I cannot imagine starting off my working day without dragging myself downstairs, throwing a capsule into my Nespresso machine and then impatiently awaiting for it to fill up a cup of coffee that will help me keep me functioning for the next 3-4 hours. But while the sweet, sweet caffeine it provides may be a thing of a beauty, the machine itself is distinctly unimpressive in the looks department.
Capsule-based coffee machines aren’t exactly meant to be eye-catching, but rather functional – if you’re using one, you want a coffee and you want it ASAP. However, designers Ida Christine Opsahl, Julie Rossvoll and Cecilie Kristoffersen have created Albus, an elegant machine with an all-white, retrofuturistic aesthetic ripped straight from a sci-fi movie that pours your coffee and looks stylish whilst doing so.
The Albus is minimalist in both design and functionality, with it featuring only one button in the form of its pressure sensitive capsule tray. Once a capsule is placed inside it, the machine immediately starts pouring the coffee, and once the tray is pushed back into the machine it deactivates.
The entire machine consists of just a handful of components, with its water tank fitting neatly its side and therefore being hidden from view. A small orange diode is placed on the left of the machine, which indicates whether it is connected to a power source.
Inspired by super normal design, the Japanese design philosophy that takes everyday, “normal” objects and then sees inventors try to do something better with the concept, the Albus is certainly more visually appealing than the vast majority of capsule-based coffee machines currently on the market.
Unfortunately, the Albus won’t be making its way into our kitchens any time soon, as it is not set to become a mass-manufactured product and is instead a prototype highlighting what we would see on store shelves if coffee machines weren’t so homogeneous. Hopefully we’ll see be able to buy something like it in the not-too-distant future, though.
[Via Behance]
