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50 Times People Spotted Stupid Design Decisions In Public Places And Just Had To Share
We often form our opinion of a city by judging the quality of its public spaces. If they give us a hard time, most likely we won't be too psyched about returning to it.
And unfortunately, there are plenty of ways urban planners and interior designers ruin our everyday life and force us into dreadful anxiety-inducing situations.
They make us sit on uncomfortable benches, walk around trippy floors, and go number two in bathroom stalls so revealing, others are able to see our facial expressions.
To show how ridiculous it can get, Bored Panda has put together some of the worst public space "solutions" ever created—we deserve better!
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The Chairs Waiting For You In The Laser Eye Clinic's Reception
"I'm Sure You're All Wondering Why I've Gathered You Here Today"
To learn more about the topic, I got in touch with interior architect and lecturer of interior design at Vilnius College of Design, Judita Striukienė.
When we hear the term public space, we usually think of the outdoors. "Places like parks, gardens, and squares are often popular city attractions," Striukienė told Bored Panda. "They not only provide environmental and recreational benefits but also form a city's identity."
No Words Needed Here
As If Public Toilets Didn’t Give Me Enough Anxiety
However, public spaces can also be indoors. "These interiors can be both functional and aesthetic," Striukienė said.
"Think of health service establishments, for example. A well-executed professional interior design can even have a positive effect on the patients. It can relieve their stress and put them in a calmer state of mind."
In fact, Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, the co-founder of the architecture firm Snøhetta, argues that architects must begin considering indoor space just as public as outdoor space.
"Maybe with the sole exception of railway stations, public space is generally understood as outdoor space," Thorsen wrote. "Whether in the United States or in Europe, especially now with heightened concerns around security, there seems to be this determined way of privatizing everything that is indoors, even as we are increasingly aiming to improve access to public space outdoors. But in the layered systems of our cities of the future, we will need to focus on the public spaces that are found inside buildings—and make them accessible."
At First Glance, I Didn’t Recognize This Restaurant Mural As The Sun
I laughed at this. I also laugh when people decorate for parties floating loose helium balloons with ribbon tails.
....and that, little Timmy, is how babies are made. Any questions?
Big fat orange Trump and all the little G.O.P. sperms swarming for a suckle at his teats.
That's what crawls out of the fry drip tank at night when no one is around and eats rats ...
I hear their omelettes are great...but steer clear of the special sauce
It looks more like someone threw a big blob of melted cheese at the wall...
Def looks like it would be at a tattoo shop oddly or a fertility clinic lol
Sperm bank close down, new owners only had to change a color, instead of painting all?
They are actually having a race there.. and the winner gets a life to live.
I can tell you what it looks like to me, lol I have a very dirty mind
Oh, wait. Just saw the little details... What kind of restaurant is this???
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It kinda looks like yellow ballons going to a yellow ball
Perspective.. ? A young fresh minded millennials twist on the 2022 Sun.. Rising... 😂
That's a fertility clinic. and the photos are the new born babies, older lol
Clearly, the new restaurant owner saw no need to repaint after expanding into the old sperm bank space next door...
Could this have been a 20 foot wall before they added the drop ceiling?
Wow this is an actual picture from the first (and last) swimming race I ever won! I swam like Michael freaking Phelps on that day.
That's a giant creature coming down to get us, probably a spin off from Stranger Things
It's artistic on how we perceive it. Portrayed as the sun, great. It's like 100s of souls trying to get into the sun, but only one can make it.
It's the Swimmwell Sperm Bank training grounds. They are so confused by the condom. It's like one of those lap pools where your swimming against the currents. Many are called and so few are are chosen for the real deal. Only one gold medal amongst the billions running into stuff and slowing things down.
AOXAMOXOA; Grateful Dead album. Possible MOUSE/ KELLY collaboration, was the possible inspiration for this.
I asked my 5-year-old daughter what this mural looks like and she said a sun with lightning coming out of it.
Looks like the artwork from the Grateful Dead album, Anthem of the Sun
Somehow, for no apparent reason whatsoever, I have to think of that scene in "Look Who's Talking".
get that checked out if your sperm is yellow or your just a simpson character
And this why you find yourself a proper artist and don't just grab the first thing on google images.
