The strange ongoing controversy around RePack has reached a conclusion, with Royal College of Art determining that the accused student is technically guilty of plagiarism and misconduct. While the subject is arguably a revolutionary innovation for the future of sustainable retail, RePack turned out to be repackaged (pardon the wordplay) copy of an existing brand’s idea, in all but name, which remained the same.

RePack (as shown in the two images above) is a reusable packaging startup based in Finland, boasting a “sustainable system for online retailers and shoppers whereby delivery packages can be conveniently and easily returned, and then re-used.”

Meanwhile, design student Yu-Chang Chou developed a thesis project (pictures above and below) with not only the same name and concept but even some of the same descriptive text, which came to the attention of the RCA after its publication on Dezeen.

Similar to its Finnish counterpart, “The customer would opt for for the packaging when they make their purchase. Once they receive the product, they simply fold and reseal the Repack bag and post it back to a central address, in exchange for a refund of the deposit they paid when ordering.”

The oddest part of the whole affair is the school’s declaration that the plagiarism was inadvertent, which seems a stretch in this situation. One could imagine that a brand name and concept could be accidentally duplicated, but additional text suggests that the student must have had some knowledge of the original project. Regardless, the institution has reached its conclusion and removed the project from their website, declaring the investigation at an end – the student, meanwhile, has already graduated.

The Finnish RePack seems to have reluctantly accepted the situation, and affirms that, regardless of the specifics of this case, they are glad that students are exploring sustainable packaging designs along similar (if not exactly the same) lines. Either way, wherever one weighs in on the plagiarism part, these ideas could give rise to a renewed usefulness of post boxes turned into de facto recycling centers, and may allow packages to be reused up to hundreds of times without having to be discarded. And, in the end, ideas get recycled a lot – perhaps it is the execution that matters.

The remains of large concrete arrows can be found in patches of dirt and grass across the United States from New York to San Francisco. Many locals have wondered what they’re for, seemingly pointing nowhere at all and often located in fairly remote places. They were installed in the 1920s, each accompanied by a fifty-foot tower and a tiny hut, and became obsolete within a decade.

So what were they for? Getting mail delivered in the time period just after the birth of the airplane, but before the wide use of radar and radio communications. The arrows helped guide airmail pilots at night, when flights would otherwise be grounded due to inability to properly navigate. The ability to deliver mail by plane represented a huge step in the evolution of U.S. mail delivery, vastly speeding up a system that had previously relied on stagecoach lines.

The system used fifty-foot beacon towers with rotating lights placed on top of concrete foundations shaped like arrows, usually between 50-70 feet in length. A small hut offered a place to stay for the people who maintained the generators and lights. The beacons were only visible from a distance of about 10 miles.

By the end of the first year of the program, the airmail service had 18 terminal airfields and more than 500 beacon lights in operation along the main mail delivery route, and continued to expand throughout the 1920s. But by 1933, new technology and the high cost of operation during the depression shut the program down. The towers were disassembled for their steel during World War II. A few have been preserved, like the one pictured above at the Western New Mexico Aviation Heritage Museum.

While many of the arrows have since been lost to development, those further afield still offer a (sometimes mystifying) glimpse of the past. The blog Sometimes Interesting has compiled a list with map links to arrows that still remain in New Mexico, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada and other states.

Since the only thing rapid about “snail mail” is the speed it’s fading into disuse, no one should be surprised at the growing number of abandoned post offices. These once-proud centers of commerce and communication are, one by one, following video rental stores and record shops into irrelevance and extinction.

United States Post Office – Gary, Indiana, USA

(images via: American Urbex and RickDrew)

Like the 800-pound gorilla in the room, we need to get the enormous abandoned Gary Post Office out of the way… something the (remaining) residents of Gary would love to do in actuality. Opened in 1936 as a milestone of FDR’s New Deal construction program, this rambling wreck closed in the 1970s and is now a millstone around the long-suffering city’s neck.

(image via: RickDrew)

Located at 601 Massachusetts St. at Sixth, this awesome Art Deco colossus was designed by architect Howard Lovewell Cheney. The building boasts a marble base marred by graffiti and the partial loss of its roof has allowed decay to rapidly accelerate inside. At least the trees have more light now.

