World’s Strangest

Number 10 Downing Street, that is. We do a lot of posts about the White House and its notable residents here on the _floss, but not quite as many on their counterparts. We’re looking to even the score a little bit today by featuring 10 on 10 Downing Street, the office and residence (sometimes – [...]

AbeBooks (U.K.) has a Weird Book Room, which they describe as… “…the finest source of everything that’s bizarre, odd and downright weird in books. We now have 101 crazy and strange titles about every oddball aspect of life you could possibly imagine and a few things you couldn’t possibly imagine.” This assemblage is slightly different from the [...]

When Danish political cartoonist Kurt Westergaard was attacked at home by an ax-wielding man, he didn’t lock himself in the bathroom – instead, he utilized the panic room: Westergaard took his 5-year-old granddaughter into the “panic room” when he realized what was happening, Chief Superintendent Ole Madsen said. Westergaard, who has been threatened for drawing cartoons of [...]

The room pictured above, by designer Jeffrey Miller, was inspired by the work of Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. Erin Williamson of Design Crisis has assembled a gallery of similar interiors. Link via Fast Company | Photo: Design Crisis

If you enjoy placing your furry friends in tubes the living room, then you should consider investing some money in the creation of this gerbil vest featured on Neatorama. Who doesn’t want to bring their small little critters with them wherever they go? According to Patently Absurd, the creator actually put a lot of thought into [...]

The Hamster Hotel is now open in Nantes, France. No, it’s not just a clever name. Frederic Tabary and Yann Falquerho converted a room in an old building to a human-sized hamster cage complete with a running wheel and hay to sleep on! Guests will be able to live like a hamster complete with grain [...]

Photo: Design Boom In 1979, Japan built its first capsule hotel — an inn with rooms consisting of little more than a bed, and certainly not enough room to stand up. Now developers in Kyoto are contrasting that minimalist approach with luxury furnishings at the 9h Hotel, which will open in December. It’s called 9h because [...]

Everyone’s seen comfy, soft and ergonomic chairs. You’ve probably even seen uncomfortable chairs that were just designed badly or cheaply, but you probably haven’t seen too many chairs designed solely to be uncomfortable. Sometimes designers need to stretch their minds through experimentation though, and the 13 chairs on this WebUrbanist post are a perfect example. This [...]

In an effort to test whether or not it’s possible to artificially induce paranormal experiences scientists have created a “haunted room” filled wi…

Back in 1st century A.D. (or C.E., if it pleases you), the Romans were really starting to crank things up. Things like debauchery, poisoning of rivals, fratricide…basically setting the stage for their own eventual downfall. Of the many Emperors who ruled over this lifestyle, Nero stands out as one of the nastiest. But you gotta give the [...]