Remember those 1950s serials that predicted what the future would look like? Looking back at them now is pretty amusing, because essentially they just took 1950s-style home decor and outfitted it with stuff like televisions or other gadgets that made it seem futuristic. We laugh now, but are we really that different? As technology gets more compact we’re seeing a new trend in furniture design, one that harkens back to futuristic visions of the last century. Some call it “Intelligent Furniture.”
The most dramatic examples are the MECO, a complete home automation and entertainment hub that masquerades as a coffee table, and a couch from a design house in Germany, which has pop-up control panels to browse your music and movie collection.
Both are expensive, but are part of a larger movement in the design community to return design to electronics in a way that’s practical, not just pretty. Much of this movement seems to be coming out of Europe, which should be no surprise since those living across the pond generally have less square footage to devote to electronic gear. There, it just makes sense to see stuff combined, just as Spectral has with its Catena virtual surround-sound speaker and credenza in one.
Seems that iPod has a lot to do with it, too. Designers have taken the iPod docking principal and built it into furniture — in some cases just for fun, as with this iBoard mail table, and in some cases for more a productive end, as with a desk that aims to clean up the literal desktop and integrate an iPod or iPhone. Some companies are even taking it even farther and integrating an entire PC into a desk.
As furniture designers take more of an interest in how electronics weave into our lives, expect to see more of this stuff come to market.
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