The virtual daisy chain


Unhappy Hipsters blog
A wry commentary on architectural fads and fashions

There are some very funny people out there writing very funny blogs. One I always like is the one above, click on the link to read the caption for today's post. 

The anonymous author sources photographs of ultra-modern so hip it hurts architect-designed houses and the people who live in them. He/she then writes alternative captions - little thought bubbles which usually reveal a sense of unease within the seemingly perfect walls - that most definitely were not published with the original picture. 

A lot of the photos were taken for hip American design magazine Dwell which is the very definition of interior design porn.

What I like about the blog is the way it sends up the unachievable (for most of us) aspiration that glossy magazines do so well. For me, it's this essential element of schadenfreude which makes all the enviable floor-to-ceiling windows, and cantilevered balconies, a little bit easier to swallow.

Yes, the concrete walls are very cool, but is it any fun living there? It's a kind of reverse smugness that levels the playing field.

I first came across this site on the brilliant Swiss Miss blog. Her blog is a showcase for all that's cool and groovy and useful - or sometimes just things that make you smile - in design from typography to tea bags. There is always something on there you want to tell someone about, surely a mark of quality - and staggeringly it's been going nearly five years. I originally came across her via a recommendation from a friend. 

And so it goes on in the internet world, one blog leads to another, it's like a virtual daisy chain. And I like that too.