August 15, 2011

"Have you ever wanted to live inside the retro-futuristic world of a Jules Verne novel?"

"Do you prefer submarine portholes to skyline views?

No. The Chelsea steam-punk loft is the young urban equivalent of some old outsider artist's sculpted grotto in rural Wisconsin. You don't want to live with all this junk. You don't want the upkeep. What would be amusing to visit would be depressing, burdensome, dusty, and creepy to live in.

26 comments:

Scott M said...

What I've always appreciated about the steam-punk/Victorian sci-fi genre is the amount of implied building and design style. Our contemporary buildings are boring rectangles of steel and glass. Their buildings still have gargoyles, extremely detailed facia, and carvings the Greeks would be envious of.

I thought the Nautilus design from the otherwise ho-hum movie, League Of Extrodinary Gentlemen, was an excellent capturing of the "masterpieces within a masterpiece" style.

Whenever I see exquisitely detailed carving in woodworked trim, on the other hand, I think...that must be a bitch to dust.

traditionalguy said...

To each their own pleasures.

I bet this designer was not wasting any money and time raising children.
So his magnificent work will have to go to a museum of some sort.

No descendants will value it, or have any memory of him.

Curious George said...

First movie I ever saw 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

The Dude said...

He is asking 1.75 million for a place he purchased for 1.3 million, and hopes to turn a .45 million dollar profit after adding several tons of junk to it? He may be disappointed. That crap does not improve the place a bit.

WV: perade - not to rain on his.

Titus said...

Too much junk.

Minimal is best.

Clouds

Pastafarian said...

One room done in steampunk would be cool. The whole place, not so much.

But if you did one room like this, you'd have to use a little bit better workmanship and materials than what I saw on this video. This would be expensive, what with all the brass and valves and burled wood whatnot.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Pretty cool. I like it.

However....who is going to dust all that stuff? Certainly not me (as my name indicates)

Unknown said...

I lived with easily as much stuff as that for decades. You really want to live with it. The demand on upkeep is kinda like grandma and all her nick-knacks, so you won't find it all that hard or time-consuming. It's a helluva lot of fun to live that way. A clean and sterile environment grates on my nerves.

edutcher said...

Looks like something out of the last two seasons of Wild, Wild West.

ricpic said...

One look and I immediately thought: Lee Bontecou.

Google her work and tell me if you agree.

traditionalguy said...

If he puts it on E-Bay he may get some bids.

Or he may have to crash dive the sub like the rest of the real estate market.

Bill said...

I'm a pack rat by nature so when I see a beautiful shot of some minimalist living area I think "Wow, that's beautiful" and then one second later I think "If I lived there I wouldn't be able to keep it looking like that for more than a day".

One of the advantages of steampunk is that it allows you to embrace the clutter.

That loft, however, is not steampunk. It's just a loft full of old crap.

chuckR said...

However....who is going to dust all that stuff? Certainly not me (as my name indicates)

Leaf blower.

wv - harbast - medieval siege engine

Scott M said...

Leaf blower

Racist.

Bob_R said...

Badly done steam-punk. To be done right it has to actually look like the objects are functional rather than purely decorative. Ideally the objects should actually BE functional. This just looks like a junk shop.

jungatheart said...

Steam-punk is a depressing aesthetic.

Henry said...

Something about this apartment makes me think stupid, wagonwheel, Roy Rogers coffee table! Except it's the whole thing. You can't get rid of one ugly, barely functional piece of furniture and be done with it. You have to strip to studs and start over.

LordSomber said...

Why did they get rid of the Nautilus ride at Disney World anyway?

Phil 314 said...

Let's try some Victorian era values while we're at it.

Let's start with

Prudence

KCFleming said...

It'd make a better restaurant.

The Scythian said...

Steampunk is all about shiny brass, polished hardwood, delightful ornamentation, and weird collisions of form and function. That lofts aesthetic isn't really steampunk or even neo-Victorian; it's more like someone bought all of the shit that Cracker Barrel threw away and then got a spastic monkey to hang it all up.

I don't even really like the whole steampunk thing, but I get it. When it's done well, it's actually pretty pleasant (next time you're in Philly, have a drink at National Mechanics).

But that loft isn't even steampunk done poorly; it just looks like a bomb went off at a flea market.

Kevin said...

Gotta agree w/ the above posts. This ain't Steampunk as much as it may want to be.

More like... Fred Sanford

Big Mike said...

"Have you ever wanted to live inside the retro-futuristic world of a Jules Verne novel?"

Nope.

Least of all this one.

Synova said...

I second Youngblood.

That looks messy to me, instead of steampunky. If someone were living in a steampunk world, that's not what their house would look like. Something faux-Victorian would be closer. A porthole or two might work, but there ought to be some floral silk wall-treatments between the woodwork, polished brass and claw-footed settees.

el polacko said...

speak for yourself, ann.`i live in a similarly decorated home and i love every moment of it. "burdensome"? "depressing"? "creepy"? not even close. i'll grant you that it's a dusty lifestyle but, as quentin crisp once explained regarding his own housekeeping style, "after the first few years, it doesn't get any worse."

Will Cate said...

It looks like living inside a 3D Howard Finster painting.