(Not) Phoning It In: RISD designs phone booths for the UN

An idea for a class can come from anywhere. Inspiration hit for Tom Weis, RISD associate professor of Industrial Design, while he was working on a project for the United Nations with his company, Altimeter Design Group. 

One of his UN clients told him about the vintage phone booths that used to populate the New York City headquarters. Almost all had been removed from the building over the years, but four remained, and Weis was asked to bring them back to life so that they could be incorporated into a newly renovated office space. Weis thought this sounded like a valuable learning experience for his graduate-level Industrial Design students.