On the internet, the bold new style called “Steampunk” is so wildly

popular that, in less than a year, it has spawned an actual

philosophy and lifestyle among it’s fan base. Although most people
have never heard of it, Steampunk has already influenced
everything from product design to fine art and fashion. Originally,
Steampunk had it’s literary roots in science fiction novels set in 19th
century Victorian England.
But, be warned. This is not your great grandmother’s Victoriana!

Steampunk is a unique fantasy version of 19th century Victorian England-

now imbued with high tech digital devices, fantastic steam-powered
machines and all manner of surreal, electro-mechanical contraptions
that could only have been conjured by a mad, 21st century scientist.
The “Steam” refers to steam power- as in the living, fire-breathing
machines of antique locomotion. The “Punk” is the important reference
to the ‘outsider’ attitude- the lone wolf artist, the DIY craftsman
and the amateur engineer, who are not beholden to any contemporary
style or ideology. You can bet that you won’t be seeing this kind of
design in your next DWR Catalog -and that’s just the way the Steampunks
want it.

Once you know where to look, Steampunk design is familiar. By reading

H.G. Wells, Jules Verne or Mary Shelly or by seeing movies such as
“Brazil” or “The League of Extraordinary Gentleman”, one may
already have had a peek into this ingenious style.
Hollywood has embraced Steampunk and often uses it as a plot foundation
for it’s films (think “Wild, Wild West”). As far as Steampunk’s
internet popularity is concerned, you can thank today’s young, savvy
computer geeks, bloggers, gamers, authors and artists. Obviously,
these creative individuals are not Luddites. They celebrate
modern technology but firmly believe that the design of modern
products like the ‘I-Phone’ and ‘I-Pod’ can’t possibly compete with the
luxurious design of the early “Victorian Wonders” of technology.

Although it’s techno-centric in styling, Steampunk design is definitely

not just a
“Boy’s Club” of enthusiasts. The wide appeal for it’s fans and
creators are equally divided among women and men, young and old
alike, from around the world.
Websites dedicated to the style, such as Sara Brumfield’s
“Steampunk Home”, feature
the most current “New Victorian” designs applied to everything from
architecture and product design to home accessories. Ms. Brumfield
says, “Steampunk is finding an artistic method to combine the past
with the future in an aesthetically pleasing way by taking the
detritus of modern technological society and remaking it into useful
and unique objects.” No longer satisfied with the injection molded,
plastic design of today’s mass produced products, Steampunk artists
are crafting a romantic new standard of modern goods- using
traditional 19th century materials applied to 21st century
technology. These artists prefer the “transparent” honesty of the
hand-crafted object and, with a surprising disregard for the de
rigueur stylings of contemporary fashion, they boldly embellish
their work with all manner of historic design references and ornate
technological flourishes.

Artist Jake Von Slatt is considered to be one of the first modern

Steampunk designers and has very cleverly adapted this style to
computers. Gone are the plain, boring plastic keyboards of your
modern desktop computer. Von Slatt has replaced them with gorgeous,
antique nickel and glass keys, surrounded by hand crafted brass-
reminiscent of the ‘old-time’ cash registers. The housings and flat
screen monitors of a Von Slatt Steampunk computer are made of wood,
marble and ornate Victorian details- Perfectly appropriate for a
19th century, high-tech home or office. Richard Nagy, a.k.a.
‘Datamancer’, creates modded laptops that are technological
Steampunk jewels. Imagine sitting in Starbucks and opening up one of
Nagy’s slim, solid mahogany laptops- complete with studded
leather hand rests, brass scroll work, elegant cast claw feet and
solid brass, antique keys! (My new HP would be green with envy). For
added authenticity, Nagy provides a large antique brass key that
is actually used to turn the laptop on! With a few twists of the key
(accompanied by the anticipated and satisfying clicking sound) Nagy’s
laptop fires up to perform as well as the best, state-of-the-art,
computers on the market

