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The Flat Sink

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Re: The Flat Sink

#131

Post by stan_rogers »

zefhous wrote: post #17
sudonim wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Minor point, but he's talking about a bathroom in his parent's house in Paris, not where he lives in Osaka, Japan. Hadn't seen the lebanese style sinks before, but a quick google image search brought up this pic: http://www.lebanon-hotels.com/book/images/accom/Faraya-villa... . Is that what you mean? Interesting to hear another perspective.

Thanks, skimmed over that I suppose. Yes, that's exactly it. I find them pretty annoying because water and food debris builds up in the corners and it's hard to get it all down. Could actually be a feature and not a bug, — I've never seen a garbage disposal there, so you don't want all the food going right down the drain.

Garbage disposals are essentially unknown in Canada (except on US-originated TV shows), and we use essentially the same sinks. (It is possible to purchase and install one, but I have never seen one installed in a home.) Food (at least appreciably large chunks of it) is prevented from going down the drain by the basket strainer that is part of the plug (which isn't completely removed when draining the sink). The strainer/plug is them emptied into the food waste/compost container that is in the kitchen anyway.

Re: The Flat Sink

#132

Post by gnaffle »

henrikschroder wrote: post #128
jorde wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I noticed the same kind of faucets at my friend's place in SF's Mint Plaza (probably one of the most expensive condos in the city). It blew my mind how hard to use they were, even without soap, with just wet hands. Overall I think that modern design has had a negative impact on kitchen and bathroom utilities: much of the functionality is lost with minimalistic design. There's also quite a lot of difference between co…

I feel your pain on bathroom faucets, I have a fantastic one-grip faucet that I can operate even with my elbow if I so wish. When things like that exist, why oh WHY would anyone buy two-grip faucets, or worse, BAD two-grip faucets? Another point of horror is trends in design that cause some feature to just not exist anymore. Ten years ago I bought a combined microwave/kitchen fan, that had a great digital wheel for s…

Agreed. Even an analogue mechanical timer wheel is better than many of the digital designs.

I think the sad fact is that anything that adds mechanical parts also adds cost, and is therefore avoided now that the cost of electronics has dropped.

Re: The Flat Sink

#133

Post by pretoriusB »

kalms wrote: post #127
martinced wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By your logic then as soon as you get out of the bathroom and touch anything, then your hands aren't clean anymore. So what was the point in cleaning them? Being too much of a maniac with such thing is no good. Especially not for your kids: an environment that is too clean will prevent them from developing proper defenses and as soon as they'll be outside, they'll get sick like sissies all the time :-/

The aforementioned approach is recommended to avoid spreading flu virus, and other winter time bugs. If you want to avoid your kids getting sick, I can recommend getting them a flu vaccine. Probably safer than relying on a faucet containing the exact amount of virus you need to develop antibodies.

>The aforementioned approach is recommended to avoid spreading flu virus, and other winter time bugs.

Citation needed.

I've never met the "do not touch anything dirty after you washed your hands" and "close the faucet with a paper towel" (!) as a recommendation against spreading flu virus.

Especially if by "dirty thing" you mean the faucet handle.

Re: The Flat Sink

#134

Post by pretoriusB »

eduardordm wrote: post #48
crazygringo wrote: post #32

I stayed with a friend in a then-new building designed by Philippe Starck, in New York. The bathroom sink faucet handles were very cool -- just smooth steel cylinders sticking out, that you rotated. Until I tried turning them with my now-soapy hands... and discovered that they were impossible to turn, because there was nothing to grab onto! His stylish cylinders turned out to be completely useless. Turns out knobby h…

Still, someone will eventually call this a feature, because it might force you to dry your hands before turning the knob - keeping it cleaner/dry. Designers will always find a way to justify their crap.

Really? Where are these designers you mention? Can you point to any specific example of them justifying similar crap?

(And note that it has to be an actual "crap", not just stuff you personally don't like).

Re: The Flat Sink

#135

Post by rijoja »

brandoncarl wrote: post #75

My wife and I have encountered these at many hotels over the past few years. The reason is environmental: the sink is supposed to splash if you turn the water too high. It's intended to keep you from wasting water.

if the reason is to avoid unnecessary water consumption, wouldn't it be better to limit the rate of the water? Less water is used and nobody gets wet and annoyed.

Re: The Flat Sink

#136

Post by corresation »

ebf wrote: post #87
thaumaturgy wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Citation needed" is intellectually lazy. It is middlebrow dismissal's slightly more popular cousin. "Citation needed" is never a counter-argument, but often stands in place of one. It is the rhetorical equivalent of burying your opponent in discovery: it is a challenge that consists solely of expecting someone else to do more work than they would like to. If you have a question about something, ask. If you disagree…

If someone pushes a statement as a fact and not as their opinion then they better be prepared to back it up it with evidence. End of story.

