A spoof of an IKEA flat-pack furniture kit shows how to cheaply build Donald Trump's proposed Mexican border wall.

The Börder Wåll offers a "practical, ready-made solution" to the US president's plans for a continuous barrier between the two countries, according to satirical news site The Postillon.

At just $9,999,999,999.99, the IKEA product would be a steal compared to a traditional wall, which is currently estimated to come in between $15 and $25 billion (£12 and £20 billion).

A graphic mimicking a typical minimal instruction sheet provided by the Swedish furniture giant has been mocked up for the builders. It lists hundreds of thousands of panels and barbed-wire coils, along with millions of screws, but only specifies a single Allen key for assembly.

A new 47-unit mixed-use building in Grenoble, France had a strict set of features specified by the client, leaving little room for design experimentation by the architect. The recessed top floor was to be flanked by two duplexes, a platform at the bottom would contain retail space and be fitted with large glazed shop windows, and large balconies and openings on the façade would allow natural light deep into the building’s interior.

With so many major design elements set in stone, the project’s architect, Maison Édouard François, began to worry the 48,000-sf building was becoming too “predictable.” What was the cure for this predictability, you ask? Snakeskin-inspired cladding, obviously.

The scaly idea was planted in one of the designers’ minds while looking at a handbag in a Prada boutique. It was determined the graphic skin of the python would blur the project and add a level of chicness the area sorely needed. The handbag was scanned, digitized, and “mapped” onto the building form, causing the windows and overhanging balconies to disappear into the reptilian patterns.

The façade was created from diamond-shaped “scales,” each one identically reproduced in cut metal. The scales were then oxidized to create the three different colors and assembled to create the design of the skin. Because the cladding was so expensive, it was only applied to the façades that required some type of screen. The result is a mixed-use building that rises like a coiled python overlooking the City of Grenoble.

Malaysian design office No-To-Scale Studio has issued a satirical proposal to President Trump, suggesting a radical means of representing the US-Mexico border: a 1,954 mile-long dining table.

Citing "logistical, financial and nationality" limitations, the studio's design claims to be cost-effective in taking a domestic item and scaling it to massive proportions.

While the proposed slab of "continuous polished marble" may prove costly, diners will bring their own chairs in order to participate.
No-To-Scale imagines Donald Trump's US-Mexico wall as a 1,954-mile-long dinner table

No-To-Scale Studio champions the idea of a border relying on the coming together of people in order to function, rather than acting as an alienating structure.

I will not be running for president in 2020, but I hope Beto O’Rourke does. And this is why.

In 2016, my long-shot presidential candidacy found its flame extinguished between a rock and an angry place in my own party. America wasn’t in the mood for new leadership. We were in a mood of anger, rage and retribution. And in this mood, Donald Trump’s candidacy rose. It was good for ratings, and good for the Russians; but, bad for America. And, we got what we got.

But now, there is a different mood in our nation. People are looking for a new leader who can bring us together. They are looking for a unifier and a healer. They are looking for a leader of principle, and they are now looking for a fearless vision.

All of which brings me to Beto O’Rourke.

In his courageous run for U.S. Senate in Texas, O’Rourke ran a disciplined and principled campaign that also managed to be raw, authentic, and real. He spoke to the American values of honesty, compassion for one another, and courage in the face of a rapidly changing future. These are the American values alive and well in the hearts of our young people. These are the values which tell us where America is headed. And with these values, O’Rourke very nearly defeated the incumbent senator and Republican runner-up for president — in Texas.