Green + Wired Smart Home

            After a recent trip to Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, I’ve returned with all manner of potential blog material, so this may turn into the Museum of Science and Industry Blog for a little while.

            At first glance, green and steampunk might not go together. I mean, really, belching smokestacks, massive factories, and air filled with London-esque smog? But on the other hand, the modern steampunk lifestyle—self-sufficiency, upcycling, and frugality—might be a bit more eco-friendly.

            While the museum’s Smart Home exhibit might be a bit too plain and modernist to fit the look, it certainly has some steamy details. First off: the gardens. Personally I think that growing one’s own food is about as DIY as it gets, and the gardens surrounding the house are filled with fruits, vegetables, and herbs, some around the house, some literally growing on the walls, and some in hydroponics systems.

            Inside, it includes cutting-edge technology, like automated window shades, a smart telescope, and bathroom mirrors that surf the web (in case you’re really addicted to Facebook?). Most of it, being digital, would be better categorized as cyberpunk, but a little genre mixing is fine by me.

            The real steam comes in the furniture, most of which is from reclaimed industrial or vintage pieces. Old filing cabinets and all manner of old knickknacks and so forth sit inside with the postmodern architecture. Sadly, I couldn’t get any interior pictures, but you could find some at the official site.

            In other announcements, I’ll be gone for the next week or so and probably won’t have internet access, but I’ll be sure to post about my travels when I get back.