Alpine Capsule
A little alien capsule will soon be landing on a mountain in the Italian Alps. As compelling a notion as that is, the shiny bauble pictured above is the brainchild of London designer (and self-confessioned 'evolutionary biologist') Ross Lovegrove, and nothing to do with little green men. The Alpine Capsule has been conceived as the ultimate futuristic compact living unit.
Designs for the Capsule, an 8m-wide ball which offers residents a 360-degree view of the world around them, will be unveiled on December 13th in Alta Badia, Italy.
Its exterior skin will be coated in a special mirror finish to reflect the surrounding environment, but from the inside everything outside will be visible.
The Alpine Capsule will be completely energy independent, using solar photovoltaic cells and vertical wind turbines. The Capsule will be constructed on site at 2100m above sea level at Piz la Ila, and available for overnight stays in 2010. RM
Images: Lovegrove Studio
2008 Dec 11
9 responses.
9 COMMENTS
AER
December 11, 2008
Don’t get it. What’s inside?
Roshan
December 11, 2008
Sorry – I should have explained that part! It’s a cabin. As you can hopefully see from the embryonic sci-fi woman pictured last, there’s a bed, so you can stay the night in it.
AER
December 11, 2008
I see. Can’t tell by the pic. Is there a bathroom inside? Or is it just to place to lay about in? Nothing else?
Roshan
December 12, 2008
No info on the toiletry arrangements yet. But if I find out, I’ll let you know asap.
masya
December 13, 2008
Looking as Turkish Bath.
laughingmoon
December 14, 2008
I like this alot, very immaginative.
Is it static? I could see a whole landscape dotted with these, like droplets of water.
How functional is the space inside?
Are there lots of hidden compartments?
or is it as sparce as it looks?
Are they heated?
Look forward to seeing more
JLR
December 22, 2008
Hi – this is similar to the Bean (Cloud Gate) in Chicago, USA.
Roshan
December 22, 2008
For more info on the bean, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cloud_Gate_(The_Bean)_from_west%27.jpg
joe
March 18, 2009
Reminds me of the Schrodinger’s Cat Box depicted in the Hyperion novels. They were tiny, 100% self-contained living quarters. Only the Schrodinger’s box was for prisoners who were given a death sentence. At some random point in time, lethal gas would be released.