Suissa Computers

(Welcome to Ann, one of the "techettes" vying for a blogging position at the upcoming AT:Home Tech. Comment away.)
Computers are central to most people’s lives and take a prominent place in our living space because of how we use them- seated, with our hands, eyes and ears engaged. If a home office doesn’t need to replicate a cublicle, then it makes sense that computers should be integrated centrally, in the same manner as lighting and furniture.

Several steps beyond glueing wood veneer to your laptop, The handsomely designed computers from Suissa are a beautiful execution in craft. Before I saw them on Gizmodo, I was still wishing my laptop was Pantone 165–colored, and working on getting a better-looking sleeve to tote it in for outings, but if you’re going to make a commitment to a desktop computer, you might as well think in terms of more substantial design and décor.

Smaller computers can hide, but my favorite tower, the dual core Mac Pro is, while niceley designed, *massive* and has still not transcended the computer shape. If you are in a position to completely customize your machine, then you realize the shape of computers is up for grabs.

Howard Suissa’s Yasukko, Yuki and Revolution all play with round forms. They start around $5,730, and each model is made in a limited edition of 100. They can be built with exquisite carvings and inlays, and other opulent detail materials. All models are designed with liquid cooling systems and with special attention given to air flow.

Thought has been given to the problem of e-waste; out-of date computers piling up in landfills or donated (read- dumped) to developing countries. “Our production process is clean, and we recycle all our wood and metal waste,” says Suissa. The computers are also meant to be long-lasting objects of desire. The system is desiged to be upgraded as technology advances.

One of these curvy wood forms can be put together any package (for PC users) including a Quad Core machine.

Here are some sample specs:
• six hard drives
• built-in wireless
• NVIDIA GeForce 7950 video card
• 2 GB DDR2 memory
• dual core processor
• Thermaltake Liquid Cooling System for CPU and video card
• 600 watt SLI ready power supply.

While their designs are not my favorite (I’d like to see how someone like Verner Panton or Jon Russel would pimp out their own Gigs), the innovation of the forms and attention to detail is very impressive. Now, if only I could hack a Louis IV chair so that my Mac Pro was nestled in, protected, wired, and cooled!

Available here.

- Ann

Comments (3)

Great discovery! The bleak future of PC aesthetics has been given CPR. Maybe there will be an "economy" series at some point, for the rest of us mere mortals: a compressed wood, assemble-at-home-with-allen-wrench kit. Available at Target? Seems unlikely. And it probably wouldn't run OS X. Hmm. I would definitely settle for a PMS 165 MacBook, tho. Nice article.

something similar was recently at ces - jeffrey stephenson designs casings for computers - more for the really tech savvy then the general consumer - you can check them out here: http://slipperyskip.com/index.html

i would think these would be more ideal as you could build your own computer, which would significantly cut down on cost and ensure a quality operating system.

These things are huge! Isn't the idea is that these instruments we work with will get smaller and smaller until they effectively disappear? These prototypes will look great in museums.