Definitely someone who thought it was the sun and painted it yellow. It's not the sun, it really isn't.
That kid is going to be born with Hepatitis - both parents have it!
To get his point across, Thorsen highlighted a map of Rome made in 1748 by Giambattista Nolli. It only had two distinctions—what was private and what was public. "Whether it was indoor or outdoor, whether there was a church space or a plaza, it didn't really matter. [The map] told a different story of the city."
"There are some examples from today—the roof of our Oslo Opera House is outdoors, for instance, but it's on the building and publicly accessible. Opening up the Louvre and trying to let people walk through it 24 hours a day—as with the museum's recent takeover by the artist JR—is another way of not making a distinction between indoor and outdoor public space."
This Fountain That Looks Like A Perfect Place To Sit Down
I wonder how many people realised that when it was to late...
Gas Station In Nebraska. The Station's Color Scheme Was Red. They Tried To Get Artsy
No Broken Legs I Know Of
Thorsen thinks such decisions are essential to the way new architecture typologies develop, and architects should definitely have an influence on them.
"In certain situations, accessibility to indoor public space is enough," he said. "In other situations, you have to define the program for the particular indoor or outdoor spaces to be adequate. To use the example of the roof of the Opera House in Oslo again, it was basically programmed only for one thing, and that's to be walked on, for a promenade. But on occasion, it could be reprogrammed to hold an outdoor concert. Or it could be reprogrammed against the original intention by skaters or by a biker who actually drives his motorbike up and down the roof."
Flat Carpet In A Hotel In Cologne, Germany Imitating A Curvy Surface
Fake Hope Escalator
The Design Of My School - This Is The Place Where Every Hallway Intersects
Two Windows Of My Workplace Are Constantly Fighting For The Honor Of Being The One Who Is Going To Be Opened
The city belongs to its citizens. No matter if we're talking about what's inside or outside. And, according to Thorsen, these two dimensions can even intertwine.
"Maybe the outdoor can be programmed in such a way that it unlocks the possibility of the public spaces indoors. There's always a bit of urban planning in designing interiors. There's always a bit of interior design in an urban space. There's no question that interior architecture is professionalizing itself as well—interior architects are not seen as decorators of interior space anymore. The same is true of landscape architects. And those are only the traditional design professions," the architect said.
The Single Worst Clock I Have Ever Seen. I Actually Said Aloud "Whyyy"
They Built This School Like One Month Ago
Ballroom Where Everyone Downstairs Can See Up Your Skirt
This Is Not Rust. “It’s The Design”
Of course, that doesn't mean that every architect needs to be trained in every specialized profession. What Thorsen meant was that the industry is lacking an overall understanding of how people should collaborate.
"That's why we've introduced transposition as a working method in our office, where you not only sit around tables with a lot of specialists, but you actually swap professions during creative workshops," he said. "The only thing that can save the essence of architecture is some kind of collaborative model like this."
I Love Eating At Restaurant Logo Here
This Fancy Staircase Leads Directly Into A Wall
This Chandelier At A Restaurant I Ate At Bothers Me So Much
This Picture In McDonald's Was Hung Sideways
By adopting this model both in education and practice, Thorsen believes we would be better equipped to fully understand the effects of programming.
"We are usually generalists enough to understand that a change of use is sometimes demanded and that we shouldn't try to desperately hold on to certain kinds of programming. But the profession itself should, in my opinion, really contain that kind of knowledge, simply because it’s so tightly connected to the actual design task."
As these pictures show, we need to improve the relationship between buildings and the public. And Thorsen thinks there's no way we can do that without getting directly involved in programming ourselves.
Designed For Dissuading The Homeless. Literally Just Uncomfortable For Everyone Else
This Painting Inside A Local “Fancy” Restaurant
$1 Toothbrushes Locked Behind Glass At Walmart. Walked Around The Store For 15 Minutes Looking For Someone “Qualified” To Unlock The Glass Case
Then had to be escorted to the register with said $1 toothbrush. I could walk out of here with an air fryer easier than a toothbrush
That's really odd. I've never seen regular toothbrushes locked up behind glass. Maybe there are some town hooligans going around stealing toothbrushes...
