The Serif TV by the Bouroullec Brothers for Samsung

I previously wrote about Yve Behar's marvelous The Frame television, and now Samsung has introduced another television that is just as interesting.

While Behar's approach was to make the television disappear (an approach I utilize in my own designs), the award-winning Paris-based Bouroullec Brothers who designed the Serif TV envisioned it to be an object that fits into everyday life—a hybrid of furniture design and technology. It is an appealing prospect to incorporate the technology into an object that will join furniture and furnishings seamlessly.

A distinct stand design, featuring attachable legs that easily screw into the bottom four corners, works in unison with the Serif TV's design and evokes a Mid-Century aestehetic. The custom legs, included with the TV, allow it to sit comfortably and blend more naturally into the home.

The user interface includes a transition between standby and normal viewing options called "curtain mode". This feature allows users to apply a filter over the content, creating a "curtain" effect in which viewers can access services such as a clock, Bluetooth speakers, apps and their photo gallery.

A woven fabric cover magnetically attaches to the back panel of the television to conceal component connections, ensuring it looks great from all angles.

I love the idea of taking this piece of technology that has become shunned and despised from a design perspective and returning it to the days when televisions were housed in casework. The Seif TV feels modern but also a bit retro!

And best of all, the television is fairly affordable at $1,499. It is available at Samsung On-Line.

Happy designing!

CoeLux Brings A Sunny Sky Anywhere

Since the atmosphere of our little planet is made up of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases, the sunlight that passes through the atmosphere has a very specific and identifiable quality and color...and creates our familiar and comforting blue sky. And now, physicist Professor Paolo Di Trapani of Insubria University at Como, Italy has created a revolutionary technological discovery that brings sunlight and blue skies to any space, no matter where it is. Even underground. After a decade of research and development, Professor Di Trapani uses an LED light source filtered through several layers of nanoparticles (which function as the layers of nitrogen, oxygen, and miscellaneous gases in our atmosphere) to mimic exactly the sun as an orb of light in a blue sky. The results are simply jaw dropping--look at the photos below that CoeLux assures us are not Photoshopped. They are raw photos of the actual product.

In November 2014, CoeLux was crowned “Light Source Innovation of the year” at the Lux Awards, and rightly so. The implications for this invention are staggering and will change interior architecture forever. Subterranean homes and businesses, parts of the world that don't see much sunlight for reasons of latitude or pollution, or areas of buildings where a roof line or second story will not permit a skylight will all benefit tremendously from this marvel.

CoeLux is currently offered in three levels, each with a regional, or geographical cast. CoeLux 60 creates sunlight at a 60 degree angle to create near-equatorial tropical light. For light with a Mediterranean feel, CoeLux 45 delivers a 45 degree beam. And CoeLux 30 features a 30 degree angled beam of light reminiscent of Nordic light. But the company is at work producing a commercially feasible version for regular applications.

Watch this short video about the product. It is just mind boggling...keep in mind that you are not seeing sun and sky but an artificial light source that seems to be anything but.

And visit their site for more details:
http://www.coelux.com/

Happy designing!