alt Hacker NewsShow HN: Brutalist Concrete Laptop Stand (2024)
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I don't like it, from a pure brutalistic view point this obviously doesn't make any sense, it isn't practical and it doesn't make any effort to create a shape that is esthetically pleasing. The urban decay is even more outrageous, the whole appeal of urban decay is that it is "real", it's the thinking about all of people that went through the same structure throughout the years. Of cause it doesn't mean you can't make art about or featuring urban decay, but you have to be smart about it.
If you like brutalism, you might also enjoy the Quake Brutalist Map Jam 3, which released last month: https://www.slipseer.com/index.php?resources/quake-brutalist...
My favorite map is ‘One Need Not Be a House’ by Robert Yang, which was inspired by Louis Kahn's "brick brutalism" masterpieces in Bangladesh and India, as well as contemporary level design like The Silent Cartographer. The artist writes about their process on their blog post, https://www.blog.radiator.debacle.us/2026/01/one-need-not-be...
The map jam is standalone and uses custom assets so you don’t need a copy of Quake to enjoy it. Check the website for the ‘standalone’ variant.
Sorry for derailing! Cool laptop stand!
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 fountain/canal running through the complex the concrete will sort of be in the background and lets you focus on everything else: the water, the swans and the people around.
Juxtapose that to low hanging exposed concrete roofs and walls in closed passages could make one feel constrained/claustrophobic/yearning for light.
Oh man... I've never worked with concrete, but I would love to make a desk stand that looked like a little montréal métro station. They're all rather brutalist, and have flat tops haha
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Station_Radisson_Met...
I asked for a monitor stand at work, back in the day. No money! So I went to the loading dock, found a wooden pallet for the little AC units we installed in racks, put that on my desk. Voila - monitor stand.
I'm waiting for the man to make a laptop case out of concrete. That will be truly brutalist!
Related: Anyone know where to get that kind of keyboard in the photo? Specifically, where the number pad and arrow keys are on the left?
I've been looking and looking, but the best I can find is using a narrow keyboard with a separate number-pad only keyboard on the left. I'm in the US.
(It's better for your right shoulder to keep the mouse closer to your body like in the picture.)
@dang, I'm not sure what's changed with the Show HN lately, but it's been much more lovely to read. Thank you for whatever changes which were made.
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 "Ziggurat": https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/stark-ph... ; at the end it had plants growing from much of the upper levels, making it look extremely Horizon Zero Dawn.
Literally just looks like some trash sitting on their desk. Well done if that's the goal?
This looks pretty funny paired with a sleek fancy MacBook though.
You need a proper Soviet-esque workstation of a laptop to sit on that concrete block - go get yourself a nice, chunky ThinkPad T530.
That's one way to prevent people from taking your desk at work
Cool project, but not brutalist
if we give it a little more polish, colder/greyer tones and "newness," it would fit very nicely for a Control fan :)
EDIT: https://store.steampowered.com/app/870780/Control_Ultimate_E...
There are some subtly weak desks out there, quite a few actually, where placing this on top could be brutal.
This is cool. It's not for everyone and probably very heavy.
But I love the hacker feel of it.
It's hideous.
I certainly haven't heard of that technique to get rid of bubbles in the cement.
This is pretty cool looking, I like it, it must be really heavy though.
> For a medium-sized piece like this, a vibrating dildo is actually the best thing to use. Just think of it like any other power tool.For a medium-sized piece like this, a vibrating dildo is actually the best thing to use. Just think of it like any other power tool.
I used work on foundations for warehouses, huge concrete blocks as anchor points and this is exactly how we got the bubbles out, we had a huge metal vibrator they call them high-frequency concrete pokers.
And while at it… Why not a concrete laptop case?
It can't be a good idea to condition yourself to be comfortable around an exposed wire that's near to a real power socket.
How much does it weigh?
I love it! I just wish I could enlarge the photos! EDIT: ah, it works to right-click open image in new tab.
this is really cool, what a great Show HN. i will try to make one this weekend :)
This is so weird. I love it. Thanks for sharing!
Looks like a rat hideout.
Can't say I'm heavy into brutalist architecture and then sit on an Ikea chair
This is sick but sad that it has to live in that open office cubicle world :[
Looks awesome! I like raw concrete. Plays well with the tech around it.
go visit any major “third world” country city … probably see those everywhere.
Isn't the ornamental 'urban decay' detail kinda the opposite of the utilitarian and functional style of brutalism?
Should have stolen a broken piece of concrete off a street and repurpose it to be a laptop stand. At least that would be authentic, and contributing to urban decay at his location.
I love this! The pure weight of it is amazing, and distinctly makes a statement. Its a fun concept one could play with if they were making their own!
I think a "clean" and "contemporary" version of this would look amazing as well:
Along the lines of: https://www.modustrialmaker.com/blog/2018/8/14/making-an-imp...
Maybe with: (for weight) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foam_concrete (there are plenty of DIY versions of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4_GxPHwqkA
Is it just me or can you all hear the sound of the metal/aluminum scratching against the concrete?
Loved the brutalist movie, this actually seems quite nice assthetically.
You just need to cover it with graffitis to fully depict the experience of the poor souls living in brutalist buildings.
Such a heavy stand might serve as a nice heat sink too, I would think. Doesn't have fins, but it could radiate evenly, and not even get that hot.
I love concrete as a medium but that's got to be heavy af and I would manage to smack my elbow on it all the time as well as smash my coffee mug on it.
When I first look at this I think "hey it would be nicer if it wasn't falling apart", but you could argue that's kind of the point. Well done
Also known as an inertial mass dampener for your sit-stand desk.
I appreciate++ the design except for the too-perfect rebar and the exposed wire directly _in_ the concrete. Pros would use a conduit methinks.
I've always loved this style of architecture. People think commie blocks are ugly but I've always appreciated their simple utilitarianism
This man poured concrete around a power strip, chemically aged copper with ammonia, rusted rebar with peroxide, faked a damaged cable for vibes, and vibrated out the air bubbles with a dildo. This is the most unhinged and delightful Show HN I've ever seen.