Michael Harboun is all about the future and technology. He won so many prizes that I stopped counting after a while and I have to admit I have a bit of technology phobia. I am all about trying to get back to my roots, finding a way to bring back nature to my urban life in my small apartment, so we could have a bit of a contradiction here
However, I fell in love with two of his project: one is Warmpath, about the marriage of the stove and the table, two objects that attract gathering of people, in order to create a new form of gathering
There is no way it would work in a warm country like Israel but is so beautiful that I'm willing to take the heat. Notice how the table looks like it is growing out of the wall, which brings me to the second project that I loved, his futuristic kitchen called LIVING KITCHEN
When I think about the future I imagine that our houses would look like a huge smart phone and it depresses me, but in this technology, that I really hope would come to life someday, it feels like natural materials grow from the walls
He explains it better
Now let’s imagine a world where physical matter would gain digital abilities – meaning one could change the shape of any object as one would change the contents of a Smartphone. This would revolutionize our relationship with objects. An object would no longer induce a function by the way it looks. The user himself would define the functions of an object, the user becomes creator.
Such a technology is currently being researched by Intel and the Carnegie Mellon University under the name of Claytronics. It is in fact a matter made out of a multitude of small intelligent robots, able to stick and communicate to each other. This would create a shape-shifting, programmable matter, able to transform into whatever shape desired.
The whole story is here if you want to learn more, I promise you – you will once you see the video
http://michaelharboun.com/livingkitchen.html
Obviously this is another man who has no commitment issues, he marries the stove and the desk, the car and the eye glasses with augmented reality and product design with interaction design into conscious design
His web site is really interesting as it shows a whole range of his talents, not just design but also graphics, photography, beautiful drawings and much more! Don't miss it
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