Post Office – Glenrio, Texas/New Mexico, USA

(images via: JuneNY)

The unincorporated community of Glenrio sits astride the Texas – New Mexico state line with the now-closed post office on the New Mexico side. Built in 1935 when bustling Route 66 was funneling Dust Bowl refugees westward, the post office’s fortunes faded fast after September 1973 when I-40 bypassed the community to the north. Thanks go out to Flickr user JuneNY for documenting Glenrio’s long-shuttered post office as well as other features of the National Register of Historic Places-listed historic district.

Post Office – Kelso, California, USA

(images via: l_c_m_tt_ and Drycyclist.com)

The Mojave Desert ghost town of Kelso regained some life in 2005 when the circa-1923 restored Kelso Railroad Depot re-opened as the Mojave National Reserve’s visitor center. This explains why the street separating the Depot and the Kelso Post Office is in a reasonable state of repair sporting freshly painted lines.

(image via: Wikipedia)

A popular subject for photographers both amateur and professional, the Kelso Post Office closed in 1962 and looks as weatherbeaten as a half-century in the high desert would lead one to expect. This image, courtesy of Pierre Camateros, shows the warts-and-all rugged beauty of the structure, which still proudly displays Kelso’s original 90920 zip code.

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Going Postal 12 Stamped Out Abandoned Post Offices

Have you ever thought about what your mailbox says about you? A standard box can say that you like to play by the rules, or that you just don’t pay much attention to things like that and Locking Mailboxes could suggest you are a person of security. But an offbeat custom mailbox can reflect your personality and let people – or at least your mail carrier – know a little about you. These mailbox designs are weird, unique, and a little bit crazy.

These mailboxes were all photographed by the community at Waymarking. Members search out the most interesting mailboxes and, as long as they’re homemade or heavily modified (not hardware-shop standard), post them to share with everyone. They’ve captured some of the most amusing and amazing mail boxes from all around the world.

Some mailboxes clearly show that the owners are interested in a particular hobby or pastime. Whether it’s snorkeling, fishing, photography or tinkering with cars, you can bet that some creative mail receiver has made a clever mailbox to display their passion in a particular activity.

People love their vehicles – whether they drive a Harley, a hot rod, or a John Deere tractor. These clever mailboxes display a decidedly motor-driven slant to the homeowners’ tastes.

For many of us, animals are an important part of life. They provide companionship and stress relief, and often they entertain us like nothing else can. These mailbox modders have taken their love of animals to a weird new place by creating mailboxes that look like their favorite animals.

While some are hilarious, others are simply works of art. Animal-themed mailboxes – and any custom mailboxes – can run the range from extremely simple to very complicated. The best ones seem to be those that the owner has put many hours of thought and work into.

Businesses wouldn’t let homeowners have all the fun, though – these mailboxes are all in front of businesses, and they all reflect the type of business that’s carried on inside. Clockwise from top left, the owners of these fine mailboxes are: a chiropractor’s office, a plumber, a BBQ restaurant, and a waste management company.

Businesses who pay attention to little things about their customers’ experience would do well to include little touches like these. The whimsical mailbox in front of the company’s building may just help that business to stick out in customers’ minds. The businesses associated with these mailboxes, clockwise from top left: a dog groomer, an auto repair shop, a dentist, and a beverage outlet.

If you find yourself with a nearly-useless piece of junk in your house, think twice about throwing it away. These enterprising homeowners used the most unlikely of materials to create their own distinctive, personalized mailboxes.

It’s amazing what can be used to receive mail. These homeowners used everything from old lawnmowers to a drill press to an old gas pump and even more unusual recycled materials. This type of upcycling lets homeowners reduce waste while creating an unforgettable feature for their home.

Some people choose to show off their artistic skills by making an artsy mailbox. There’s virtually no limit to what one can do with a mailbox, a pole, and some imagination. A Ned Kelly effigy would seem like an unlikely mailbox, as would a scary tiki, but their unexpectedness is what makes them so delightful.

(all images via: Waymarking)

Of course, weird mailboxes don’t always have to have a reason. They can be as silly and as offbeat as you want them to be. Unless, of course, you’re dealing with a homeowners’ association – then you’ll have to convince them that having a spaceship mailbox is somehow in the best interest of the entire neighborhood.