Nightmare bosses, public shamings, racist pay policies and even being forced to eat lunch in a cupboard. Here are some of the troubling experiences shared in response to Dezeen's working-conditions survey.Collected below are 13 experiencesshared by people who filled in our survey, which found that a worrying number of people working in architecture and design are suffering from low pay, long working hours and high stress levels.It's important to note that these only represent a small proportion of the total responses and are among the most extreme cases. Most people that responded to our survey indicated that they enjoy their jobs overall.Read: Dezeen survey points to "broken" architecture and design industryHowever, they demonstrate that the very worst types of professional conditions in the field are more than isolated incidents.There were several other similar stories that we could have included here, with many people particularly women eager to share their experiences of poor treatment in the architecture and design workplace.Read on forindividual stories from people who responded to our survey, some of which have been edited for clarity and brevity:"I'm left feeling broken, bitter and lost" senior associate at a small architecture firm in the US"I entered the profession with a lot of enthusiasm, ambition and hopes to somehow be involved in relevant development or change."After 30 years of working, I feel I'm left feeling broken, bitter and lost regarding how my achievements have left any registrable mark anywhere in the profession."I feel no ownership nor pride in the products of my time spent; no sense of being mentored or having positively mentored anyone else. I feel as if I fell into a professional vacuum for the sake of economically viable work, while not feeling as if it stood for anything enduring, worthwhile, or ultimately meaningful.""My boss openly discussed his sexual adventures with his teenage students" architectural lighting designer at a small design studio in the UK"I have worked in lighting design in Germany and then in London. In Germany, my boss openly discussed his sexual adventures with his teenage students during the Monday morning meeting, in detail. Once we travelled to France together and in the train he was trying to touch my foot with his foot looking at my eyes intensely. Horrible!"In the UK, I felt like I was considered a second category person, as a woman and then as a mum (a third category then). During the meetings, bosses always talked to men and didn't look at us women in the eyes. When we talked, it was ignored."Promotion always happened to men and very rarely to women. We were all employed as assistants when we already had five years experience at least in the field, and stayed assistants for the following five years, with more or less the same pay. When we addressed problems during the annual assessment, they were ignored.""I feel very sad to have studied well and for a long time, worked so hard, for such little reward.""It feels like a bit of a lost cause" former director at a small architecture firm in the UK"The profession is broken on so many levels. For starters, the view of the architect from the rest of the construction industry is one of a frustrated artist, coming to site to nitpick and talk about the frills. It's belittling and unfair given the amount of pressure we often have to endure throughout the process of planning/tender/construction."The hours of work are often unsociable and workers exploited. Professional bodies don't do anything to help. Working in a small practice I felt exploited and undervalued, but running a small practice I found it was very difficult to get the work done and make any money!"It feels like a bit of a lost cause, when at the same time, it feels like the world/country needs architects to be creatively thinking up solutions to our challenging societal problems."I have now left the profession after much soul-searching. I have now moved into urban design for a local authority as I found the pay to be much better, the workload reasonable and the outcomes so much more valuable/worthwhile.""I am still owed about five paycheques" architect at a small architecture firm in the US"In a firm that I worked for it was discovered that minority women were paid the least amongst their peers, and sometimes even less than those with less experience. Nothing came of it until legal action was threatened."Another firm I worked for stopped paying employees in a timely manner but still expected everyone to work as if nothing had changed. I am still owed about five paycheques' worth of salary.""I was made redundant when pregnant" project architect at a large architecture firm in Sweden"I worked at another office in London where the associate on the project kept harassing the other architect on the team right about my desk every day, not only causing her distress, but also distracting me while working. Very unprofessional. The directors didn't do anything about it. At another office in London, my director, who was also the founder, bullied me everyday. I developed anxiety and panic attacks and had to quit the job."My last job in Sweden I was made redundant when pregnant and no one did anything