a definite shift in season for me, personally, is when I trade the typical winter depressive-type playlist (I can generally gauge how bad things are by how much Eliott Smith and Death Cab I’m listening to) for material that’s a bit more…fun. Summery. The type that makes me bounce a little more than usual when I’m walking down the street. The stuff that you’d listen to whilst barbecuing with friends, or drinking beer on some stoop in Brooklyn, watching kids play in open fire hydrants.

My current playlist is after the jump, and in Talk Shop Friday tradition, go ahead and add yours in the comments.
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I’ve been to the digital film festival Resfest before in the States and always look forward to it, so I’m blocking out the next three days when it stops here in Sao Paulo. The Brazilian version will include films that are common threads to all stops, such as international music videos and shorts, but ours will also include a ton of Brazil-specific films that I doubt most people outside of the country have seen. For starters, there will be a restrospective of the work of Goulart De Andrade, who pioneered independent programming in Brazil and set the tone for a non-pre-scripted format, and three showings of shorts by different Brazilian filmmakers. In addition, Resfest Brazil boasts 10 feature-length films exclusive to this leg of the tour, including Matthew Barney’s epic Drawing Restraint 9, a Brazilian graffiti film called No Traco do Invisivel that follows artist Zezao around the city and a profile of punk rock in the country called Botinada. Other highlights include a showcase of Brazilian music videos from bands like Cansei De Ser Sexy, Nacao Zumbi, Mombojo as well as in-depth panel discussions.