Australia: A Pub With No Beer. New Zealand: A Fridge With No Door

It looks like a fridge from the future. And, as a concept, it kind of is, if they end up being mass-produced and sold to to us regular folk. For now, it’s just a prototype, built by Ben de la Roche of New Zealand’s Massey University, situated north of Wellington. But it’s a prototype that proved impressive enough to raise the eyebrows of white-goods manufacturer Electrolux.

One of the neater features of the fridge is that it doesn’t use power when nothing’s inside. When an object is inserted, pins surrounding it start to cool it and disengage when the item is removed. Bereft of stuff to cool, the fridge looks like a wall of white hexagons.

It’s a slick design — I’m a sucker for six-sided geometry — but it’s not the most practical thing if you just want to shove a couple of apples in there. It’s obviously designed for containers and bottles, not the plastic bags one often finds themselves putting fresh produce in at the supermarket.

As for Electrolux? According to the NZ Herald, De la Roche’s design made it into the top 10 of an international competition held by the company, with first prize being €5000 and a stint at Electrolux.

[NZ Herald]

Image: Electrolux Design Lab