You can actually see and experience how our homes will be furnished and lived in at the
WIRED NextFest 2008. It's being held at Millennium Park in Chicago, from September 27th to October 12th. It's free to the public, and features groundbreaking exhibits of sustainable design, next generation healthcare, interactive art and games, humanoid robotics and more. Here are a few exhibits that look intriguing to me...
The HOVERIT Lounger - could you picture one of these in your living room? Think Philippe Starck's Louis Ghost Chair but...levitating. Perhaps the creators can describe it better...
"British Company, Hoverit Ltd, introduce ‘The Lounger’, which is the first of their revolutionary magnetic ‘hover’ furniture range. British design, precision engineered and British built by hand. Defying gravity with the use of repelling magnetic forces in both the bed and base this contemporary lounger is comfortable, practical and stylish. Permanent magnets may also help back, muscular problems and headaches, so our furniture not only looks good - it may make you feel good too. The sensation that you feel as you lay back and close your eyes is totally different, like floating on a cloud.
Even more exciting, they are now offering them in fun new colors, and you can chose what shape the "holes" are in the seat (i.e. hearts, droplets, or slots). They also plan on adding more options soon, such as cushions, decals, and up lighting.
Check out the
HOVERIT site for more info.
I would hang this art on my walls now! And you
can because these stunning works of art can be purchased at
Jot, the website of the artist, Erik Natzke. Go to his
site to see more awesome work.
"...Erik Natzke has set out to transform Flash, the media and interaction tool for creating Web site banner ads and intro pages, into a medium for fine art. Working on drawing engines, generative algorithms, and color studies — all in Flash — Natzke has fine-tuned his software in order to produce epic, 9-foot-wide prints of digital creations and swirling videos that take us through the creation process. Lines come in, dart through, and pierce the video window before settling into algorithmically predetermined resting spots." - Wired
Lighting gets chic
and eco-friendly in the future with the creations of
Saazs.
"Why bother replacing incandescent light bulbs every few months when you can brighten your home for 20 years (or 500,000 hours) with Planilum's luminescent glass plates? Each panel, which can be incorporated into a shelf or table or can stand alone, is less than an inch thick, composed of four layers of glass, nontoxic gas, and phosphorescent compounds. Planilum emits a soft glow and can be touched without risk of burning. Also, unlike incandescent bulbs, it is energy efficient and 90 percent recyclable." - Wired
Pictures of the famous castle here, Alcazar, taken by Chris. If it looks familiar it's because people speculate it served as inspiration for Walt Disney world!
The doorway to the master bedroom!
Detail of some castle furniture
The gorgeous castle chapel ceiling.
This chair was beautiful - a simple structure, but the detail was ornate.
At one point the castle was an artillery school - these were some jars on display, I believe they hold materials of some sort.
Some of the original wall in the castle.
The famous aqueduct - it's been immaculately restored - and absolutely no mortar was used in it's construction.
A cultural festival took place this weekend.
I just thought these were cute.
