Ideas from the Ace

Here's some inspiration from the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, via the LA Times.

I love the canvas covered walls here -- a definite safari vibe. They also use them for draping the modern sliding glass doors onto private patios.

The greatest towel hooks ever. I may do this in my new upstairs bath.

I'm predicting the foundry cart coffee table will become the first cliche of all this industrial nostalgic design -- is it just me or would it really hurt to knock your shin on one of these?

All the Ace Hotels are wonderful -- I'm surprised I haven't featured any of them yet. I will rectify that in the future, however.

Eating on Atoms

It turns out scientific themed housewares is not a new idea. I found these based on X-ray cccrystallography from the 1950s on An Aesthete's Lament. Clockwise from top left they are Peter Wall's Beryl 8.9 plates for Wedgwood, Hazel Thrumpston and Peter Cave's Aluminum Hydroxide plate for E Brain and Co, and Thrumpston's Festival plate for RH and SL Plant.

In 2008 the Wellcome Collection featured an exhibit called From Atoms to Patterns, and included the following history in it's press release:

The 1951 Festival of Britain provided an extraordinary platform for British ingenuity and creativity in science and the arts. One of the boldest initiatives within the Festival was the Festival Pattern Group, which brought together adventurous manufacturers and forward-looking crystallographers (scientists who analyse atomic structures by taking X-ray photographs of crystalline materials) to create a collection of quirky and influential furnishing designs.

Inspired by the intricate patterns of crystal structures, leading Cambridge crystallographer Dr Helen Megaw came up with the novel idea of using them for textiles. As scientific consultant to the Festival Pattern Group, she collated crystal structure diagrams from eminent colleagues and ensured that they were interpreted in an accurate and authentic way. Spearheaded by the Council of Industrial Design, the Festival Pattern Group enlisted the manufacturers, vetted the designs and organised special displays at the Festival of Britain - notably in the Regatta Restaurant on the South Bank, which was decorated with crystal structure-patterned furnishings, and the Exhibition of Science at South Kensington.

The 2008 exhibit of these works included:

- Rayon dress fabrics and nitrocellulose-coated ‘leathercloth’ printed with the molecular structure of haemoglobin

- Tie silks woven with ball-and-spoke atomic structures of chalk and china clay

- Plastic laminates and wallpapers adorned with intricate insulin motifs

- Lace embroidered with the crystal structures of beryl (emerald) and aluminium hydroxide (hydrargillite)

- Carpets emblazoned with patterns derived from the chemical compound resorcinol

- Relief-patterned window glass evoking the atomic structure of the mineral apophyllite

- Fluid abstract-patterned curtains based on diagrams of afwillite, a hydrated calcium silicate formed during the setting of cement

Two good reviews (with more pictures) of the exhibit are at frieze and the Nature Network. The book about the exhibit is out of print, but you may be able to find a copy if you search around: From Atoms to Patterns: Crystal Structure Designs from the 1951 Festival of Britain

The Christmas List

Welcome to the Steampunk Home Christmas List, Edition 2009. There's a section of my personal selections, one chock full of Etsy finds, some things for the steampunklets in your life, and some Christmas things.

I tried to keep it relatively economical, so very few things here will be more than $100.

If your recommendation didn't make this list, I tried to add it to the Kaboodle list or bookmark the larger sites for a future post of their own.

My Favorites
This section is my personal gift list -- the things I really want for Christmas!

I can't afford an Eric Freitas clock, but this print of his Mechanical Clock Number 6 fascinates me. $20.











Think Geek's Molecular Gastronomy Kit. Not very Victorian, but these edible chemical experiments in the kitchen would be a lot of fun. $59.99










Dark Nostalgia I cannot wait to read this design book. $29.70 at Amazon.












Zeppelin Tin Toy, $10.98. My zeppelin obsessed steampunklet is *so* getting this. Tin Toy Arcade actually has 4 different zeppelin designs.










The Private House is the prettiest home book I've read all year -- full of antiques, natural materials, and simple yet elegant rooms. Nothing explicitly steampunk here, but if you like my taste you will probably like this book too. $37.50.






Etsy Finds

Behold the Machine Giclee Print by ettadiem, $110.










Bird Skull Drawer Pulls (he has bat skull pulls, too!). $16.












These Anatomical Soaps by the Steam Bath Factory would make a great hostess gift, assuming your hostess has a taste for the odd. $15










Reading Lamp by WardenClyffe Wares, $60.











Winona Cookie has a large selection on Etsy -- but I also like getting twelve different works with this calendar compedium of her collages she's made available on Zazzle, $24.50.









Steam Pipes Audio Speakers by Ikyaudio Studio. $275.







Red Pumpkin Studio's Journal/Sketchbook, $30










This small magnet by Libby Bulloff would make a great stocking stuffer. $4.







For the Steampunklets

World of Inventors: Alexander Graham Bell. Build your own intercom system! $21.95












World of Inventors: Thomas Edison. (sorry, no Tesla!) Build your own Kinetoscope model. $21.95











Just for Christmas

Holiday Cards by Mercantile Home, $6 for 5.













Clockwork Robin Christmas Print by by Hazel Fisher, $9.50.












Mad Hatter Copper Ornament, by Jewel Street. $32.












The cutest Cthulhu Santa, by Pirates Alibi. $25.













Disclaimer: Since someone seems to be worried that bloggers are making too much money flogging products (Ha! I don't think I've ever broken three figures), I need to let you know that no one is paying me for recommending any of these things, but that the Amazon links do provide a small referral fee.

Porthole Tub

Leslie Clagett sent me this lovely:

Real holes!

From The Water Monopoly.

Apotheke

Laurie commented that Dark Nostalgia featured a bar in New York called Apotheke -- she wants to move in. I don't blame her.


It's designed to look like a 19th century Austrian royal apothecary. Designer Christopher Tierney took inspiration from researching old European apothecaries, absinthe dens, and the Biedermeier design era.


The space is anchored by a 30-foot performance bar made from imported carrera marble. The hand-carved back bar is filled with hundreds of antique medicine bottles that were collected from around the world.


I love the wood floors, with tile inset corners.

I can't tell what the ceiling is made of, can you?


Tierney also fabricated wall sconces and a chandelier from chemistry glassware...

Chemistry graffitti -- how clever!

Wallpaper from vintage apothecary adverts.

Call for Finds -- SPH Christmas List

I'd like to put together a gift list of Steampunk Home style items for you to send your loved ones with a "hint, hint." If you have your eye on anything in particular (or are the purveyor of such), please add it in the comments to this post and I'll take it all into consideration.

I'll only things that can fall into the "home" category -- books, home decor, cooking, furniture, etc. I'll also include some ideas for steampunklets. No jewelry or clothing, please.

Thanks!

Image from Cyborg Necromancer on DeviantArt.

Dark Nostalgia

Dark Nostalgia is a design book featuring 26 of the darkest, most old fashioned homes, restaurants, and hotels.

From the Introduction:

The projects that follow show that we have become nostalgic for a time that never existed. They demonstrate, through this re-creation of history's

deep colors, polished woods, velvets, furs, leather, and burnished metals, that we would rather live by creating our present through an

imagination of our past. We love these dark materials for their ability to evoke emotions and moods, for their warmth and acceptance of the

somber sides of life. We are re-creating our own history and embracing the darkness that comes with it.

More pictures here, here, and here. And an interview with the author.