Additional Projects Of Mine

The First Steps Into Imagination  Developing My Drafting Techniques  Architecture Site Visits  Tequesta Burial Mound Pavilion  Melody Park  The Frontiersman  Applying My Computer Skills  Ratatouille Spice Rack  Museum Of Endless Experiences  "The Aquarius" Recycling Plant  Trinity Towers  Ekata Peace Center  Nebula Trail

The Industrialist Table

“Everything great in science and art is simple.  What can be less complicated than the greatest discoveries of humanity”, Jules Verne.  What is the basic idea for a chair or a table? What are they used for?  A basic concept that has evolved over the centuries, for many different uses, a design reused and developed for the time.  Awhile ago in a class students were asked to create their own idea, and take the ideas further than a drawing.  One idea stayed within my mind after that class, a design that’s not only aesthetically attractive, but also having a multitude of uses and inspirations.  Then I came to think of the past, structures and objects I’ve once seen in old films and books such as “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” and “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”, such designs that fell under the category of industrial and steam punk.

History Behind The Table

Some very early tables were made and used by the Egyptians, and were little more than stone platforms used to keep objects off the floor.  They were not used for seating people. Food and drinks were usually put on large plates deposed on a pedestal for eating.  The Egyptians made use of various small tables and elevated playing boards.  The Chinese also created very early tables in order to pursue the arts of writing and painting.  The Greeks and Romans made more frequent use of tables, notably for eating, although Greek tables were pushed under a bed after use. The Greeks invented a piece of furniture very similar to the guéridon. Tables were made of marble or wood and metal, sometimes with richly ornate legs. Later, the larger rectangular tables were made of separate platforms and pillars. The Romans also introduced a large, semicircular table to Italy, the mensa lunata.

Furniture during the Middle Ages is not as well known as that of earlier or later periods, and most sources show the types used by the nobility.  In the Eastern Roman Empire, tables were made of metal or wood, usually with four feet and frequently linked by x-shaped stretchers. Tables for eating were large and often round or semicircular.  A combination of a small round table and a lectern seemed very popular as a writing table.  In western Europe, the invasions and internecine wars caused most of the knowledge inherited from the classical era to be lost. As a result of the necessary movability, most tables were simple trestle tables, although small round tables made from joinery reappeared during the 15th century and onward. In the Gothic era, the chest became widespread and was often used as a table.  Refectory tables first appeared at least as early as the 17th century, as an advancement of the trestle table; these tables were typically quite long and wide and capable of supporting a sizeable banquet in the great hall or other reception room of a castle.

 

History Of The "Steampunk"

Steam Punk, before it became the full-blown sub-culture it is today, started out as a science-fiction sub-genre in the 1970s.  Its fundamental inspirations go all the way back to 19th century Victorian writers, such as Jules Verne of “20,00 Leagues Under The Sea”, and H.G. Wells of “The Time Machine”.  Their tales of steam-powered dirigibles and Victorian-age settings have inspired, a century later, an aesthetically motivated and imaginatively driven alternative history in which the technology of the Victorian age reigns supreme over that of modern technology.  Steam punk also plucked from the feathers of a specific genre of Dime Novels from the 19th century.  Dime Novels were very popular during this time because, as suggested by its title, these novels were very cheap.  They were more often than not targeted at lower-income readers, those with a less sophisticated taste.  Thus, the books were full of melodramatic romance and adventure, much like harlequin novels of today.  There is evidence of Steam punk elements in the Dime Novels known as "Edisonades."

An Edisonade, often appealing to a younger crowd, is an adventure of steam creatures and their inventors. One of the earliest examples of this type of Dime Novel is "The Steam Man of the Prairies" by Edward S. Ellis.  This story would set many precedents of plot and theme for most others to come. It has been said by some that with this novel, "Steam punk was born." One of the more well-known examples is "The Steam House" by Jules Verne.  Published in 1880, this story follows the travels of British colonists by way of a gigantic steam-powered elephant.  Like much having to do with Steam punk, its history has its debatable origins.  It is difficult to pinpoint exactly where the sub-genre's first authors truly got their inspiration. What is known, however, is that the inspiration was clearly taken from the Victorian Age (1837-1901). The Steam punk movement reaches directly into the pocket of Victorian England and predicts what the world would be like today had its inhabitants and inventors prevailed over modern technology.

 

Concepts

 

               

 

Final Model