This video has been circulating around social media circles for a while, but every time I come across it, I can’t help but watch it. It’s a colorful reminder that we must continue to rethink the simple things in life… the basics. In Odenplan, a plaza in Stockholm, Sweden, an experiment was conducted to see if shoppers/commuters could be enticed to use a set of stairs over an escalator. A brilliant decision was made, to turn the stairs into operating piano keys, so that when people climbed the stairs they would be musically interacting with them.
The result is fun and fascinating, and allows us to reexamine some of the “predetermined” ways that we design and build standard utilitarian objects in our cities. Urban centers all over the world continually experiment with interesting place-making exercises. These are the types of initiatives that I would hope to see more of from the University at Buffalo, and other higher education institutions in the area. Let’s capitalize on the newfound energy unfolding in the city, and unleash the creative minds that are able to understand what “Fun Theory” is all about.