LG ARTCOOL

Wall-mounted A/C units can be an eyesore at the best of times, more often than not attracting the eye for all the wrong reasons and potentially ruining a room’s interior in one fell swoop. Enter LG with their supposedly aesthetically pleasing ARTCOOL range; almost flat air conditioners with picture frames mounted on the unit’s front-facing side, resulting in a disguised unit which resembles a flat-screen TV. A definite improvement.

The Plug and Socket

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Attached to the outside wall of National Magazine Company’s offices on Ganton Street, London, is this impressively enormous plug and socket. It was created by James Glancy Design and, although it doesn’t function as a socket should, the installation does serve a purpose by disguising the building’s exterior air conditioning system, instead creating what is now a local attraction for positive reasons.

The Dunstable Wind Catcher

The Chilterns Gateway Centre on Dunstable Downs is home to this amazing, surprisingly low-tech air conditioning system. The Wind Catcher, seen above, sits approximately 100m away from the main building and naturally draws air underground to one end of a pipe, the other end of which sits inside the centre’s main building. By the time the air reaches the centre it has been cooled by the earth’s latent temperature. It’s a beautiful modern take on a system which has been used for centuries in Persian architecture.

TELEVOX

And finally, a disused A/C unit modification which serves absolutely no purpose other than to brighten up the days of passers-by in Bushwick, Brooklyn. What was an abandoned, rusty A/C unit, attached to an abandoned, rusty shop front is now a cardboard TV box courtesy of street artist D.Billy.

Ann Siang Hill Park, Singapore

Image Credit: ampulets2

Location Unknown

Image Credit: rachelr_nz

Manhattan, New York

Image Credit: Thomas Hawk

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Image Credit: leobard

Athens, Georgia

Image Credit: pshab

Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Image Credit: Jashil

Plaza Independencia, Montevideo, Uruguay

Image Credit: Yelena YK

Kampong Glam, Singapore

Image Credit: chooyutshing

CBD, Singapore

Image Credit: jennsnyc333

Kowloon, Hong Kong

Image Credit: Mr. Cavin

1. Your Bed

Japanese company Kuchofuku – also responsible for some of the cool clothing we featured previously – have also decided to manufacture a mattress cover which could end those unbearably hot nights. Dual fans positioned within the foot of the mattress suck air through what is essentially an air cushion from the head of the bed. The air then circulates around the bed and ensures a comfortable night’s sleep. The accessory can be bought here.

2. Your Golf Cart

We’ve all experienced it. You’re driving around the golf course in a cart, not a care in the world, but the sun is selfishly and constantly beating down on you and threatening your composure. Enter the Mighty Kool MG3, a portable air conditioning unit which claims to be the ‘World’s First & Only Dual System Roof Top Golf Cart Air Conditioner’. It attaches to the golf cart’s roof and promises to keep your head cool no matter how badly you’re playing. Buy it here.

3. Your Garden

The strangest air-conditioner we found, and probably the most ridiculous, is the Intelli Cool, an outdoor air conditioner which beavers away in order to cool the air around you as you sunbathe in your garden. The device uses ‘special water evaporation technology’ to lower the temperature should you be overheating outside and even has a built in lamp to ensure sufficient light while you cool down at night.

4. Your Local Bus Stop

We all know that Dubai is an incredibly hot place to live, or visit. We also know that Dubai is (or was at least when these things were implemented) an extremely affluent region of the world. No wonder then that there are more than a couple of air conditioned bus shelters lining the city’s streets, cooling down commuters as they wait for the next wave of public transport. The bus stop above can be found near the Burj Al Arab.

5. Your Office Chair

Providing you have a bum and work somewhere that has at least once experienced a hot day, you will no doubt have suffered from a case of ‘sweaty buttocks’ at the office. Well, the same Japanese company which brought us the air conditioned bed have come up with a product to combat this very condition. It’s an air conditioned seat cushion and can ‘pump up to 170 litres of air per minute through the seat using an extraordinarily low amount of electricity in the process‘. You can buy the product, provided you speak Japanese, here.

6. Your Coffin

If there’s one thing I’d wish for when I die, it’s to not be overheating whilst resting in my coffin. Thankfully a Serbian company have developed a £4’500 hi-tech coffin which apparently keeps the corpse’s body at a low temperature prior to burial, ensuring a humidity-free ceremony for all. A spokesman said, “People imagine they want to feel comfortable in a coffin. They feel they want to be as relaxed as possible as they make their journey to the next world”. Nice.

7. Your Dog’s Luxury Kennel

Gone are the days when you could shove your dog in a wooden box in the backyard. These days people make a living from producing dog houses more luxurious than most people’s homes. The example above belongs to Rachel Hunter’s dog and is an exact miniature replica of the model’s mansion, including a working air-conditioning system. If you possess the money and madness to purchase your own air-conditioned dog house, go here.

The Hat

The Solar-Powered Cooling Pith Helmet is an unsightly stroke of genius which promises to provide an energy efficient supply of cool air to the front of the head by way of a small fan. On top of the hat are small (but large enough to be seen from afar) solar panels which power said fan, however should the sun not be in view the power supply can be switched to a couple of headbound batteries. In all honesty, this is a good idea. Aesthetically though, not so much.

The Tie

Of all the air conditioned items of clothing on the list, this one is a definite favourite. Inside the knot of the tie produced by Thanko sits a small fan unit, ready to pump cool air towards the collar area by way of power sourced via the USB port of your computer. No batteries needed. If that’s not enough to sell the idea, just take a look at the chap’s face in the top right hand corner of the picture. Cool air plus a vibrating laryngeal prominence makes Jack a happy boy.

The Shirt

A Japanese company by the name of Kuchou-fuku (trans: air conditioned clothes) have the torso covered with this air conditioned shirt; a garment which manages to give the human wearing it the appearance of a skydiver mid-drop thanks to its interior cooling system. Two fans blow air around the shirt via a rechargeable battery pack.

The Trousers

For the lower body, these cargo pants will have to do. From the photo above it looks as though they’ve replaced the lower pockets with fans, resulting in an ideal pair of trousers for those who work in sweaty environments. I’ve no idea who’s responsible for these but they look similar enough in style to Kuchou-fuku’s shirt for me to point my finger at the same company. Again, they look horrific so to wear them unless absolutely essential would be dangerous.

The Shoes

Ever wished your shoes contained an air conditioning system? I know I have so I’m happy as Larry now that I’ve discovered the Breezewalk shoe: a piece of footwear which supposedly keeps the foot cool and fresh by way of an air pump in the heel. As you walk, the pump pushes air around the shoe. Not exactly hi-tech and possibly more gimmick than anything else, but 10 out of 10 for effort. What I’d prefer is the ability to pump hot air around my toes when it’s cold. When that’s available, give me a call.