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How can you use solar energy to power one of Scotland's greatest cities and make an old river look futuristic? Scottish architecture firm ZM Architecture designed giant lily pads for the River Clyde that collect solar energy and energize the city's grid. Want to see a cool aerial view?
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Solar Lily Pads Leave Robot Paw Prints on Glasgow River
How can you use solar energy to power one of Scotland's greatest cities and make an old river look futuristic? Scottish architecture firm ZM Architecture designed giant lily pads for the River Clyde that collect solar energy and energize the city's grid. Want to see a cool aerial view?
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nukes
What do you do when you have a barn-sized pile of nuclear waste materials that you have to store for 100 years while it loses its toxicity? In the Netherlands, the answer was to stick it inside a giant art project: specifically, this orange building called the Habog Facility, covered in physics formulas by Einstein and Planck. Every twenty years, the building will be repainted in a lighter color to symbolize the slowly decaying radiation in the waste.
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A Gorgeous Monument to Radioactive Decay
What do you do when you have a barn-sized pile of nuclear waste materials that you have to store for 100 years while it loses its toxicity? In the Netherlands, the answer was to stick it inside a giant art project: specifically, this orange building called the Habog Facility, covered in physics formulas by Einstein and Planck. Every twenty years, the building will be repainted in a lighter color to symbolize the slowly decaying radiation in the waste.
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design
When the Z-Wars get ugly, you'll want a bird feeder made of real human ashes to keep those zombie birds distracted. Luckily, one of U.K. designer Nadine Jarvis' recent projects is this teardrop-shaped bird feeder made of real bird feed and human ashes. It's part of a larger project she's doing on the post-mortem world.
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Feeder for Zombie Birds Who Want to Eat Humans
When the Z-Wars get ugly, you'll want a bird feeder made of real human ashes to keep those zombie birds distracted. Luckily, one of U.K. designer Nadine Jarvis' recent projects is this teardrop-shaped bird feeder made of real bird feed and human ashes. It's part of a larger project she's doing on the post-mortem world.
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design
Designer Jaime Hayon showed us a glimpse of his scifi fantasies in Milan last month when he had an exhibit called the Fantasy Collection. Hayon is best known for having recently designed really cool kicks for Camper and for his book, Jaime Hayon Works. But these ceramic man-vases, colorful Buddha statues, and robot clowns really give us a glimpse into the Spaniard's true psyche. It appears that he really wishes humans would eschew formalities like wearing shoes (or bodies) and just stuff clones into giant checkered vases. [Hayon Studio main page via Dezeen ]
Jaime Hayon's Clone-Stuffed Vase Fantasy
Designer Jaime Hayon showed us a glimpse of his scifi fantasies in Milan last month when he had an exhibit called the Fantasy Collection. Hayon is best known for having recently designed really cool kicks for Camper and for his book, Jaime Hayon Works. But these ceramic man-vases, colorful Buddha statues, and robot clowns really give us a glimpse into the Spaniard's true psyche. It appears that he really wishes humans would eschew formalities like wearing shoes (or bodies) and just stuff clones into giant checkered vases. [Hayon Studio main page via Dezeen ]
babylon 5
Here's an amazing image from the pre-history of 1990s political space opera Babylon 5, when the set for the space station's main corridor had first been built and the techs were testing out stage lighting in it. This just got posted by Mojo, a visual effects artist who works on Battlestar Galactica and used to work on B5. He says he has a lot more where these came from and will be posting them on his new blog.
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The Earliest Days of Babylon 5 in Pictures
Here's an amazing image from the pre-history of 1990s political space opera Babylon 5, when the set for the space station's main corridor had first been built and the techs were testing out stage lighting in it. This just got posted by Mojo, a visual effects artist who works on Battlestar Galactica and used to work on B5. He says he has a lot more where these came from and will be posting them on his new blog.
