Mural Dishwasher by Lacasse and Savard
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 04.28.08
I previously admired this horizontal eco dishwasher concept by Marie-Christine Lacasse & Marie Claude Savard, seen at the University of Quebec in Montreal Design Grad Show, but only had the video.
I am particularly fascinated by it because I used to try and get clients to install two dishwashers, which would act as storage as the dishes just went from one to another. This would save cupboard space, the work emptying the dishwasher and energy, as you don't run it until all of the dishes are moved from one to the other and it is full. This wall-unit design is a much more elegant solution.
Mocoloco's Eric Demay provides us with more information.
Mural Dishwasher. Designers: Marie-Christine Lacasse & Marie Claude Savard, professor: Patrick Evans.
"Reviewing everyday objects the designer duo of Marie-Christine Lacasse and Marie Claude Savard tackled rethinking how a dishwasher should work, as part of, and displayed in, the kitchen space. Combining the cabinets where you would usually store dishes, the idea is to simply drop the dirty dishes on the rack and the autonomous dishwasher fills up and does it's thing - cleaning and washing, moving from one cabinet to the next."
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Many homes in Finland have this as a default. I haven't seen them in any other country though, Nordic or elsewhere.
this is fascinating, but one question; with the hose trailing along beneath, this space is not useful for anything else. If i were to install this in a house, would the hose, etc, be hidden inside the wall instead? in which case, would this only be really feasible during major remodeling or new construction.
but, it is a beautiful idea, anyway. :D
@liz: Dishwashers use an inline hose from the plumbing, generally close to where the sink is. Refrigerators use something similar for ice makers. If a kitchen didn't already have this setup, it would be very easy to add, and then the pipe can be routed through a hole in the counter top, or the one in the side of the cabinets for the fridge.
Resa, do you mean this device is already available in Finland? I would be interested in the information because I don't believe this is a practical actual object.
One of the selling points for dishwashers in the united States is that they are quiet. This is achieved with soundproofing. It is hard to imagine a dishwasher that is open like this being very quiet. I would expect it to steam up the room as well when hot water is used to wash the dishes. There doesn't appear to be an obvious drain line either.
So much clever design will never see the light of day because the things won't work in practice. Treehugger once again gets a ding because they are so enamored of the design and the impression of green without the actual substance of working functioning environmentally friendly devices.
Richard,
I disagree with you in regards to this Dishwasher...I believe it would work in practice. As far as sound is concerned sound-proof glass is available....as far as a drain is concerned that can be run through the wall directly out of the kitchen. All you people playing devils advocate frustrate me to no end! This is an amazing concept / design. Lacasse & Marie Claude Savard DON'T LISTEN TO THE NO-TALENT HACKS! Keep developing
Resa, please do respond. Are you saying this design is not original and is in use in Finland?
At first i thought the dishwasher was one of those old-fashionied dish drainer combination dish storage cupboard that the Finns, Swedes and other Nords have used forever. It's a dish drainer that fits above the sink so wet dishes can drip into it while drying. Does anybody know where i can get one? I've been trying to improvise one, but i'm too old and stupid to make it work.