Bizarro Green Inventions: Shower Curtain Inflates to Trap You
April 23, 2009 · Print This Article
Some of us need gentle reminders not to spend too much time in the shower, especially in the middle of winter or in the midst of a raging hangover. And, there’s nothing more gentle than a shower curtain that slowly inflates while you’re bathing, giving you the subtle message that it’s time to turn off the water by trapping you in a tube of air-filled plastic.
Or, if that’s too much for you, perhaps you’d prefer a model that inflates spikes that literally push you out of the shower stall like some kind of medieval torture device.
Both shower curtains are prototypes invented by Elisabeth Buecher, who asked herself “How can your shower fight water overconsumption in either a disturbing or a gorgeous way, using innovative materials, printing techniques and inflatable technology?”
From Elisabeth’s website:
My approach to design can sometimes appear shockingly radical but I have got different reasons to legitimise that. An alarm clock is not what we can call a pleasurable object. It is often even painful to be awoken by it. However it is a necessary object, which regulates our lives and the society. That’s what I call the “design for pain and for our own good”. Some of my designs seem to constrain people, acting like an alarm clock, awaking people to the consciousness of their behaviour and giving them limits. People often need an external signal to behave more. In France the government added thousands of new radars on the roads to fight excessive speed. And it worked: there are far less people killed on the roads of France today. I call it “design of threat and punishment” and I use it as an educational tool.
Well, it’s certainly creative.
Link [Elisabeth Buecher] via [CasaSugar]
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Doesn’t it seem a little skewed to be trying to reduce water consumption with large pieces of plastic?
That’s like telling people about the need for rainforest conservation with giant, neon billboards. We need to start seeing the connections between issues.
That said,.. Points for creativity in the designs.