It has been a number of years since I last used the Library of Congress for research, but I believe they have a zero-tolerance policy for food and beverage of any kind in the main reading room. I do not believe that the desks with the slanted tops were designed to prevent you from setting your cup of coffee down on them–they are very old desks, designed for reading and library study by people who had very different cultural and social behaviors than we currently have. The notion of the Library as a public gathering/meeting/social space in addition to its functions as a library is a late twentieth century development. More likely the case–the author’s customs and expectations regarding libraries, studying, and reading are culturally much different than the designers of the antique furniture at the Library of Congress. This might be a bad example that does not support the hypothesis.

The conical drinking cup shown looks like the typical sno-cone or restroom-dispenser disposable paper cup to me–I do not think anyone would ever suggest drinking a hot beverage (or any beverage that was meant to be enjoyed over time instead of immediately consumed) out of one of them. I would assume that the design is more a response to material and cost efficiency, rather than an attempt to prevent you from putting your drink down. I am sure that it was designed with certain types of uses preferred over others, but it was also designed to be cheap and easy to make, with as little manufacturing waste as possible.

God forbid that we resort to designing 30 degree slanted surfaces around baggage carousels. While crowding may be undesirable in the author’s view, providing accessibility and usefulness to persons of all and differing ability (including those in wheelchairs) is one of the most democratic goals of twentieth century architecture in the United States. If you were to ask me, the entire experience of airline flight has been eroded and whittled away to the point where, upon arriving at a final destination, a passenger’s biggest desire is to get out of the airport and as far away from the experience as possible. Incremental negative changes, from seat size and spacing, to the gradual elimination of services, have occurred in air travel and air travel facilities for the last two decades. Creating undemocratic spaces such as the example shown would only continue the decline.

I enjoyed checking out your blog. I’m a recent grad in Silicon Valley, and I’ve just started a company that is mapping the blogosphere to our world. Here is an example of a blogger in Georgia who’s plugged in: http://www.verveearth.com/landing/#type=user&id=772. It can be fun to explore different localities.

It’s an easy process to get on board, and I can be reached at clayton@verveearth.com for questions or feedback. If you resonate with the vision of painting a global canvas of voices, please give VerveEarth a mention.

Cheers! -Clayton

Every one of the examples in this post reduces options or activity available to the user, as approriate to your topic, but this particular collection of examples stands out (to me) among your posts.

Perhaps because the activity restrictions here are so mildly inoffensive, it is easier than usual to look at a commonality of intent, which appears at first glance benign or even well intentioned.

Our papers would be safer from coffee …but it would also be more difficult to have any; our public spaces are be cleaner and less littered with the ashes and cups …but combining a drink of water with both food and a small child becomes much harder, and so on.

All these things seemingly protect us from responsibility for ourselves. That philosophy isn’t a particularly healthy one for society in general, imo.

The actual benefits of protecting people from themselves in these ways accrue to a financial bottom line through the resultant protection of physical property, by reduction in replacement, repair, and maintenance costs.

Instead of ‘form follows function’, I see form follows a hidden agenda.

Vera

1) Insert RFID tag in luggage tag
2) Allow passengers to indicate their membership of a group (couple, family, party, etc.)
3) Allow passengers to request an SMS txt notification when any of their (or their group’s) luggage arrives at a carousel and to be informed as to which carousel it is (or at damaged/lost/oversize counter).
4) One day luggage handling systems can keep baggage of the same group together, possibly even distributing such grouped luggage to the carousel with most space.