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design
From the same guys that created the SlaveCity dystopia comes a cool alternative to the warmly lit, lavender-scented spa of the present—a giant skull with separate compartments for all your relaxation needs. The Wellness Skull houses a bath in its neck, a sauna in the head, and hot steam spouts at the eye sockets. There's no pretentious receptionist or wind-chime music to help you chill out—stepping into the skull will instantly take away the worries of contemporary society and fill you with thoughts of life, death, and the emptiness of our physical selves. It's like an instant dose of existential meditation. Atelier van Lieshout main page
Wellness Skull Is a Sauna of Death
From the same guys that created the SlaveCity dystopia comes a cool alternative to the warmly lit, lavender-scented spa of the present—a giant skull with separate compartments for all your relaxation needs. The Wellness Skull houses a bath in its neck, a sauna in the head, and hot steam spouts at the eye sockets. There's no pretentious receptionist or wind-chime music to help you chill out—stepping into the skull will instantly take away the worries of contemporary society and fill you with thoughts of life, death, and the emptiness of our physical selves. It's like an instant dose of existential meditation. Atelier van Lieshout main page
design
Who said the future of travel had to require brand new vehicles? Foreseeing a coming trend in land travel, designer Kevin Fitzsimons restored a 1978 Sovereign 31' Airstream Land Yacht and turned it into a super-fancy high-tech mobile home for the luxe traveler. The Mobitat, or MObi for short, has built-in furniture with white leather and walnut finishes, stainless steel appliances, flat panel hi-def TVs, fancy plumbing, and eco-friendliness written all over it.
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Refurbished 70s Mobile Home for the Road Trip of the Future
Who said the future of travel had to require brand new vehicles? Foreseeing a coming trend in land travel, designer Kevin Fitzsimons restored a 1978 Sovereign 31' Airstream Land Yacht and turned it into a super-fancy high-tech mobile home for the luxe traveler. The Mobitat, or MObi for short, has built-in furniture with white leather and walnut finishes, stainless steel appliances, flat panel hi-def TVs, fancy plumbing, and eco-friendliness written all over it.
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design
Spanish designer Nacho Carbonell believes that chairs can mutate—and will, when given the opportunity. Evolution, his new collection, shows how a public park bench can become into a private pod chamber for people to crawl into when they're feeling antisocial. There's also a pod-like makeout chamber for lovers.
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Nacho Carbonell's Mutant Furniture
Spanish designer Nacho Carbonell believes that chairs can mutate—and will, when given the opportunity. Evolution, his new collection, shows how a public park bench can become into a private pod chamber for people to crawl into when they're feeling antisocial. There's also a pod-like makeout chamber for lovers.
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design
This alien invader is so eager to get hold of your beer supply, he's disguising himself as a mini-fridge. Okay, so it's not the most cunning disguise ever, but he's counting on the fact that alien-looking fridges and other housewares are all trendy nowadays. At least, British furniture brand Established & Sons thinks so — it's collaborating with Dutch designer Maarten Baas to create The Chankley Bore, a new line of alien-schwag for your home.
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Aliens Want Your Beer
This alien invader is so eager to get hold of your beer supply, he's disguising himself as a mini-fridge. Okay, so it's not the most cunning disguise ever, but he's counting on the fact that alien-looking fridges and other housewares are all trendy nowadays. At least, British furniture brand Established & Sons thinks so — it's collaborating with Dutch designer Maarten Baas to create The Chankley Bore, a new line of alien-schwag for your home.
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design
The airplane of the future may be open-air, so you can actually feel the jetstream on your face. Think prom limo, with champagne and a sun roof, except it flies. The next-generation aircraft, from designers Andree Putman and Jaime Hayon, is a white gold mosaic hangar plane with a glass cabin, leather wings, and colored missiles with hearts on them, called Jet Set.
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Blinged Out Future Airplane Only Needs A Hot Tub
The airplane of the future may be open-air, so you can actually feel the jetstream on your face. Think prom limo, with champagne and a sun roof, except it flies. The next-generation aircraft, from designers Andree Putman and Jaime Hayon, is a white gold mosaic hangar plane with a glass cabin, leather wings, and colored missiles with hearts on them, called Jet Set.
