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Tunnel House Art Installation

Inversion Tunnel House Art Installation (Images courtesy designverb)
By Andrew Liszewski

I know what you’re thinking, the neighbors must love this guy, but it’s not what you think. This isn’t one of those ‘tacky Christmas decorations all year round’ kind of house. In fact the building and an adjacent one have been used for exhibition space and art classes for over 30 years and they’re both scheduled to be torn down to make way for a new larger structure.

So as a final farewell to the buildings local Houston artists Dan Havel and Dean Ruck turned them into an art installation known as ‘Inversion.’ Using boards from the outside of the houses they created a large funnel-like vortex running between the two that ends in a small hole in an adjacent courtyard. It’s a cool effect particularly for those who always wanted to experience a black hole without the whole ‘being crushed to a quantum singularity’ end result.

Unfortunately if you were hoping to catch a glimpse of the Tunnel House in person you’re probably too late. The public opening for the installation was held on May 21 and the houses were set to be demolished in early June. But there’s nothing stopping you from doing this to your own home.

[ Inversion Tunnel House ] VIA [ Cribcandy ]

Written by Trend Spotter on June 25, 2007 | No Comments

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Schroers & Schroers Uranus & Cosmos Glass LCD Or Plasma Stands

Schroers & Schroers Uranus & Cosmos Glass LCD Stands (Images courtesy Visionary AV Solutions Ltd.)

Since LCD and plasma displays have become more common having one hanging on your wall is less likely to impress your friends when they come over. But I guarantee these all glass ‘floating’ stands are sure to impress anyone and everyone who stops by. While glass shelving and displays are nothing new the Uranus and Cosmos models made by Schroers & Schroers have no visible metal pieces and look like they’re ready to shatter at any moment under the weight of the display.

The Uranus model (on the left) is designed to hold an LCD or plasma display up to 38 inches in size or about 30 kilograms in weight. On the bottom is a rotary base that can actually be swiveled thanks to a series of hardened steel balls that roll along a milled groove. The Cosmos (on the right) is the larger of the two and can accommodate screens up to 60 inches in size and includes an integrated shelf for holding up to 4 AV components. While they look really cool in the product shots I can’t help but wonder if they’ll look as cool once you’ve got all the wiring hooked up between devices.

You can expect to pay just over $3,000 for the Uranus stand while the Cosmos is actually available in 2 sizes depending on the size of your screen and runs between $5,900 and $6,600. Personally I think I’ll stick with my IKEA stuff for the time being.

[ Schroers & Schroers Uranus & Cosmos Glass LCD Stands ] VIA [ Cribcandy ]

Written by Trend Spotter on June 24, 2007 | No Comments

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Whirlpool centralpark Connection – Not Just A Fridge Anymore

Whirlpool centralpark Connection (Image courtey Whirlpool)

From what I’ve seen having an LCD display built into a fridge hasn’t really caught on as a mainstream option just yet. I think they’re still waiting for their ‘killer app’ but in the meantime they’re just a solution looking for a problem. Whirlpool seems to be thinking the same way when they came up with their centralpark Connection idea. The new feature will be available on their side-by-side fridge models and will add a special plug to the top of the door that’s compatible with custom made removable plastic cradles.

The general idea is for the cradles to hold something like a DVD player or LCD picture frame allowing them to be ‘parked’ on the fridge as needed. But unlike a built-in display the devices can easily be removed and used elsewhere in the home as needed. At a recent trade show Whirlpool showed off cradles holding a portable Panasonic DVD player and a Philips LCD picture frame and apparently more electronics manufacturers have expressed interest in the concept. Ideally the centralpark feature will use a single standardized cradle and third-party manufacturers will produce devices specifically designed to fit the cradle and be used on a fridge.

Whirlpool hopes to have the centralpark Connection feature available on some of their fridge models sometime in 2008 with a starting price of about $899.

[ Whirlpool centralpark Connection ]

Written by Trend Spotter on June 24, 2007 | No Comments

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Weekend DIY Project – Digital Newsstand

DIY Digital Newsstand (Images courtesy Design on deadline)
By Andrew Liszewski

Using an old newspaper vending rack, a 17″ LG Flatron LCD monitor, a Mac mini and a bit of free time assistant newspaper editor Scott Walker created this brilliant digital newsstand. Now instead of having to walk to the driveway to fetch the newspaper the day’s headlines are automatically downloaded and displayed in his living room every morning.

Thanks to a few native Apple applications and a couple of cheap third-party ones the digital newsstand can not only deliver the day’s news (or I guess yesterday’s news) but can also be used to play photo slideshows, music and videos.

With a little AppleScript work, I trained my Mac to get the papers. The Mac Mini connects to the Internet and to my iTunes library through my home wireless network. Each morning the computer launches a script triggered by an iCal alarm. While cueing up a music playlist, the script automatically gathers images, crops them in half with GraphicConverter and launches a slideshow with PhotoPresenter, a nifty little $8 shareware program with lots of snazzy transitions. The remote can pause or cycle through the pages.

If you’re interested there’s also a video after the jump showing the digital newsstand in action as well as giving you a brief look inside the box.

[ The Digital Newsstand ] VIA [ MAKE: Blog ]

Written by Trend Spotter on June 23, 2007 | No Comments

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Classic Holden Monaro GTS Turned into a Barbeque Grill

holden-monaro-grill_12
If you don?t have a thing for collector cars and are clueless about what to do with the one gathering dust in your garage then how about turning it into a piece of automotive art like this crazy auto-enthusiast, who turned his Classic Holden into an outdoor grill! The guy turned the front section of a classic Holden Monaro GTS for grilling burgers and steaks.

holden-monaro-grill_1_12
Nothing about the grill though except for its nice broad grill deck. But, the whole idea is fascinating just like the other auto themed furniture we have told you about in the past.

Written by Trend Spotter on June 23, 2007 | No Comments

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Pool Treadmill swim current generator keeps you in place

pool-treadmill_48

Swimming is a great exercise and we all know very well its aerobic benefits but most of us can?t afford Olympic-sized swimming pools for the beneficial lap-swimming. Earlier, we introduced you to the ExerSwim Current generator and now, we have a Pool Treadmill that transforms your swimming pool into a twirling exercise machine. All you need to do is to hook trailer and electric motor to the end of your pool and enjoy a swim against a downstream current of up to 6 mph. The powerful 24-volt DC motor of the portable swim current generator produces 80 ft. lbs. of thrust offering you an extended swimming exercise for up to 30 minutes in a residential pool. As it uses rechargeable batteries, you can even take it with your to your neighbor?s BBQ to share the experience. The Pool Treadmill costs a whopping $4000 but that will compensate for the fact that you never have to turn around at the edge of your pool again.

via RedFerret

Written by Trend Spotter on June 22, 2007 | No Comments

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