The Power of Whimsy

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January 9, 2013

a project of ServiceSpace

Wonder is the heaviest element on the periodic table. Even a tiny fleck of it stops time

- Diane Ackerman -

The Power of Whimsy

Public spaces serve multiple functions for society and, more and more, they are being utilized in ever-creative ways. In many of these cases, whimsy seems to be at the heart of the matter, even if it is not the main driver. For instance, in a bid to improve public health by encouraging more people to use the stairs instead of the escalator, The Fun Theory (a Volkswagen initiative) transformed a set of Stockholm subway stairs into piano keys -- each step a person took played a note. As a result, 66 percent more people took the stairs than the escalator. In another example, a Dutch railway company had a slide installed atop one of the stairways leading down to a station in Utrecht and dubbed it a 'transfer accelerator.' This delightful piece shares more. { read more }