HGW
By Alicita Rodriguez on Thursday, July 31st, 2008
HGW. Designed by Guillermo Sureda Burgos.
Named for famed science fiction writer H.G. Wells, the HGW Bar Stool appears to have used its extra-terrestrial powers to transport itself from the future to the present day. Designed and created by Guillermo Sureda Burgos of Spain, the HGW looks as if it would be right at home in the Mos Eisley Cantina of Star Wars fame, where it might be accompanied by the groovy stylings of Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes. Loosely modeled on the invading aliens from Wells’ War of the Worlds, the HGW is far less ominous: as Burgos says, “it’s not 30 meters tall, [nor does it] spew heat rays or eat you alive—and it will actually feel comfortable if you are brave enough to sit on it!”
Burgos—who, in addition to furniture design, spends his time teaching computer graphics and industrial design in the Canary Islands and Florida—is clearly interested in aqueous propulsion (did I mention he also creates conceptual designs for submersible transportation devices?). Thus, the HGW looks like a hybrid between a jellyfish—albeit, an unusually graceful jellyfish with unprecedented control over its dangling antennae—and the Empire’s AT-ATs (that’s “All Terrain Armored Transports” for you folks with a life) from the snow battle scene in Empire Strikes Back. But unlike hordes of ashen mechanized alien invaders, the HGW is outfitted in neon pink and green, a scheme as whimsical and vibrant as Karim Rashid’s Blobulous (it would certainly fit right in at Rashid’s Morimoto restaurant in Philadelphia or his Semiramis in Athens).
The base and turntable top are constructed of cast aluminum and steel with a circular footrest that gives it structural stability and continues the cosmic theme. Top it off with a translucent fuchsia swivel seat that conforms to the posterior’s natural curves and you’re ready to sit for hours—sipping drinks in tones as lurid as the chair itself, perhaps cosmopolitans or appletinis, or perhaps their respective intergalactic equivalents.
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oh - and what a shocker - this does look like Karim Rashid’s Blobulous we all read about in joe’s prior article, but you’ve already poked fun :)
The aliens have landed! However this also bizarrely reminds of the Jack and the Beanstalk story! Maybe I need to increase my sci-fi quotient :)
Thanks for all the nice comments; I will let you know as soon as it gets into production
does this look like deja vu with Philippe Starck’s W.W. Stool ?
that may be true - but given the fact that starck has recently decided to turn his back on product design and design in general (http://www.france24.com/en/20080327-design-philippe-starck-useless-superficial), do we really owe him anything? maybe i am just a touch bitter since i do really love starck.
these are a touch frightening… kind of remind me of those spider-like-robots from the matrix. but on that note, i loved the matrix. and if i had a bar in need for some for stools, i’d seriously consider giving these a go. i’ll end with a famous Keanu Reeves line — “woh”.