13 April 2010

When people live in glass houses, where do they buy furniture?

The great Alice Liao from K+BB Collective found this yesterday and I couldn't pass it by.


Carlo Santambrogio and Ennio Arosio are visionary architects and designers base in Milan. Their vision is remarkably transparent.

Together they run an architecture and design firm called Santambrogio|Milano. Alice's article yesterday dealt with their architectural concepts and they are thought provoking to say the least. What I can't get past is their furniture and fittings. Santambrogio|Milano is committed to exploring a fully transparent world.

A true glass cook top

A deconstructed and redefined kitchen sink.

A stair.

Double vanities.

A sofa.

A bath tub

A lamp and a chair.

Of course it's impractical, but I think there's something to be gained from what they're proposing. Where do you go when there's nowhere to hide? Is it possible to furnish a room and set a tone with the room's surroundings? I believe firmly that things like genuine warmth comes from the lives of the people who inhabit a room, and an all-glass room really puts that belief of mine to the test.

Could you like in a glass house? Live with a glass room? Cook in a glass kitchen? Sleep on a glass bed? Does ordinary furniture enhance or does it hide? Hmmmm.

Check out Alice's post to see what they do with architecture.

7 comments:

  1. Interesting concept and, as you said, very impractical (where would we hide all that stuff?). I like this "nothing-to-hide" approach, might even use it somewhere - I see it in a small powder room (always a favorite to experiment in).

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  2. Um, only if I don't wear skirts.

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  3. I love the idea of the cleanliness and simplicity of the glass kitchen.

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  4. Bozena: Thanks for the comment. The sheer impracticality of this is what makes it so interesting. I love asking these kinds of questions but I don't know how willing I'd be to live with the results.

    Raina: That could make things interesting for sure.

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  5. T&M: I have a recurring fantasy in my more minimalist moments. I say all the time that I would like to see a blank room filled with projections of furnishings. It's more suitable for an art installation than for a home, but I'm intrigued by the idea. The glass houses on Santambrogio's website are almost a realization of that projection idea of mine. It's interesting to think along these lines.

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  6. I'm with Raina. My first though was what if I wear a skirt? Or need to go somewhere to scratch me unmentionables?

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  7. Just imagine the levels of intimacy possible when there's no where to hide. Maybe it's a function of my living alone, but those things never occurred to me. I think in terms of clear thoughts and unobstructed views. Interesting.

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