Seaside

I'm pleased to say Dezeen has picked up on Arca's Silver Cafe in Morecambe, with, I think, the full set of Tim Soar's great picture-set. Tim has captured the two sides to the scheme: a shiny piece of silver flotsam washed-up on the seafront, and a bold space that is happy to hold kitsch seaside paraphernalia.

Motorways

Here is a nice Beck-inspired representation of the UK Mainland motorway network. Very neat and tidy.

Lane

Lateral thinking in connection with city infrastructure will always be worth considering. Building roads, underpasses, bridges, and barriers is often expensive, awkward and time-consuming. On top of this, there is the aesthetic price we pay for the uninvited eye-level clutter which attaches itself to our highways, as the authorities try to protect us from ourselves. This innovation from a US company called Altitude inc. is a bike lane you take with you on the dark journey home. Cyclists can now carry their version of the white line/logo combo. (via Good)

M+T

The work of Mantilla + Tunon has caught my eye before, notably their Auditorium in Leon, Spain. Its asymmetric window bays were a strikingly original take on the urban facade, avoiding cliches such as the 'barcode' facade and modish colour. All in all, it had a pleasing solidity. Now their show in San Silvestro has popped up on Designboom, with some new projects. The house shown here looks intriguing, with its undulating wall defining interior and exterior rooms as it winds across a site in Nanjing, China.

Depression

Some say design could do with losing some of its frivolous extravagance, born of too much time and money, and indulgent clients out to make a name for themselves. This article in the New York Times makes a good case for our fresh economic woes being A Good Thing, prompting designers to plunder cheap materials and work to innovate. With recollections of Charles and Ray Eames working wonders in wartime and post-war austerity conditions, it is a compelling argument. Let's see what we can do.

Gallup

I've just come across gallup.com. I didn't realise they had a daily publication of all of their polls, which despite its US leaning provides a kind of FTSE index of our collective mood. It also covers 'hot topics', providing the digested data direct, with less media mediation...