More »
design
Collect Rainwater in Eco-Apocalypse Style
The wells are running dry, and it's time to start collecting rainwater in your backyard. Designer David L'Hote lets you weather the climate change apocalypse in style with Rainpod, his new contraption for collecting rainwater. The Rainpod's body is deliberately set high so it can use gravity to deliver the goods; the legs it stands on are made by local tree trunks to save transport costs. Images by David L'Hote [Daivd L'Hote main page via MoCo Loco ]
mad temporality
Most scheduling books and calendaring software apps are way too linear — they list each task in the day one after the other, leaving little room for improvisation in your future plans. How do you plan your schedules if you want to live on cyclical time? Singaporean company Orcadesign has the answer: it's Chronotebook, a winner of the quirky Muji Award for design.
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Chronotebook Wins Design Award for Promoting Nonlinear Time
Most scheduling books and calendaring software apps are way too linear — they list each task in the day one after the other, leaving little room for improvisation in your future plans. How do you plan your schedules if you want to live on cyclical time? Singaporean company Orcadesign has the answer: it's Chronotebook, a winner of the quirky Muji Award for design.
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design
Office in an Ice Vault
You've already seen the Japanese office with bizarre U-shaped partitions and a portable desk for global nomads. Experimental office space is all the rage. That's why Gyro, a brand advertising firm based in Philly, filled their bare-bones concrete offices with these giant translucent pivoting screens that look like ice vaults. Left open, they create one giant room; closed, they partition off meeting areas and hallways. I hear they're great for storing zombies, too. [Duggan Morris Architects ]
concept art
NASA churned out a lot of concept art in the 1970s while the agency was exploring ways to build colonies in space. NASA concept artists created trippy pieces like the Cynlidrical Colony above, and Torodial and Bernal Sphere colonies as well. We'd like to imagine that you could low-grav the whole thing, and just leap from one side of the colony to the other. Of course, it's not quite clear what would happen if you ran into one of those giant window sections. Hopefully they're made out of some synthetic diamond material to keep accidents from happening.
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Build Your Home In TunnelSpace!
NASA churned out a lot of concept art in the 1970s while the agency was exploring ways to build colonies in space. NASA concept artists created trippy pieces like the Cynlidrical Colony above, and Torodial and Bernal Sphere colonies as well. We'd like to imagine that you could low-grav the whole thing, and just leap from one side of the colony to the other. Of course, it's not quite clear what would happen if you ran into one of those giant window sections. Hopefully they're made out of some synthetic diamond material to keep accidents from happening.
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furniture
Portable, Transformable Desk for Global Office Nomads
Previously, I showed you an intensely overdone futuristic office space from Japan that made privacy almost nonexistent. Now, we have an uber-minimalist office idea from Dutch interior designer Jack Brandsma. He created SpareSpace, a portable desk that folds into a table or refolds into a bar, complete with sink. It's perfect for rootless tech workers whose jobs take them to offices all over the world. Now, they can bring their desks (and bars) along with their Mac Airs.More »
design
Office Of The Future Will Have Even Less Privacy
Japanese design team Nendo created this crazy-looking office space in Tokyo by putting giant U-shaped cut-out partitions all throughout the room. It kinda looks like a giant unknown entity was draping a sheet between his hands — and it totally re-imagines the traditional office space structures of cubicles and conference rooms. You have to step over the lowest point in the drape to get from one section of the office to another. Spaces that need some privacy — like conference rooms — were partitioned by soundproof plastic curtains. These kind of remind me of Ernesto Neto's bouncy white humanoid blobs. Images by Daici Ano [Nendo main page via Dezeen]
retro futurism
"Plastics" may have been a famous punchline in The Graduate (1967), but plastic was serious stuff to French architect/artist/theorist Jean Maneval. In 1964, he designed a Bubble House ("Bulle a Six Coques") constructed of six interlocking reinforced polyester shells that could be easily transported to and set up at the chosen home site.
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A Plastic "Bubble House" from 1968
"Plastics" may have been a famous punchline in The Graduate (1967), but plastic was serious stuff to French architect/artist/theorist Jean Maneval. In 1964, he designed a Bubble House ("Bulle a Six Coques") constructed of six interlocking reinforced polyester shells that could be easily transported to and set up at the chosen home site.
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