about it, including the union, telling me it was 'fair'. I still have not recovered from the experience and can't get a job as my CV is out of date, and no company is keen on accepting me part-time since I have a young child. I may never professionally or emotionally recover."My entire career I jumped from one job to another hoping for a healthy work environment where I could focus on being creative and productive, but the industry is run by mostly insecure men or individuals who will do anything to survive and hide their insecurity by crushing others. Combine that with low salaries and it's a recipe for anxiety and depression, which is very common in the profession.""I've found it extremely unrewarding" project architect at a small architecture firm in the UK"So far I've found it extremely unrewarding being an architect. You toil your life away, put everything you have into a project whilst alienating friends and family for the sake of your work, meanwhile your mental health is in in the gutter and for what gain exactly? To pay ever-increasing Architects Registration Board fees? To deal with ever-increasing responsibility? To deal with ever-increasing risk? To deal with ever-increasing fingers pointing at you?""If personal overtime was lower than average, staff members were accused of not being a team player" architect at a small architecture firm in the UK"We are often given unrealistic deadlines, taking on large projects which are too big for the practice, or require much more resource."Staff were presented with a 'dashboard' detailing our remuneration (including additional items such as Part Three contribution and tea/coffee/biscuits) and overtime as a table, comparing us to the company 'average'. If personal overtime was lower than average, staff members were accused of not being a team player, or not contributing enough to your team."This was said to junior members of staff, including Part One and Two architectural assistants in reviews. I was personally asked why I thought it was okay that someone more senior in my team did more overtime than me, despite having completed Part Three during the same time.Read: "Working yourself to the point of exhaustion is no longer a badge of honour""When I qualified as an architect, I was told there would be no pay increase as part of my promotion. One director openly joked in the studio that I wasn't going to get a pay rise as part of completing the course, 'It's not like we're going to be paying you any more'. They later apologised, however to date I have not received a pay rise since before I qualified in October 2023."I have handed in my notice as I don't feel like I was valued for the three years I worked at the company, despite working 60-hour weeks on multiple occasions."Unless the industry responds in a positive way to recent news about the collapse of major contractors, salary disparity, poor working culture and treatment of staff, there will be a mass exodus of young, junior and mid level architects/architectural designers who will look away from the profession to more rewarding and fulfilling opportunities. I have not decided whether that applies to me.""One of my colleagues touched my breast 'for a laugh'" architect at a small architecture firm in Luxembourg"As women we are less taken seriously by some of our colleagues, clients or even manager. I started very young (24) in this company and for a long time I was treated like an ignorant kid because of my age. I also witnessed trivialised racism towards one of my Tunisian colleagues. I also know that it was very bad form to express homosexuality or anything else."As a small office, we didn't have HR. If you had any problems, you had to complain to one of our two bosses, although harassment could sometimes come from one of them. In general, you don't say anything because you know that no action will be taken."One of my colleagues touched my breast 'for a laugh'. I pushed him away violently and reported the incident, but nothing was done afterwards.""Even my partner had to sign a non-disclosure agreement" architect at a small architecture firm in the UK"I had a terrible employer in a studio with six directors. After bullying and belittling for over a year I began a grievance process and three out of the five other directors sided with him."My complaint seemed to be handled with care in the first instance; a grievance meeting took place and I felt supported. As I was in touch with a labour union I was told to ask for a write up of the meeting. That's when things changed. The tone and messaging was completely different to the conversation we had. When I asked for amendments to the write up to reflect the reality, I was called into the office and asked to agree to a financial settlement to leave without the ability to take legal action."I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement too. Even my partner had to sign one as he was a construction developer.""She regularly criticised junior staff in front the whole office, humiliating them" urban designer at a small multidisciplinary firm in the US"I worked in a female-led practice. It was the most sexist, misogynistic place I have ever worked, regularly asking working mums to work on