Milan 09: Dutch designer Sander Mulder presented a modular cabinet resembling shipping containers in Zona Tortona last month.
The units are made of powder-coated steel with glass shelves.
Here’s some more information from Sander Mulder:
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In a few decades our whole world economy has become reliant on the containerization of our supply lines. Known the world over for its indestructible appearance and boxy look, the shipping container is one of the best known industrial archetypes.
This modular storage system is inspired by the wonderful colour mosaics that sprout to life in every harbor and container terminal the world around.
The individual pieces can be stacked and rotated around in endless (colour-) combinations, to create your personal container terminal for all domestic storage uses.
Technical information:
Colour(s): available in all RAL colours.
Dimensions (HxWXD): Small:50×100x50cm, Medium:100×100x50cm, Large:200×100x50cm.
Weight: Small: 40kg, Medium: 90 kg, Large: 120 kg.
Material: powder coated steel, stained glass.
Design: Sander Mulder.
May 5th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I do hope these colors are just a start. The interiors, must they be white?
May 5th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
trend ? a superpostion of small containers of differents sizes and colors, i saw 3 in 3 months….
May 6th, 2009 at 12:59 am
This piece makes me realize that in all the vast variety of objects on Dezeen, almost none is flat-out ugly. It also makes me realize that basically I don’t like ugly things.
May 6th, 2009 at 9:50 am
I think they missed a trick here. They should be painted red/orange and given a halflife logo
May 6th, 2009 at 11:17 am
stacking a 40- 120gk container by hand- I would say it’s a nice furniture for a body builder lounge. And what’s the point of having glas shelfes in a furniture so strong connected to shipping around?
Nice colours!
May 6th, 2009 at 11:25 am
I think they are very humorous and there lies their beauty. I especially like the combination of robust outside and the gentle glass shelve inside, as if the outside was protecting the shelf from breaking. Here I would keep things that are precious to me.
May 6th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
I could see the design working much better as refrigerated cabinets, like “Add another module to your fridge” kind of design. I don’t find it warm and cozy enough for my “precious things”.
May 6th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Ooh! I agree with Viqui’s idea. Such bulky cabinets are a throwback to those clunky wooden chests of what – the 10th century? – seen in Western Europe. What would you ideally save in these shelves? How about something funny, frivolous and totally-unexpected? Jack in the Box perhaps?
May 6th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Shipping containers are beautiful because their aesthetic is informed solely by its utility. These cabinets take the elements of a shipping container that exist to maximize their functionality and attempt to apply them to a problem (household storage) for which they are not suited. By undermining the functionality these cabinets have made a mockery of the aesthetic rather than a successful appropriation. A cabinet would be much more efficient if made out of a more suitable (lighter) material. The set of three cabinets- one small, one medium, and one large weighs more than 550 lbs. Good design is that which is aesthetically pleasing but does not needlessly sacrifice practicality. In this case, the heavy structural steel frame with disproportionately large latches houses delicate glass shelves, thus negating the benefits of the steel and therefore the functionality of the cabinet. If design is an attempt to marry practicality and aesthetic, these shelves have failed in both respects.
May 8th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
dollhouse industrial? that is almost interesting.
May 10th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
i don’t know why, but i had a sudden flash-back of when i was playing architect.. building Lego houses
May 11th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Hahaha Keti! Just reading a blog: Rem Koolhaas’ answer to Lego Bricks: Cantilevers & Deconstructivity on a design site. You see a cosmic connection between bricks, mortar and lego toys?