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Tech Inspiration: Gattaca

By Kate Pruitt (from Design Sponge) on November 8, 2011

One of my favorite columns on Design*Sponge is Amy Merrick's Living In series. Amy not only manages to dig up the most visually delightful movies from various decades past, but she also culls the web for products -- be they practical, covetable, unattainable, or just plain ridiculous -- that combine to produce a fitting homage to the look & feel of the film. I decided it would be wonderful to come at this challenge from a tech perspective, and so I've put together the first of several posts called Tech Inspirations, where I will choose a film that deals with technology in interesting ways.

The first movie I chose is Gattaca, a sci-fi from 1997 written and directed by Andrew Niccol and features an all-star cast including Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Alan Arkin, and Jude Law. The film centers on Gattaca itself, a prestigious space exploration facility that Ethan Hawke's character infiltrates as an imposter, but not without the aid of some extremely high-tech scientific practices and cutting edge tools. Artful and precise, the visuals throughout the film are truly stunning, and the cold futuristic world of genetic perfection is rendered in raw industrial materials, minimalist black and steel gadgetry, and luxe mid-century furnishings. I hope you feel inspired by the muted, somber, and technologically advanced world of Gattaca.

I have a list of films ready to go, but I'd love to hear suggestions as well. What's your favorite movie for tech inspiration?

1. Apple Thunderbolt 27 inch display, $999
2. Vikka Hyttan/Vika Moliden steel work table, $189
3. Logitech keyboard K120, $16
4. Diane 7" aluminum barber comb, $3
5. M2 Monitor arm, $295
6. Niels Bendtsen Homework desk, $2695
7. Celestron PowerSeeker telescope, $117
8. Cherner task chair, $1099
9. iHome rechargeable mini speakers in silver, $50
10. HP wireless elite keyboard, $35

1. Brixton steel bookcase, $799
2. Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chair, $5068
3. Barometer floor lamp, $60
4. Bang and Olufsen BeoSound 8, $1000
5. Blu Dot sprout dining table, $800
6. Audio Technica ATH-MH50 studio monitor headphones, $159
7. Onkyo home theater speaker system, $286
8. Celestron advanced biological microscope, $122
9. Lewis side table, $399
10. Prism table, $2200
11. Crane fog desk lamp, $99

1. JBL On Air wireless speaker system, $349
2. Motorola S9-HD wireless headphones, $140
3. Nike+ sportsband, $50
4. Frajen bath towel in black and gray, $5
5. Yurbuds performance fit earphones, $60
6. Metropoli indoor/outdoor wall or ceiling light, $1215
7. iWatchz Q series watchband for iPod nano, $25
8. Horizon Fitness T101 treadmill, $660
9. Withings Wifi scale, $159

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Design*Sponge is a daily website dedicated to home and product design run by Brooklyn-based writer, Grace Bonney. Launched in August of 2004, Design*Sponge features store and product reviews, sale and contest announcements, new designer profiles, trend forecasting and store/studio tours. In addition, Design*Sponge features a unique section dedicated to covering student design, national and international design shows. The site is updated constantly throughout the day (with an average of 6-10 posts a day), and attracts a core group of devoted readers. Design*Sponge currently has over 60,000 daily readers. As a Contributing Editor at Design Sponge, artist Kate Pruitt shares DIY projects each Wednesday. Kate lives in Oakland, California and has a background in art/art history and recently left her job creating window displays to pursue her own work full time. Growing up in New Hampshire, Kate spent a lot of time building machines out of paper and scotch tape, and thus discovered her first DIY impulses.

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