The 3C9 Curved Glass Kitchen Hood/Air Extractor is one of those products that seems to exist in the rarefied air of virtual reality. Granted that, these days, it’s getting harder and harder to tell where “real” ends and “virtual” begins, but the 3C9 looks and sounds like something straight from the kitchen of the Starship Enterprise (yes, I know that the Enterprise’s “replicator” made the notion obsolete, but let’s just go with it for argument’s sake). 3C9—even the name sounds like an android’s—has loads of personality. This, in spite of its sleek and glossy black contours, its impenetrable demeanor, its resemblance to a double-screen laptop.

The 3C9 Hood/Extractor. Designed by CDA.

Futuristic Form and Fabulous Function

As with many-a-workhorse in the kitchen, 3C9’s winning wit and lovely loquacity emerge from its impressive performance: ducted or re-circulating applications, three speeds, twin-fan motor, touch or remote control, washer-safe aluminum filters, filter saturation warning light, a pair of 20 watt halogen lights with attractive glass diffusers, and a 15 minute timer.

And since I am speaking to a future forward and thus, presumably, tech-savvy demographic, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention 3C9’s crucial statistics: 750 mm minimum clearance above a gas cooktop (650 above electric), 53 dBA noise level, 290W rated power, 3 amp supply, and 750m3/hr extraction rate. Among these, perhaps the key items for serious chefs are its quiet operation and powerful pull. In fact, the number of the latter exceeds by just a hair that of another recent hood/extractor (Elica’s elliptical Twin Vent Hood), which levels the functional playing field just enough for consumers to pause and consider which look they might prefer. 3C9—with its curved canopy and deep black reflecting pool of a surface—will doubtless appeal to those gourmands wishing to embrace the intriguing aesthetic possibilities of the kitchens of the future.

Via Appliancist.