Ria Custodio
GIT 210, Week 3
Furniture Concept
5 April 2013

The Hammock Tub, a Vessel of Calm

The hammock tub is a pre-conceived design by Splinterworks[i], a furniture design firm, so it is not an original design by me, but this innovative vessel has been on my mind ever since I found it online. Each piece of my version of the hammock tub is stunning. The reason I chose to render a hammock tub design is because I have dreamt of adding it to my future home, one day. The hammock tub is the essence of strength, solid form and comfort. To envision the tub in a home, with a coastal view, makes my mind equally calm. Also in that same breath, I would say, bathing should be a calming ritual with an ethereal effect, and the hammock tub is specifically designed to have this very delicate calming effect. I felt compelled to craft a worthy piece of art that is also a unique and functional piece of furniture.

In my mind’s eye, the hammock tub, secured on opposing walls by sturdy holds, would be the only element in the 10’x10′ squared bathing room—with a beach-side, coastal view. The ethereal bath tub would be made of the lightest carbon fiber material with a smooth polyurethane plastic coating sprinkled with gold dust and mixed with hand-painted shades of metallic gold shimmer. The vessel would then be double coated with a smooth, clear, waterproof, iridescent shimmer gloss that bonds all elements together to give it a ring-like worth of sparkle and shine.

The hammock-like vessel would hold a person’s ever-so-relaxed form in much the same way as a hammock only much, much sturdier. The hammock tub would be suspended, mid-air, using, two titanium metal hooked loops secure by tungsten grooves and balanced on each side of the wall with enough tension to hold the tub and the weight of a person or two, securely. This gives the vessel a feeling of being in suspension along with a slight wispy side-to-side swaying motion when a bather takes a hot, bubbly soak in the hammock tub.

The steaming hot water would free fall and cascade into the hammock tub through a golden faucet spout with a sleek, contemporary and curvaceous design that would be embedded onto one wall. The walls surrounding the vessel would be made of hand inlaid unique peacock slate tiles with hints of a golden hue that complement the sparkle and coloring of the hammock tub.

The view comes second to the design of the smoothly hand-crafted vessel, but it is a spectacular view that heightens the relaxed state of a bather lounging in the hammock tub. Two vertically split big-bay double-paned windows from floor to ceiling would create an air of relaxation. The windows would open and tuck into the walls, hidden, bringing a feeling of reclining in a hammock tub at the beach in a surreal and luxurious setting.

Everything about the impact of a brilliantly sleek hammock tub is grand by nature, and it is a perfect concept for an inventive furniture rendering. The hammock tub will elevate a bather’s relaxed state and create a vessel of calm. Who need ask for more when lounging in a hammock tub by the coast?