non-contracted days when they had no childcare."One director openly discussed a male employee's irritating decision to take paternity leave across the office, speaking on the phone to a client. Said it showed his lack of commitment and was inconvenient."This particular director was also a bully. She regularly criticised junior staff in front the whole office, humiliating them. She ran the office like a 'mean girls' clique. She encouraged people to ostracise others who didn't 'fit', including me."Worst of all, the women who run it sit on all these 'women in planning/architecture' boards. They couldn't be less suited. They believe the way to succeed is to have one interest, and that's work!""Weeks of work being thrown in the trash because the partner changed his mind" computational designer at a small architecture firm in Brazil"I've seen a white partner explicitly saying that he felt a victim of racism in a project that was focused on black communities when the client's diversity and inclusion team gave bad feedback of the project."I've seen my direct manager spending most of his time trying to make out with a fellow (female) worker during work hours while delegating all of his management work (the work that he was supposed to do) to interns and junior staff."I've seen demeaning behaviour from partners towards the staff, including making fun of staff for being from poorer backgrounds, not having travelled internationally or not having any kind of experience that explicitly says that you're from a privileged background."I've seen partners making fun of the queer staff during happy hours to the straight staff. I've seen weeks of work being thrown in the trash because the partner changed his mind a day before the deadline, and putting the blame on the team for not understanding what he wanted (even though he had weeks to convey that message). The list could go on, and on, and on.""Not even buying a car would be possible" senior interior architect at a small architecture firm in Italy"I work and live in Milano. With my salary I am not able to even think of having a kid, not even buying a car would be possible."This is very frustrating lots of responsibilities but at the age of 37 I cannot plan or think of my future, and I am not able to have a kid without being scared of the future, or asking my family for money.""I hid in a cupboard and ate my lunch" former assistant designer at a small interior design studio in the UK"I worked as a teacher with management responsibilities before entering the design world. I re-trained, going to university again as a mature student. Working in a design studio was nothing like I expected. It was worse than I could have ever imagined."Meetings at ridiculous times, five-hour long meetings with no break, food or water. It was inhumane.The unrealistic expectations of work being paid 23,000 a year to work until 9pm every day. I stayed up until midnight the day before my wedding, during leave, to finish off site plans, didn't even get a thank you and they were not urgent, because I felt guilt-tripped and obliged."The bullying that went on with those lower down was awful, and as a person who had already had a career, I was more aware of this than my peers. Bullying came from the clients, who bullied my bosses. They then passed this down to us, through their stress."I only realised it was bullying after I had a mental health crisis during my last week of working there. My last day there, I had a client meeting at 8:30am. I got a cab (not reimbursed) with two large suitcases of samples from south London to a site in north London. Because of these samples, I had to wait for a cab (otherwise I would have got the tube) and arrived at 8:35am, and the meeting had already started. My boss did not wait for me to arrive before beginning, not even five minutes. There was no chair for me to sit on. I was ignored all meeting, my boss did not look at me. I assumed this is because I was five minutes late, and I was apologetic and kicked myself for not booking the cab at 6am instead of 6:45am."At 2:00pm, we had not had any food or water. This was six hours after the meeting had started. I hid in a cupboard and ate my lunch. That was a low moment in my career! I then started having a migraine attack. During these attacks, I go blind and have hallucinations. It was the third one of the week. As a teacher, I used to get them twice a year. Working in design, I started having them weekly, sometimes more. My body also went numb on one side a new symptom."I had to go home. My boss did not arrange for a cab. I had to ring my dad, who works and lives nearby. He came and picked me up and was shocked at how much weight I'd lost since he'd seen me a few months ago."I then spent the next month off work, recovering from the shock and stress of the last year. I suffered from derealisation and panic attacks daily, going from a confident woman in her 30s to a shell of my former self. I eventually recovered and left the industry to work in tech. I have never been happier in my job now great bosses, no bullying and realistic hours!"The illustration is by Marie Mohanna.The post Shocking personal stories from Dezeen's working-conditions survey appeared first on Dezeen.

