Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: Brutalist Concrete Laptop Stand (2024)

sam-burns.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 256 posts

Re: Show HN: Brutalist Concrete Laptop Stand (2024)

#231

Post by pseudohadamard »

throwthrowuknow wrote: post #39
pjc50 wrote: post #24

I wonder what the practical limit is on how thin and light you can make concrete for non-structural items? I can see someone selling concrete mugs on Etsy, for example. Maybe with clever use of fillers and thin walls you could have a version of this you could actually lift. It looks great, especially in contrast to a white IKEA-style office. Re: decay, I regret not taking more photos of the final days of the RBS "Zig…

People who make concrete counter tops use a lot of fibreglass fillers to get them fairly thin but if you wanted it truly light weight you’d probably need to make it out of a dense foam and coat it with something that looks like concrete.

There are a range of rendering mixes that look pretty much like concrete, or at least mortar, that would do the job. In fact just rendering it entirely (base coat, plastic reinforcing mesh, top coat(s)) should give a concrete-ish look while keeping things fairly light.

Re: Show HN: Brutalist Concrete Laptop Stand (2024)

#233

Post by absynth »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brutalist_architecture

A sudden desire to have a concrete monitor stand appears in my mind.

Practical considerations: I feel like simply adding some cork to the underside of most things would increase compatibility between plastic/alum and the hardness of concrete.

Re: Show HN: Brutalist Concrete Laptop Stand (2024)

#234

Post by Nursie »

seeeeebt wrote: post #13
tokai wrote: post #10

Isn't the ornamental 'urban decay' detail kinda the opposite of the utilitarian and functional style of brutalism?

Yes, Sam is probably just having a bit of fun here, but I think it's worth presenting brutalism correctly as it's often so misunderstood. Concrete is simply the mass production medium of the time, many of the patterns and moulds used in Barbican for example feature pretty timber imprints, scalloping patterns, painstakingly pick-hammered textured panels, or pleasing swooping shapes. Further there is always space for g…

> Sam's design does feel cold, unnatural and broken, definitely not what brutalist living is about.

AFAICT Sam is in the UK, and that is most British people's lived experience of Brutalist architecture in the UK.

Outside of a few notable examples like the Barbican, many towns and cities in the UK were saddled with ugly concrete behemoths that were poorly designed and poorly maintained.

Many of us actually find it very frustrating when people lionize brutalist principles and talk about 'real' brutalism. If a movement is what it does, rather than what it says it aims to do, then brutalism is a movement that left Britain looking dull(er), grey(er), water-stained and with plenty of dark corners and weird spaces that smelled of piss and were havens for petty crime.

Sam's brutalist laptop stand is entirely representative of brutalism as it really played out in many places across the country.

Re: Show HN: Brutalist Concrete Laptop Stand (2024)

#235

Post by Nursie »

rors wrote: post #102
ghm2199 wrote: post #92

If you want to get a feel of what brutalist architecture is like up close, go to the Barbican in london if you can. Its quite surreal. Very much in-your-face concrete exposure. Yet, to walk and experience it with your eyes is a study of contrasts: a giant, comparitively modern, greenhouse, has a glass roof open to the sky and yet many floors have no light or windows at all. And in the outdoor spaces, like the fountai…

The Barbican is not a typical brutalist construction. The term brutalist refers to béton brut, which means raw concrete. I.e. you can see the shape of the wooden slats used as a cast. The concrete in the Barbican was finished by drilling to create a dappled pattern, which obliterated the shape of the slats. There are also lots of post modern elements. For example, the columns of the girl’s school have pyramids at the…

The best thing about the South Bank is that you can look over the river and admire the North Bank.

Re: Show HN: Brutalist Concrete Laptop Stand (2024)

#236

Post by jesse_faden »

bpavuk wrote: post #204
jesse_faden wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

as a control fan, i agree. the art direction in that game is something else.

oh, Direc- excuse me, Jesse! have you met esseJ?

yes! one of my absolute favourite moments is the synchronicity lab

Re: Show HN: Brutalist Concrete Laptop Stand (2024)

#237

Post by jesse_faden »

bpavuk wrote: post #138
queuebert wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was delighted to see that a sequel is coming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJTBoQhWaC0 The maze level on the original game has to be an all-time best level design.

> I was delighted to see that a sequel is coming the sequel trailer got me into the first game, actually :)) and I'm already sold on these recursive pigeons. is it multiplicative resonance? > all-time best level design well, the only worthy contenders are DEATHLOOP and Dishonored 2 :> but yeah, Remedy does deserve every award they got with Control

also fun little project i discovered randomly

https://control-records.netlify.app

source: https://github.com/louh/control-records/

> the sequel trailer got me into the first game, actually

similarly the first game got me into Alan Wake, and now onto Alan Wake II

Re: Show HN: Brutalist Concrete Laptop Stand (2024)

#238

Post by chairmansteve »

thesuitonym wrote: post #115

Do I like it? No. Do I want one on my desk? Absolutely not. Do I think it's even brutalist? Not in the least. But it's still a cool as hell project. People need to do more things just because they want to, and to hell with what anyone else thinks.

But it doesn't scale...

Re: Show HN: Brutalist Concrete Laptop Stand (2024)

#239

Post by shiroiuma »

Fnoord wrote: post #145
thesuitonym wrote: post #115

Do I like it? No. Do I want one on my desk? Absolutely not. Do I think it's even brutalist? Not in the least. But it's still a cool as hell project. People need to do more things just because they want to, and to hell with what anyone else thinks.

Sums up my mother's sculptures, or my kids' drawings. If it serves the artist, it served a purpose. Personally, I have an aluminium laptop stand which makes the laptop dockable but which isn't portable or makes screen/keyboard usable (secure for cats though) and I have a portable, foldable, lightweight plastic one [1]. I also do not enjoy the idea of using the bottom of a laptop on concrete. The latter material isn't…

>I also do not enjoy the idea of using the bottom of a laptop on concrete. The latter material isn't nice for scratches

Shouldn't the laptop have feet on the bottom to avoid this?

Re: Show HN: Brutalist Concrete Laptop Stand (2024)

#240

Post by opan »

Fnoord wrote: post #145
thesuitonym wrote: post #115

Do I like it? No. Do I want one on my desk? Absolutely not. Do I think it's even brutalist? Not in the least. But it's still a cool as hell project. People need to do more things just because they want to, and to hell with what anyone else thinks.

Sums up my mother's sculptures, or my kids' drawings. If it serves the artist, it served a purpose. Personally, I have an aluminium laptop stand which makes the laptop dockable but which isn't portable or makes screen/keyboard usable (secure for cats though) and I have a portable, foldable, lightweight plastic one [1]. I also do not enjoy the idea of using the bottom of a laptop on concrete. The latter material isn't…

>I also do not enjoy the idea of using the bottom of a laptop on concrete. The latter material isn't nice for scratches (and every time it is put or leaves concrete is a potential mark).

You can get concrete pretty smooth. Look up what some people do with polished concrete floors. Epoxy is sometimes used on top as well. You can get it as shiny as a bowling alley, and smooth enough to slide around on in your socks.

Post reply on HN