What's Lighting Up Your Workplace this Season?

As the year closes, we assess. We think about who we've been and where we want to go. We become a bit more curious about ourselves and our loved ones, as we consider material and more abstract ways to show our care.

Armchair Journeys

Maybe you're not up for canoeing the Mississippi River, but reading about canoeing the Mississippi (in the new, bi-annual print publication, Southlands) is also pretty awe-inspiring. Or you may want to direct a friend to the free Step: Your World app. Part social network, part city guide, Step allows users from all over the globe to access curated, destination-specific experiences. It's like having a local buddy to show you around in every port. You can create a personalized experience map and follow and interact with your favorite users.

At PLASTARC, we're obsessed with finding a better approach to work that addresses evolving challenges holistically. So, we were delighted to reconnect with our friends Sara Escobar and Corinne Murray to celebrate the launch of their book WORK Then PLACE: Navigating Modern Work and Where It Happens. They offer an easy-reading guide to focusing on the "how" of work (behaviors, culture, and employee experience) before the "where" (physical space). If your armchair tourist destination is a better workplace, get this for yourself or your favorite manager!

Know someone who wants to sleep under the stars but doesn't know where to start? REI's Beginner Camping Workshop covers the basics for only $15. What about someone who wants to cook under the stars? First published 35 years ago, the beloved NOLS Cookbook (National Outdoor Leadership School) offers delicious recipes for the aspiring wilderness chef.

Focus on Sensations

If you're a longtime reader of this newsletter, you know PLASTARC loves multisensory design. We also embrace personal growth and believe that when you launch something new, you reinvent yourself. Our long-time collaborator, Toma Barylak, wanted to get away from the molded plastic and engineered composites prevalent in today's furniture. His new furniture and fixtures company, Limn, focuses on high-end, custom craftsmanship and honest, premium materials. Launched in October, their 5 Limn-designed collections blend Japanese precision, Scandinavian sensibility, and Italian rationalism, suited for indoors or out, home or office. If you're looking to indulge yourself or someone else, check out their Friends & Family Sale.

We're also repeat fans of Keap candles, for their blogs as much as their scents. Their candle subscription program is a great way to keep the deliciousness going all year. This tiny LEGO set caught our eye. Gift it to someone who loves to work with their hands, or build the plants yourself and decorate your coworkers' desks for an unexpected treat. Curious about mycelium-based products? Grow your own mushrooms with the amazing products at North Spore.

Speaking of curated offices, a small, soon-to-launch device, LogiSpot, could make it easier to gauge the air quality and overall healthiness of your workspace. It relays information such as how many people are in a given room, how many VOCs are lingering in the air, and the temperature, air pressure, and humidity levels. The readings may inspire investment in more (living, CO2, and VOC-absorbing) plants.

While we're talking senses, who doesn't love a spa day? The Swimply app lets you "rent" a local, private pool to throw a party. Is there an outdoor heated pool open year-round in your area, where you can gift yourself or someone else a taste of Nordic swimming culture (including heated pods and polar bear plunges)? Also, Wirecutter raves about this silk eye mask, Reddit users love these affordable exfoliating towels, and you know we're evergreen fans of the happy lamp.

A Different Kind of Self-Care

While you're giving yourself a spa break, let AI handle some of your BD research — from finding pre-RFP projects to mining your network for the best contacts. AdaptEngine helps design (and AEC) firms spot early opportunities, harvest RFPs, and map who-knows-who, saving hours each week. Founded by longtime PLASTARC collaborator Campbell Hyers, they're gifting two free months to one firm that requests access at adaptengine.ai.

Gifting for Good

Seeking a great org to donate to this season? +Pool began as a design movement and now makes a big push for preservation and restoration of waterways. It's about mutual service; if we care for our rivers, they will serve us as places of recreation and nourishment. +Pool also provides swimming instruction to New Yorkers, with the ultimate dream of one day building water-filtering pools directly in the city's rivers. Bike New York runs the largest bike fundraiser, a one-day ride through the 5 boroughs of NYC, to support bike recycling, education, and job placement for bike mechanics - sign up now.

The KVK Scholarship was recently established in honor of a treasured colleague and skilled architect and draftsman, Kevin V. Kelly. It aims to carry on Kevin's legacy of mentorship for architectural students who show talent and interest in rendering.

We love CUP (the Center for Urban Pedagogy) which teaches civic engagement and community-centric design to students and adults, with a goal of building long-term equity from the ground up. Project for Public Spaces is another nonprofit we appreciate, with a mission of ensuring that everyone's voice counts in shaping our public environment.

In general, we appreciate the idea of giving what you can and asking for what you need, now and year-round. So happy adventuring, time-saving, giving, and receiving season!

We've been obsessed with sensory experiences since the start! We were talking about how our bodies are sensors nearly a decade ago. In 2017, our gift guide focused on tools to make workplaces better for under $500. We toured a candle factory in 2018 because, as you may have gathered, we love candles – and smell is a sometimes underappreciated sense. The following year, we recommended gadgets, philanthropies, and more, while also giving you our take on Chia Pets.

We'll leave you with a set from Ruby Ibarra, the trilingual Filipino rapper who won 2025's Tiny Desk Contest. Her songs are about dreams, adventure, curiosity, and reinvention. They fit well within the wider values of our gifting this season.