These computer designs, as unique and beautiful as they are, beg

the obvious question: Why would anyone want to design a computer or
laptop to look like this in the first place? On his website, artist
Richard Nagy provides a surprisingly serious and eloquent answer.
He explains that the computer, along with all modern digital
devices, were truly robbed of their “novelty period.” He states,
“The home computer was denied what I feel to be the proudest time
in the life of any technological device. It was robbed of the fleeting,
wonderful period right after invention, where it is celebrated and
honored by the finest craftsman, artists and creative minds and
given a structure befitting its potential and greatness. When the
steam train roared into history, hissing smoke and howling into the
night, it was an awesome beast, adorned in the finest woods, ivory,
gold, and intricate inlays, like some Serpent King on a sacred
tapestry. The automobiles of the 20's to 60's, each was a work of
art. The television and radio affected the world in more ways that
can be imagined, changing the entire dynamic of human social structure
and communication. They were both appropriately gifted with the most
lavish of hand tooled, wooden scrolled cabinetry which borrowed
artistic details from the grandest schools of architecture and
design. Sadly, the personal computer, which has impacted the
world more profoundly than probably all of the previously mentioned
inventions put together, never received the same kind treatment.”
It is true, due to the modern methods of mass production and the need
to cheaply produce billions of units, modern design now suffers from an
androgynous “digital silhouette”- whereby one cannot visually tell
the difference between a cell phone or a remote or even a flat screen
TV or computer.
To counter the current generic look of modern products, Steampunk
styling is being applied to all kinds of design endeavors. It can be
seen in everything from ‘Jack-Built’, piston-driven contraptions to
exquisitely rendered fantasy devices and designs in exotic woods and
gold. “Steampunk is a wide and democratic philosophy with influences
of fantasy literature, Victorian science and 19th century
spiritualism, so there is no single way to approach the genre”,
says Art Donovan, an artist from Southampton, New York. He adds,
“Whether they’re decorative or utilitarian objects, Steampunk
designs are individual artisan creations. They are,
intrinsically, sculptural pieces of art and lend themselves to any
environment- be it traditional or extreme contemporary.” Donovan, a
lifelong enthusiast of science fact and fiction, has been a fan of
Steampunk long before it had been given a formal name. He says, “ The
1960 film, ‘The Time Machine’ is a perfect example of designs that
blend technology with unexpectedly luxurious materials such as cut
crystal, tufted velvet and ornate scroll work.”. Donovan’s work, like
the “Siddhartha Pod” Lantern is laboriously hand crafted from solid
mahogany and raw brass but “Still”, he admits, “if it serves some
alchemistic purpose, the odd, antique X-ray machine part may find
it’s way into the design”. Donovan likes to employ what he calls,
Creative Recycling. He scours the internet for antique machines and
tools that are begging to be “cannibalized” and the parts integrated
into new and unexpectedly unusual designs.

Swiss time piece master, Vianney Halter, has demonstrated how

seriously Steampunk has influenced even the most traditional of
design disciplines. Halter has hand crafted a relic of the future
with the introduction of his “Perpetual Antiqua” wrist watch-
complete with multiple gauges and a sapphire crystal back
displaying the clock works. Looking as if the watch was taken from the
cockpit of an antique locomotive, Halter spends over 900 hours of
intense labor producing these Steampunk masterpieces. Like all
Steampunk artisan-produced designs, Halters’ watch is as expensive
as it is beautiful. The exclusive “Antiqua” wristwatch is offered
as a very limited edition for $64,000.

Ultimately, it’s important to realize that Steampunk design is not

simply relegated to fashionable decorations and digital devices.
Jos De Vink, an artist and mechanical engineer from the Netherlands,
is currently experimenting with motors and engines that run only on
heat! His Steampunk, “Stirling Engines”, beautifully hand-crafted
from solid brass and looking as if they might have been created 100
years ago, use the simple heat from a candle or tea light to power
the piston-driven motors. Environmentalists, ever-seeking the
efficient and renewable power source, have come to appreciate the
sheer mechanical beauty of the early 1800's Stirling Engine concept,
which was all but abandoned after the popularity of the internal
combustion engine, but still in use in things like,
well...submarines! Using only the small differential of hot and
cold air as power, De Vink’s magnificent Steampunk Engines are a true
miracle of silent locomotion in an elegant physical form. True to the
core of the Steampunk philosophy, De Vink believes that physical
form must be equally impressive as the function. When something so
unique is created, the great effort put into it’s aesthetics is
what lends importance and grace to the object and demonstrates it’s
value to the user.

According to Art Donovan, Steampunk, with all of it’s varied

manifestations, is not merely an odd new trend, but will instead
have a rich and exciting life, “Because it reaches back to our past
to claim the most wondrous parts of history, overlooked technologies
and design.”

Captain Nemo would be