a piece of string

this unique space saving waste bin is a must for every kitchen. the 'soft touch' closing makes opening a joy. and with the removable plastic inner bucket, it's even easy to clean. the special ventilation holes in the inner bucket prevent vacuum when removing the filled bin liner. the bin is made of durable corrosion-resistant materials. the plastic protective bottom rim prevents damage to the floor.

this, of course, is the description taken from the brabantia website. but i must say, being the proud owner of a brabantia 40L waste bin, the description is pretty accurate. it truly is a good and decent piece of design. it should thus be no surprise that the boyfriend thinks of this waste bin as my most valued possession in my apartment in amsterdam. he loves the simplicity of it. he loves the soft touch opening mechanism - which is exactly at the height of where your fingers are when standing up. well thought through.

and like the waste bin, the rest of the netherlands is well designed. everything has a function, a plan. no traffic light is out of place, no piece of cutlery is left untouched by the design police. every thing has a master plan behind it. the entire public space is designed, planned, re-ordered, re-mastered to suit the dutchmen's and -women's needs.

hm - how about rio de janeiro? well, if ever there was a master plan, it got lost. maybe somebody needed it to scribble a phonenumber on it. maybe a child folded it into an airplane or a hat. oh there is design, there are plans, there are ideas. but most of the time the plan is not entirely accomplished. or the plan itself is faulty. like building a clock but forgetting -or simply not bothering- to put the hands on it. or, like i have seen in the beautiful parque do flamengo, putting plans of a park all over the park, but not indicating anywhere on the map where you are. simple enough, no?

instead of design the cariocas rely on salsicha. salsicha means fixing your car with a piece of string, repairing a window with cardboard, propping up your bed on a pan, turning an empty can into a cup or a lamp or a vase or a piece of art or a radio. salsicha is the art of improvising. not just for a temporary solution, no for a permanent solution (well, or however long it takes for the piece of string to snap). in a way, salsicha is the ultimate anti-design.

so now, after a period of 2 weeks in a perfectly designed environment, i have come back into the realm of improvisation. of things being held together by strings, elastic bands, tape and goodwill.

but don't get me wrong. going from design to salsicha is not a step back. nor is it a step forward. it is a step to the side. for a society based on salsicha does ofcourse mean you sometimes get annoyed, because things do not work the way they could or should do. but it also means i have moved from a society where everything functions according to a plan to a city where everything is a possibility; an invitation to be creative, a chance to do things your way. i traded a country where even spontaneity requires a -well designed- form to be filled in for an urban jungle with little rules, and what little rules there are can never stop the music and the joy and the people from simply happening. so what if it is held together by a piece of string?