If someone pushes a statement as a fact and not as their opinion

It is clearly a subjective, editorial piece. The infantile demands that every statement be prefaced by "In my opinion, " (where such is painfully obvious already) is a nonsensical tactic when someone simply disagrees with the subject matter.

Re: The Flat Sink

#137

Post by justjimmy »

jorde wrote: post #117
crazygringo wrote: post #32

I stayed with a friend in a then-new building designed by Philippe Starck, in New York. The bathroom sink faucet handles were very cool -- just smooth steel cylinders sticking out, that you rotated. Until I tried turning them with my now-soapy hands... and discovered that they were impossible to turn, because there was nothing to grab onto! His stylish cylinders turned out to be completely useless. Turns out knobby h…

I noticed the same kind of faucets at my friend's place in SF's Mint Plaza (probably one of the most expensive condos in the city). It blew my mind how hard to use they were, even without soap, with just wet hands. Overall I think that modern design has had a negative impact on kitchen and bathroom utilities: much of the functionality is lost with minimalistic design. There's also quite a lot of difference between co…

I am not a fan of infrared faucets - it completely strips away control from the user.

You can't dictate the amount of water - whether you want a trickle or a gush of water. You can't dictate if you just want to leave it on (for whatever reason) unless you leave your hands in that magical spot. O the magical spot, waving around your hands around the sink, feeling like a total idiot (not to mention learning the magical spot of different infrared faucets, since I'm seeing them in public restrooms and airports now), and if your hand leaves the beam for just a millisecond, the water shuts off, then you wave your soap covered hands around feeling like a bigger idiot.

Infrared is way too niche and 1 settings only.

Re: The Flat Sink

#138

Post by hippee-lee »

pretoriusB wrote: post #133
kalms wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The aforementioned approach is recommended to avoid spreading flu virus, and other winter time bugs. If you want to avoid your kids getting sick, I can recommend getting them a flu vaccine. Probably safer than relying on a faucet containing the exact amount of virus you need to develop antibodies.

> The aforementioned approach is recommended to avoid spreading flu virus, and other winter time bugs. Citation needed. I've never met the "do not touch anything dirty after you washed your hands" and "close the faucet with a paper towel" (!) as a recommendation against spreading flu virus. Especially if by "dirty thing" you mean the faucet handle.

I don't have a link but I do have a bit of (dated) experience that may be relevant.

Back a while ago I worked to pay for college. One of the several jobs I held was as CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant). Before they let you do the job there was a class you had to complete and one of the skills that you got tested on was washing your hands. Because, the first thing you did upon entering a room was to wash your hands and the last thing you did before leaving it was to wash your hands.

The process was as follows: set paper towel dispenser with 8-8 inches of paper towel so it is ready. turn on water to very hot. Wet hands and apply soap. Work soap into a lather for at least a minute and pay attention to make sure all surface areas of the hands and wrists are thoroughly scrubbed. Rinse under the hot water and tear off the paper towel. Use the paper towel to grab and dispense more paper towels for drying the hands. Once hands are dry, use the paper towels to turn off the faucet.

The keys to washing hands well seem to be related to water temperature and the length and vigorousness that is applied to the scrubbing. Once hands are in a 'clean' state the key to keeping them clean is to avoid contact with anything 'dirty'. I don't have a citation but if you really want something related to the measured effectiveness of hand washing techniques I am sure I could find some studies on pub med if you need them.

Re: The Flat Sink

#139

Post by ricardobeat »

pretoriusB wrote: post #133
kalms wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The aforementioned approach is recommended to avoid spreading flu virus, and other winter time bugs. If you want to avoid your kids getting sick, I can recommend getting them a flu vaccine. Probably safer than relying on a faucet containing the exact amount of virus you need to develop antibodies.

> The aforementioned approach is recommended to avoid spreading flu virus, and other winter time bugs. Citation needed. I've never met the "do not touch anything dirty after you washed your hands" and "close the faucet with a paper towel" (!) as a recommendation against spreading flu virus. Especially if by "dirty thing" you mean the faucet handle.

The faucet (and door) handle are the dirtiest areas in any bathroom, for two simple reasons: 1) most people that touch them have dirty hands - that's why they're here 2) they are not cleaned very often (watch the janitor)

Re: The Flat Sink

#140

Post by ebf »

thaumaturgy wrote: post #119
ebf wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good points, but a lack of examples does not necessarily mean that it isn't possible. I think Bing has down a good job of having a flat design with high usability. http://www.bing.com/search?q=hello+world&go=&qs=n&#3...

Ehh. Personally, I find Bing's example there to be identical to Google's, along with all the same flaws. It's readable, but for instance there's no contrast between the search results and the "related searches" sidebar.

And I would say that the use of whitespace and typography is enough to differentiate it.
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