Those of us living in the tight quarters of apartments are always looking for clever space saving solutions. The best of these solutions should not only be compact, but also be able to keep our odds and ends tidy. DeskBox ticks all the, well, boxes for what we look for in space saving furniture.
This wall-mounted desk is brought to us by Raw Edges. Israeli designers Yael Mar and Shay Akalay established the studio in London after graduating from the Royal College of Art. The desk is made of a metal mount with an interlocking wooden writing surface. At first sight, it seems to be a thick shelf attached to a wall. The genius of the DeskBox is a clever hinge mechanism adopted from old sewing-machine boxes that Dutch furniture manufacturer, Arco, used to make. The lid slides out and locks into position creating a surface generous enough to use a laptop on, as can be seen in the images below. Whatever you may be using the desk for can be quickly hidden from view by sliding the lid back up. In this rest position, the desk surface is still large enough to make a shopping list or compose a letter. Even though the designers say the choice of materials was largely an economic one (they want the desk to be accessible) they look sublime together. And economics didn’t stop them from adding the charming detail of a pencil holder and all-important holes for wires within the desk.
While flashy design and grand concepts are often what grab headlines, the designs we get most joy out of are those clever ones that make life just a little easier.
We all have different requirements and ideas about furniture pieces we put in our homes. Obviously, they tell a lot about our personality and through them we can express and put our inner world to display. Interactions with the furniture pieces and shaping them according to our taste are more and more important. We live in an era of self-expression and individualism. These requirements are the same when it comes to selecting the right bookshelves, too.
German creative group, Union der Guten Dinge came up with a brilliant idea. Inspired by our analog world and the need for individualism and self-expression, young designers Kristina Schlagheck and Sebastian Dürr created a special storage system. “Express your Shelf” comes in various sizes and modules. They all are super flexible and provide a support platform for your imagination and artist within you. Pick a funky color, some letters, create a word to make a reminder on the wall and impress your friends. What if you have something else and longer to say? The answer is pretty easy: find a a clean wall, combine and attach a number of shelves together so larger sentences and messages can be formed. Colorful uniqueness and smart storage spaces are guaranteed.
When it comes to natural forces there are few we are more at the mercy of than gravity. Dutch designer Jólan van der Wiel taps into nature for inspiration and uses gravity as an aid for production in a new creation called Gravity Stool.
Gravity stool was seen as part of Tom Dixon’s Transnatural group show at the Milan Furniture Fair. Van den Wiel designed a machine fitted with magnets to produce the stools, each one unique in shape. Liquid plastic and 6 kilograms of iron filings are mixed together in a large curved-bottom bowl. This recipe is crucial to the success of the process and allows a stool to be completed within five minutes. The mixture is placed on top of the first set of magnets in the machine. Another set of magnets attached to three smaller bowls is positioned on a piston above the mixture. This piston lowers the smaller bowls into the mixture and then raises them. The mixture now finds itself in a tug of war between gravity and also the two sets of magnets, contorting into syrupy shapes. The liquid sets quite quickly, retaining the organic shapes. And thus a stool is made, with the large bowl defining the seat and the three smaller ones the legs and feet, with a whole lot of chaos in between. The stools can bear an impressive 200 kilograms and come in a variety of colors thanks to pigments added to the mixture.
What makes this project so unique is that a whole new means of production has been created specifically for it, which in turn defines the fascinating shapes that had until now not been seen before.
The word curio has in recent years gotten itself a bad rap. Visions of bedazzled sombreros and gilded commemorative plates come to mind. But the true curio, that little object that baffles the mind and evokes the scent of faraway places still has a place in this world. And that place is in Curiosity Object.
Created for Galerie Cat Berro by Studio GGSV (Gaëlle Gabillet & Stéphane Villard), Curiosity Object is a display cabinet for the objects that we cherish. Half lamp, half furniture it draws attention to what would normally be lost in a layer of dust on the mantelpiece. An elegant blown glass bell rests on a stand of blackened oak. The top of the bell has been cleverly rendered in an ombré fading to opaque black, hiding the bulb lighting up the subject and creating a mystical setting straight out of a Lomo photograph. The cap works with the black stand to visually contain the object within. And since a bell shape has been used, instead of glass planes, reflections obstructing views of the objects within are minimized. In the exhibition, the designers have placed construction debris in the Curiosity Object, making that which is usually discarded a focus of attention and making viewer question why they have been placed there. From this it is clear to see that Curiosity Object can veil even the mundane in intrigue.
Thanks to Curiosity Object, we can now show off everything from the spoils of out travels to our favorite childhood toys in style.
When it comes to space saving and multipurpose furniture, it often comes in the form of ugly foldaway tables and uncomfortable sleeper couches. This despite the fact that even the wealthy in many cities are burdened with space constraints. Chinese-Canadian designer Kitmen Keung has developed a suite of interlocking furniture that is so easy on the eyes; it would be high on the Christmas list of even palace dwellers.
The suite is befittingly called Dual Cut and is made from a rectangular block of urethane divided by two L-shaped cuts. The block splits into two and, depending on which side is up, it can become a chair, a side table, an ottoman, a chaise lounge or an occasional table. That’s a lot for just one piece of furniture. The genius of Dual Cut lies in its simplicity. Since the whole piece is made out of foam, there is no one side that is “up” or “down.” Not only is it versatile, but also the conundrum often facing multifunctional furniture (that it ends up doing a bad job of all its functions) is solved through ergonomic design. When in single-seat mode the back sits at 6° and can be flipped over to a comfortable 23° for lounging. Not only do the simple shape and beautiful proportions work stunningly together, but they make environmental sense too. The shapes fit together to create an easy to transport block. Also, the 3-layer system of coating means that Dual Cut can be used outdoors too. Dual Cut is available through Sixinch in light or dark gray.
With its sublime simplicity, Dual Cut is sure to be a hit and Kitmen Keung deserves a hat tip.
