Live Off the Grid in a Mountain Cabin Made of Glass

Annalee Newitz — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:00:00 PST

Looking like a cross between a UFO and a giant glass bead, this mountain cabin is perfect for entertaining both human and alien guests. Moritz Craffonara, who lives in the Italian Alps, wanted a hideaway where he could see the stars. So he hired experimental designer Ross Lovegrove, whose design for the "alpine capsule" will give him a 360 degree view through the glass walls.

Says green design blog Inhabitat:

The Alpine Capsule is an 8-meter wide structure with a double-glass skin that is covered with a special reflective coating. The coating meant to reflect the structure’s surroundings and blend in with the environment.

The capsule runs off the grid, drawing all its energy from solar and wind. Mostly though, the point of the capsule is to sleep naked on a weird bulgy thing - as you can see in the interior design mockup below. Craffonara will begin construction on the cabin in the Alps in 2010.

Solar Powered Alpine Capsule [via Inhabitat]

Gooey Metal Terminator Chandelier

Annalee Newitz — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 13:00:00 PDT

This chandelier, made of molded thermoplastic "pebbles" with a polished chrome finish, can make any room look like it has fragments of a T-1000 liquid Terminator dangling from the ceiling. Created by Ross Lovegrove this year for Artemide, this lamp is called "Mercury." When it lights up, the pebbles reflect light in a chaos of distorted color. We've got it lit up for you below.

At over $3,000 US this lamp may be a bit pricey, but if you like the extraterrestrial weirdness of it you can check out some (less expensive) lamps from Artemide on their website. They specialize in halogen and fluorescent, and many of their models look like a cross between space-age art and something you might see in a machinist's shop.

Artemide [official site]

io9: ross lovegrove

Live Off the Grid in a Mountain Cabin Made of Glass

Gooey Metal Terminator Chandelier