A fifth of people working in architecture and design expect to leave their field soon amid discontent over high workloads and low pay, Dezeen's working-conditions survey has found.Dezeen's survey gathering information about the wellbeing and job satisfaction of the global design and architecture workforce received more than 450 responses from people in 64 different countries.Among them, only a quarter (26 per cent) said they "definitely want to stay working in the field for the long term".Read: Dezeen survey points to "broken" architecture and design industryMeanwhile, 11 per cent expect to leave within the next five years, and a further nine per cent are already actively seeking to leave one in five of the total respondents.Twenty-four per cent indicated they have no current plans to leave but do not rule it out, while only 29 per cent said they currently intend to stay working in the field for the foreseeable future.This uncertainty over the prospect of a future working in architecture and design appears to stem from frustrations about certain aspects of the job particularly pay and overtime.Workplace culture issuesDespite most respondents to the survey (73 per cent) saying they either "definitely" or "mostly" enjoy their job, these emerged as key issues for the majority of people.Nearly half (45 per cent) said they feel "somewhat underpaid" and an additional one in four (25 per cent) reporting feeling "severely underpaid". Just 29 per cent indicated they are satisfied with their remuneration.Around two-thirds (66 per cent) of respondents reported regularly having to do unpaid overtime. Among these, nine per cent said they do unpaid overtime every day, and 15 per cent said they do so most days. The rest of the 66 per cent said they do so between twice a week and once a month.Four in five (80 per cent) said they have experienced unrealistic expectations of work in the last five years.Read: Shocking personal stories from Dezeen's working-conditions surveyOur survey also pointed to widespread cultural issues within architecture and design workplaces.For example, 61 per cent of respondents reported witnessing or experiencing rude, belittling or demeaning behaviour in the last five years.More than half (52 per cent) reported unnecessarily harsh criticism of work and 30 per cent have witnessed or experienced bullying.Sexism and misogyny emerged as a major concern, with 107 (49 per cent) of 217 women respondents to the survey saying they have witnessed instances of these at work in the last five years.Read: "Working yourself to the point of exhaustion is no longer a badge of honour"Among 97 respondents who consider themselves to be part of an ethnic minority in the country they work in, 19 (20 per cent) reported witnessing or experiencing racism.Around three-quarters of respondents to our survey worked for architecture studios, but plenty were at engineering firms, design studios, interior design studios, property developers and brands.Answers came from an even spread ranging from those just starting out in their careers to top-level members of staff. Responses were gathered over a six-week period from 14 October to 24 November 2024.For a more detailed discussion of the survey findings including charts, click here.Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond to our survey. The illustration is byMarie Mohanna.The post One in five architecture and design workers planning to leave industry appeared first on Dezeen.

This Combat All-Terrain Dirt E-bike is by Avvenire, a Canadian manufacturer of light EVs. It takes the all-terrain part seriouslyit comes with a Snow Kit that lets you convert the bike into a snowmobile. The company says the conversion process is easy and takes less than an hour. The tiny bike weighs 242 lbs, is street-legal and has a 43-mile range. Top speed is 37 mph. Power comes from a removable 72V lithium-ion battery that delivers 5,000 watts. They're taking pre-orders for $8,000 USD, knocking $2,000 off of the $10,000 price tag. They expect to deliver by the end of next month. There's no video of the conversion process, but they do have this (oddly silent) reel of the bike in action:

The Core77 Design Awards Speculative Design category features future-oriented projects, whether physically or digitally produced, designed for the purpose of cultural commentary, intervention, or exploration, or created as speculative design for a client or educational institution. Examples include alternative structures, device prototypes for social needs, hypothetical wearable implants.Jury lead Wang and designer Huang's process for the 2024 DataWagashi Speculative Category winner.Tiange Wang is a dreamer grounded in reality. The Senior Software Designer with IDEO calls herself a "designer-developer hybrid who enjoys designing novel experiential futures as much as bringing them to life." She is motivated by building creative and playful solutions to life's inconveniences that also "push the boundaries" of how humans connect with technology and nature. Her work integrates interaction design, software prototyping, storytelling, and system thinking into a cohesive design process that has addressed topics ranging from emerging technologies to climate change and holistic wellbeing.At IDEO, Tiange and her teams guide clients across the technology, health, climate, media, and consumer products industries, striving to create product experiences that are "human-centered, planet-conscious, data-informed, and GenAI-enabled" across web, mobile, and spatial computing platforms. The award-winning designer's work has been featured at SXSW, SIGGRAPH, CHI, and the MIT Museum, in addition to several prominent universities and in Fast Company, Dezeen, and more. Tiange holds a Master of Architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture with High Honors from the University of California, Berkeley.In the world of design, Tiange cautions against "the tendency to invent problems that don't truly exist or to over-invest in use cases detached from reality." She pushes for design that is grounded in real problems, user needs, or societal value. "In other words, [not] designing for the sake of design." She also encourages designers to focus on creating "timeless" work that resonates today but will also remain "relevant and impactful as the world evolves." 2024 Speculative Category winner, DataWagashi from VLab.The 2024 winner in the Core77 Design Awards Speculative Design category was VLab (Tiange Wang and I-yang Huang) for DataWagashi. This creation aimed to make climate data tangible, accessible, and entertaining by using a medium inspired by the traditional Japanese confectionary art of Wagashi. DataWagashi enhanced the vocabulary of data communication by employing the senses of taste, smell, touch, texture, and physical interaction. If you've been dreaming of experiential futures, the Core77 Design Awards might be in your future share your Speculative Design visions with our jurors and explore the possibilities.Enter your work in the Core77 Design Awards today.

