NY newsboxes transformed into aquariums by carlo sampietro

NY newsboxes transformed into aquariums by carlo sampietro

there is beauty in something that has been in the street for so long…

next to the designboom mart, inside the show floor of the ICFF, we spotted a booth full of newsboxes which have been customized to become aquariums, greenhouses, terrariums even dishwashers. this line of home furnishings and slice-of-life dioramas also provide ambient illumination as their secondary function.

the custom made aquarium tank doubles as an ambient lamp …

carlo sampietro infuses discarded materials from the streets of NY with new life in his artistic initiative entitled ‘the street is in the house‘. sampietro’s approach to art production culls from the sights and sounds of new york city and his career as an art director for 13 years in the advertising industry.

… and features a starter kit,  filter, net, hose, and three rubber ducks.

close-up

recycled from a new york city publication dispenser

‘secret garden’, 2009

… is a custom made ambient lamp greenhouse.

in its previous life it has been a new york city publication dispenser

carlo sempietro was born in 1975 in the small village of menaggio at lake como, in italy. as a young boy, he volunteered with a local mission to collect broken appliances, engine parts and electronics and to sell them for the benefit of a charity in peru. by the age of 12, he could tweak and manipulate motorbike engines for races with his friends at school. carlo studied graphic design in verona, italy and subsequently moved to milan to pursue a career in advertising.