io9: Furniture

Aliens Want Your Beer

LISA KATAYAMA — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:00:00 PDT

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.

Baas is known for making neat pieces of furniture by repurposing different materials like clay, waste from giant furniture plants, and IKEA stools. The only drawback of these alien creatures is that you can't always tell, at a glance, what function they're supposed to serve. Until it's too late, that is. Images by Mike Goldwater

Maarten Baas main page via Dezeen

Portable, Transformable Desk for Global Office Nomads

LISA KATAYAMA — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:20:00 PDT

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.

Here you can see all the configurations: bar, table, and desk.

Personally, I think SpareSpace is more likely to represent the future of office space than the Japanese desk. Why? Because the economies of future nations will be so intertwined that it will be impossible for a corporate worker to remain situated in one static place all the time. Better to have a workspace that can come with you on your journeys. Especially once we invent teleportation. Images by Sabina Theijs

Jack Brandsma main page via Dezeen

Cosmic Rays from Slinky Toys

LISA KATAYAMA — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:20:22 PDT

Remember those glow-in-the-dark stickers you used to put on your ceiling to make you room look like outer space? Well, here's a much better way to do it. Designer Georgiosi of Objects With Light (OWL) creates these cosmic light fixtures using common household objects like screws, marbles, bolts, saw blades, and Slinky toys. The one shown here is called Screwed Light. Want to see another?

This one is called Sun Light. Georgiosi says he looked for everyday trinkets that would optimize light transmission, then put them together to make these cool lamps. Images by Georgiosi

OWL main page via

Luxury Chairs for Tomorrow's Enfeebled Elites

Annalee Newitz — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 11:30:47 PST

Now you need no further proof that health care has become a luxury commodity. Herman Miller, makers of those Aeron chairs whose high price tags and cybernator look made them symbols of dot-com office opulence, has just purchased Brandrud Furniture, maker of specialized furniture for hospital patients. This is a major purchase for famed design firm Herman Miller, and its reps claim they're doing it to corner the lucrative health care market. Here you can see Brandrud's Cente patient chair (left), which is pretty much the geriatric version of the Aeron (right). Web 2.0 entrepreneurs, this is your future. And since only the rich will be able to afford decent health care in twenty years, the rest of us get bean bags. They're so fun and colorful, just like at Google! Brandrud's Cente Patient Chair [Design Corner]