In a fun case of one dying means of communication promoting another, cheeky (and brilliant!) Columbia University architecture graduate John Locke is trying to make the 13,659 phone booths remaining in NYC useful again. Given that many of them aren't working anyways, he's "hacked" these vestiges of the pre-cell-phone era by installing sets of lovingly designed shelves and filling them with books in the hopes that New Yorkers will grab a good read (or, even better, leave their own volumes for others to adopt.) While it's a longshot that these guerrilla libraries would really work (and a longer shot that they're even legal), they're the best way we've seen to bring a little whimsy and color to these analog eyesores. Also, we're kinda hoping someone left A Dance With Dragons in one of them. (Atlantic Cities)
Photo: via Atlantic Cities.