design – Decaseconds

Futuristic Electronics of the Past

2025-Aug-222025-Aug-22 adohertyhLeave a comment

As games like Cyberpunk 2077 and recent shows like Andor have demonstrated, the appeal of devices that were designed to be futuristic, but during eras now left in the past, is revealing a kind of desire for an alternate history—a world in which this became the future.

A dictaphone is a fascinating example—a sleek, technological device for an era in which one would have had a secretary to transcribe their dictations.

Minitel terminals, in particular, speak to an alternative world that might have existed in place of the World Wide Web we experience now.

Atelier NL Drawn from Clay (Soil Samples 2015)

2025-Aug-182025-Aug-19 adohertyhLeave a comment

This array of clay samples on display at the Design Museum of Brussels was made from soils collected from around the Netherlands and Germany. Though the variety of tones are are of course interesting, I’m most drawn (as a materials scientist) to the varying amounts of shrinkage experienced by each piece upon firing. Differences in the microscopic structure of the underlying clay bodies prior to firing (e.g., amount of moisture) likely contributed to macroscopic differences upon firing.

Unless the original samples were different sizes. But given the rest of the homogeneous approach (even down to the identifying stamps in each), I’d be awfully disappointed in the artist if that were the cast.

Waiting for William Gibson

2023-Jul-192023-Jul-18 adohertyhLeave a comment

William Gibson’s novels—particularly the latter ones—are deeply interested in questions of design and constructed environments. That, combined with his characters’ globe-trotting tendencies, means that richly described hotel lobbies figure frequently into his works.

I’m a bit of a great hotel lobby fan myself, so the plant-filled glass space at the front of Dublin’s The Green Hotel immediately grabbed my attention. What a cozy space, sure—but the modern touches make me feel I’m more likely to rendezvous with a spy than slowly slurp a warm beverage.