Now you see it . . .

Somewhere in the leafiest part of Surrey, in the luxuriousdrawing room of a grand country estate owned by a wealthy international businessman, lies a well-hidden secret.

Visitors, including captains of industry, ambassadors and politicians, are no doubt impressed by the man's collection of Georgian antiques and his elegant 24-carat gilded Regency chiffonier bookcase, with its marble top and silk-lined shelvesholding first-edition books. Yet most would be surprised to learn that the latter piece has a dual purpose. It is not 200 years old but a new museum-quality reproduction that serves as camouflage for a slimline plasma television, which can be called forth, at the tap of a button, from behind the books through a panel in the marble. It's just one example of a growing trend towards ingeniousconcealment of technology.

"The advent of flat-screen TVs means that people can have them anywhere they like and can conceal them in the most unlikely places," says David Salmon, maker of the chiffonier and other bespoke furniture. "Clients who like a traditional look and fine pieces of furniture still want modern entertainment. This piece is now in a formal show-off drawing room where the owner entertains officially and therefore does not want to see a big TV. But at the same time the owner needed to be able to watch the football in there with friends when he wanted.

"The better quality the piece, the less expected it is to find a TV concealed within it. Yet these are totally functioning pieces of furniture, with real books on the shelves. What really surprises people is that the proportions of the furniture are not compromised at all."

Salmon, whose most famous work is a series of copies of Napoleon's campaign chair for most of Europe's royal families, is now frequently contacted by clients who want to slip their TVs into the most unlikely places. One of his favourites is perhaps even more difficult to spot in a panelled library in a fine house in Greenwich, Connecticut. Over the carved mantelpiece, flanked by elaborate sconces and two archedrecesses for books, hangs a much-admired oil painting. But when the owners fancy watching a film, the painting (applied to a specially created canvas) simply rolls up into a recess behind the panelling to reveal yet another plasma TV. (The same clients also asked Salmon to make one of the archedbookcases into a secret door.)

Designers of contemporary living spaces are joining in too. In a new fleet of 10 slick, minimalist, Anglo-Italian yachts designed by the architect Norman Foster and currently under construction - and offered for fractional ownership by YachtPlus - the look is ultra-pared-down modern. "We're planning to have a glass wall in every suite that will be painted black except for a cut-out where the mega-plasma screen will be siliconed to the back," explains YachtPlus chief executive Han Verstraete.

"When the TV is turned off, the whole wall looks like just a dark glass panel. But when it's on, the TV lights up from behind the glass and looks like it takes up the whole wall."

在萨里(Surrey)的绿荫最深处，坐落着一位富有国际商人宏伟的乡村别墅。在这座别墅的豪华客厅里，有一个隐藏得很好的秘密。

包括实业巨头、各国大使以及政界要人在内的访客，无疑对此人收藏的乔治亚时期古董印象深刻。让人留下深刻印象的，还有雅致的摄政时期(Regency)24K镀金小书柜，有着大理石台面和丝绸垫里的架子，里面放着首版书籍。然而，当获悉书柜有着双重功能时，绝大多数人会惊讶不已。它并没有200年的历史，而是一件完全可以乱真的全新复制品，用来作为一台纤巧等离子电视的伪装。只要按下按钮，这个电视就会通过大理石中的嵌板，从书后面翻到前面来。时下日渐流行巧妙的隐藏技术，这只是其中的一个例子。

"平板电视的问世，意味着人们喜欢把它放在哪里，就可以放在哪里，而且可以把它隐藏在最想不到的地方，"这个书柜以及其它定制家具的制造者戴维•萨蒙(David Salmon)说。"喜欢传统外观与精美家具的客户，仍然需要现代娱乐。这个书柜如今放在一个奢华炫耀的正式客厅里，主人要在这里郑重地招待客人，不想看到一个大电视。但同时，主人需要在想要的时候，跟朋友在这里看足球。"

"家具质量越好，人们就越不会料到里面藏了一部电视。然而这些也都是具有原来功能的家具，书架上有真正的书籍。真正让人感到惊奇的，是家具的尺寸比例丝毫没有打折扣。"

萨蒙最为著名的作品，是拿破仑指挥椅的一系列仿制品，专为欧洲的大部分皇室提供。现在，客户频频联系萨蒙，想把电视藏到某个意想不到的地方。在他最喜爱的设计之一中，电视更难被发现，在康涅狄格州格林威治镇一座精美屋子中，他把电视藏在了装有隔板的图书室里。在一个饰有雕刻花纹的壁炉架上，挂着一幅备受推崇的油画，两侧有精美的烛台和两个用于放书的拱形凹格。但主人想看电影时，这幅油画（用了经特殊制作的画布）会徐徐向上卷起来，进入隔板后面的一个凹槽，露出另一部等离子电视。（还是这些客户，他们要求萨蒙把其中一个拱形书架藏到一个暗门里面。）

现代居住空间设计师也在加入其中。建筑师诺曼•福斯特(Norman Foster)设计了10艘极简主义英意风格的华丽游艇，外观极富简约的现代感。这些游艇目前正在建造，YachtPlus公司将以共享产权的方式出售。"我们计划在每个套间里装上玻璃墙，除了挖空放置超大等离子屏幕的那块面积，墙面均漆成黑色，"YachtPlus首席执行官汉•韦斯特拉特(Han Verstraete)解释说。

"关掉电视时，整面墙看上去就像一块黑色玻璃。但打开电视时，电视会从玻璃后面变亮，看上去就像占据了整面墙。"
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