Some People Just Want To Watch The World Burn
This Restaurant In London (Waiters Love It)
Toilet Door With Another Door In It That Won't Stay Closed
You Gotta Pay Attention On These Stairs In A Cinema
My Bed At A Hotel I'm Staying In
So, you wake up, bonk your head at this, and then the flower pot falls on you
Public Restrooms With Reflective Surfaces
This Is Russia
This Is The Logo For A "New York Style" Pizza Place In Ponce, Puerto Rico
I Don't Know Why Brown Strings Is A Welcoming Wallpaper To This Toilet Entrance. It Just Feels Gross And Unwelcoming. I Mean, This Is A Public Place
These Restroom Stalls Have Translucent Doors
This New Wall Art In My Office
Upon Walking In This Bathroom At The Supermarket I Was Initially Disgusted At Filth And Lack Of Cleanliness Until A Closer Look Revealed It Was Designed This Way
And it is designed that way so you don't see the filth that is definitely still there.
The Lobby Of This Medical Office Has An Alligator In The Floor
Not Exactly The Color Pattern You Like To See In A Bathroom
"Not the pattern you want to see in the bathroom"? OK, I'll bite: Where on earth would you want to see this pattern?
Love To Shutterstock See This Kind Of Stuff
They didn't just print the stock photo without noticing, someone hand painted this with the stock photo as reference 💀💀💀
The Paint In This Public Restroom
Sometimes People Use The Left Part
The Decorations On This Hotel Restaurant
This Poster In My School Cafeteria Is So Badly Designed They Put Arrows So You Can Read It Correctly
I'm Sure This Mirror Sounded Cool In Theory
Not Sure If This Belongs Here But In My Opinion This Is The Real Problem With America. It's A Toilet Stall If You Were Wondering
New Toilets At Work, Wonderful View On Our Interior Courtyard
These Trash Cans At My School
Given their outdated school logo, I would say awareness of racism isn't their forté.
A Poster At My Mom's Audiology Office
I Had To Stop While Ordering Food At A Local Restaurant Because I Saw This Poster
50me mials lldo ionat ned. Ah yes. Just summoning a demon. Don't mind me.
Went In To A Bathroom In Airport And Was Surprised With This. Almost Turned Towards Exit Before Realization
Note: this post originally had 129 images. It’s been shortened to the top 49 images based on user votes.
How do some things even get finished without someone somewhere saying that it is a bad idea. To all to all those companies with tiles that look like that have poo on them, were you drunk when you designed it and all the way through to conception?
Because someone is getting paid. They don't care that it is screwed up. They just finish the job so they can collect their pay check. They are not going to wait for some on to correct the problem, which could take weeks, months or longer.
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This was so funny 😂😂😂😂I couldn't hold my laugh at all. I just keep questioning WHY?! JUST WHY?!
None of these people went to design school, they're just horrible people.
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So can you do one on excellent and functional design in the public space. For example, In Switzerland the airports have free luggage carts that are equipped to go up and down the escalators. Brilliant! We need more smart design and less "just gettin' by."
For those Brits (or just people in general who don't like the space between bathroom stall doors... such as myself), there was a stall like that at my school when I was a kid that had a crack directly aligned with the mirror. Anyone could look in the mirror at the right angle and see right where the toilet sat. Needless to say, barely anyone used this particular stall :)
I found the one with the hearing aid batteries hilarious. I love you can supposedly "hear" the Grand Canyon, Italy and Prague! Lmao?
I will never understand the “fashion, never function” aesthetic.
Yoh I looked at all these pictures n am shocked.peoples or designers have a s**t sense of humour .you really get some whacked stuff out there.thanks to the photographer for showing us these n making me laugh
Both my parents are engineers... Should I show them this or not?
I worked at a school where the teachers bathroom was also the supply closet. There were shelves and boxes of documents. And then they just put a toilet and a sink in there. Didn't seem sanitary *at all*
Or the other way around most likely. And no it's very unsanitary especially with COVID 19. The virus (found in fecal material) that people cough in that room lives on inanimate objects for 48 hours so could easily be spread to the entire school population within hours.
