Saturday, January 19, 2008

The Floating Bed: $1.5M Dream

Janjaap Ruijssenaars' Floating Bed

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke, "Profiles of The Future", 1961 (Clarke's third law)


The creator of this beautiful piece of art which is also a bed, Dutch architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars, writes that the goal in mind was to overcome the architect and designer's "struggle with gravity."

According to Ruijssenaar, the force of gravity is the "psychological" starting point from which architects and designers must struggle with, or overcome.

Ruijssenaar created a usable "artifact of respectable size" which used a different "starting point" or "force" than gravity. He created the Floating Bed.

"In contrast to the conventional built environment which falls toward the earth, Floating Bed falls toward the sky."

Inspired by A. C. Clarke's, 2001: A Space Odyssey and its monolith, Ruijssenaar writes:

"The rectangle is a metaphor for intelligent life."

The bed is held up by a permanent magnetic force with elements in the floor and ceiling at a height of almost 16 inches. It can hold up to 400 pounds. According to Time the price of the "artifact" bed is $1.5 million.

A C Clarke Quote - Quotations Page
Source - Universe Architecture


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