Home Theaters and Electronics Go Sci-fi Steampunk Style

What is Steampunk? According to Wikipedia, “Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s.” To some, however, it’s more of a lifestyle.There are Steampunk costumes and fashion, Steampunk art, Steampunk gadgets and Steampunk emporiums. The rooms and projects featured here include all of that.

Steampunk integrates anachronistic technology and future technology, with a bit of fantasy and/or Victorian flavor. For a lot of you, Steampunk isn’t part of everyday vernacular. Even if you aren’t a fan of Steampunk forefathers H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, however, you’ve probably come across it in films such as Metropolis, Van Helsing, and even the recent thriller, Sucker Punch — and probably enjoyed the artistic elements of the genre.

While some appreciate the theme sprinkled throughout their literature, film and even fashion, others prefer it prominently displayed in their homes.

We found six examples of people putting Steampunk into high-tech areas of the home. Cool or kind of cold? Take a look:

20,000 Leagues Under the Home Theater

Motivated by the steampunk movement and the classic Disney film, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, David Goldberg created this home theater room. Thankfully, he didn’t keep his inspiration to himself, chronicling the entire construction process on his own website. As visual effects supervisor for films and TV, he was able to fabricate all of the details from scratch. Other highlights include Thiel speakers, B&K components, and a Panasonic projector.

A Little AV Surprise

Massachusetts-based ModVic, LLC put their stylish stamp on this home theater room. It doesn’t appear to be huge, but man, it’s cool. The compartment below that LCD isn’t just to add a steampunk element below the visible big-screen HDTV. It’s actually a door that leads to some of the theater room’s additional AV equipment.

The Command Desk

This is another ModVic masterpiece. We don’t know too much about this install. However, it seems to be some type of steampunk-inspired computer desk. Not pictured is a keyboard that could rival your old Royal. Could you surf the web with that kind of keyboard? Also check out the iPod dock to the left.

Under the Sea, Part Deux

Washington-based design company Dillon Works helped to create this 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea-inspired masterpiece. While the atmosphere is certainly impressive, there’s plenty of high-tech goodies, including AMX control, a BTX screen, an InFocus projector, and Solus in-wall speakers.

Steampunk Home Cinema

Olly Klassen built his own Nautlius-inspired theater from scratch. While there isn’t much information about the actual build here (unless you can translate the press clippings), Olly has posted a wonderful step-by-step pictorial of the entire install process.

Experimenting with Xbox

Just because they can… here is a steampunk-inspired Xbox 360. It’s basically just the outer shell, but still extremely cool. Also, you can follow the step-by-step mod on the Brass Goggles website.