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It's entirely possible considering the enormous size of the internet, it's continual growth and the length of time in existence. You may have seen some but it doesn't mean others have.
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Sirs I am only saying that because I genuinely want to teach them the difference. I mean I'm 20 and I can read and write better than 25-30 year Olds and up, when I correct someone I'm not trying to be a grammar nazi I'm trying to teach them the proper way to spell and pronounce something. And yes I do believe teenage slang has a part to play because people will sit there and say u, ur, etc. I am only saying it could influence them not knowing the difference between your, you're, you've. And even words like they're, their, they've, I have seen those used wrong so many times and by people alot older than me. Not trying to be rude or mean towards anybody her I am just genuinely wanting to teach some of them. P.S. not talking about people who currently have A's in english, I'm talking about the ones who are failing. (and I'm also not talking about the ones who have reading/writing disabilities they get free passes)and sure I may not be a dictionary but when I read outloud and wrote back in middle school my teacher set me as a prime example for people in 8th grade.
P.s.s, just trying to teach older generations proper etiquette.
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How do some things even get finished without someone somewhere saying that it is a bad idea. To all to all those companies with tiles that look like that have poo on them, were you drunk when you designed it and all the way through to conception?
Because someone is getting paid. They don't care that it is screwed up. They just finish the job so they can collect their pay check. They are not going to wait for some on to correct the problem, which could take weeks, months or longer.
Load More Replies... This was so funny 😂😂😂😂I couldn't hold my laugh at all. I just keep questioning WHY?! JUST WHY?!
None of these people went to design school, they're just horrible people.
Load More Replies... So can you do one on excellent and functional design in the public space. For example, In Switzerland the airports have free luggage carts that are equipped to go up and down the escalators. Brilliant! We need more smart design and less "just gettin' by."
For those Brits (or just people in general who don't like the space between bathroom stall doors... such as myself), there was a stall like that at my school when I was a kid that had a crack directly aligned with the mirror. Anyone could look in the mirror at the right angle and see right where the toilet sat. Needless to say, barely anyone used this particular stall :)
I found the one with the hearing aid batteries hilarious. I love you can supposedly "hear" the Grand Canyon, Italy and Prague! Lmao?
I will never understand the “fashion, never function” aesthetic.
Yoh I looked at all these pictures n am shocked.peoples or designers have a s**t sense of humour .you really get some whacked stuff out there.thanks to the photographer for showing us these n making me laugh
Both my parents are engineers... Should I show them this or not?
I worked at a school where the teachers bathroom was also the supply closet. There were shelves and boxes of documents. And then they just put a toilet and a sink in there. Didn't seem sanitary *at all*
Or the other way around most likely. And no it's very unsanitary especially with COVID 19. The virus (found in fecal material) that people cough in that room lives on inanimate objects for 48 hours so could easily be spread to the entire school population within hours.
Load More Replies... It's entirely possible considering the enormous size of the internet, it's continual growth and the length of time in existence. You may have seen some but it doesn't mean others have.
Load More Replies... Sirs I am only saying that because I genuinely want to teach them the difference. I mean I'm 20 and I can read and write better than 25-30 year Olds and up, when I correct someone I'm not trying to be a grammar nazi I'm trying to teach them the proper way to spell and pronounce something. And yes I do believe teenage slang has a part to play because people will sit there and say u, ur, etc. I am only saying it could influence them not knowing the difference between your, you're, you've. And even words like they're, their, they've, I have seen those used wrong so many times and by people alot older than me. Not trying to be rude or mean towards anybody her I am just genuinely wanting to teach some of them. P.S. not talking about people who currently have A's in english, I'm talking about the ones who are failing. (and I'm also not talking about the ones who have reading/writing disabilities they get free passes)and sure I may not be a dictionary but when I read outloud and wrote back in middle school my teacher set me as a prime example for people in 8th grade.
P.s.s, just trying to teach older generations proper etiquette.
Load More Replies... 