Whether youre a cat lover or not, you have probably noticed or heard about how cats are just drawn to boxes. The usual reason given is one of security and comfort, a place where they can observe their prey, often anything that moves, without being obvious. Its also just fun to play in it, like how human kids seem to have a knack for jumping on bouncy beds, much to their parents stress.Despite their utilitarian design and spartan appearance, those same cardboard boxes spark different emotions in humans. They are often associated with opening packages, which sometimes bring joy and create memories. So why preserve those moments for posterity with a piece of furniture that evokes such emotions as well? After all, no one said that enjoying boxes is for felines only.Designers: Julia Kononenko, Artem Kravchenko (Kononenko ID)Perhaps the last thing youd expect to serve as inspiration for a comfy chair would be a box. Truth be told, the rough surface and sometimes sharp edges are hardly enjoyable unless youre a cat. But what if you only needed to mimic the appearance of that stereotypical box and inject the things that give humans comfort and joy?Thats what the BOX Armchair conceptual design tries to accomplish, embracing the form of a cardboard box and wrapping it with comfy cushions. In addition to its rather unconventional shape for a chair, its design quickly reminds one of those large packing boxes, even if using a different hue. It immediately brings up memories perhaps of opening surprise gifts or maybe unpacking in a new home, almost always a joyful experience worth remembering.Theres also a touch of unexpected functionality located in those side and back flaps. Open them out to have more room inside the chair, or fold them in to have a snugger sitting experience. The front flap, on the other hand, can be a footrest when reclining backward for a relaxing moment.BOX doesnt have advanced functions or hidden features; what you see is what you get. Its whimsical design, however, is enough to capture anyones attention, and its soft cushions provide a tempting haven for any weary body. You might end up just wanting to sink in or curl up inside this box-like armchair, just like your feline friend.The post Cushy box-inspired armchair concept could bring out your inner cat first appeared on Yanko Design.

Electric power has become more critical to modern life considering how many devices we carry with us all the time. In addition to smartphones that sometimes need to be charged even before we get home, some of us also carry laptops that may need to be plugged in after just an hour or two of work. That often means carrying different power sources for different devices or one gigantic power bank to cover all use cases.Sometimes, the answer can actually be as simple as one plus one, which in this case yields 3-in-1 like RedMagic is trying to say. With a rather futuristic flair, its newest power bank pulls double duty as a regular charger that can power many thin laptops. It even has a built-in cable so you wont have to scramble for a tangle when you need to juice up your phone in a pinch.Designer: RedMagic (nubia)As part of its DAO line of accessories, the RedMagic Go Power Bank looks nothing like your typical portable battery. It has a clean, sci-fi aesthetic that makes use of geometric shapes to create visual interest. Instead of a simple rectangular block, one section breaks away to form a cylinder reminiscent of a traditional dry-cell battery. To some extent, its form gives the suggestion that this isnt a one-trick pony.On the one hand, it is a power bank, one that can charge two devices at the same time. The built-in 5,000mAh battery might not be enough, but it can help get your phone through the day if needed. When charging a single device, it puts out 20W of power, but plugging in two at the same time reduces that to 15W each.Push the two-prong plug out, on the other hand, and you begin to realize that this isnt your normal power bank. It is, in fact, a GaN charger that dishes out 65W of power from its USB-C port, enough to power some laptops. Curiously, if you use the built-in USB-C cable, it only reaches 60W.The third mode of this gadget, if you can really call it that, is the aforementioned USB-C cable that saves you time and effort when you only need a quick recharge. The cable also acts as a handle or carrying loop, and its nylon-braided material gives it enough durability to serve that purpose. For only $79, this multifunctional power bank can cover your basic charging needs, presuming you dont have more power-hungry phones or laptops in your arsenal.The post RedMagic Go Power Bank is also a 65W charger for your laptop first appeared on Yanko Design.

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