Top 10 office furniture designs that your co-workers and you will love

We often underestimate the importance of great office furniture! When in reality we really shouldn’t. We spend the majority of our day sitting on our office chairs or typing away on our desks whether we’re working in our home office or a corporate one. Hence, these pieces of furniture need to be not only comfortable but ergonomic, and aesthetic as well. And we’ve curated a collection of furniture designs that meet all these criteria. From a height-adjustable work table that supports both standing and sitting working positions to a flexible office both inspired by a chameleon – these innovative furniture designs are not only great for maintaining a healthy posture, but are also super comfy to work on, and will perfectly match the interiors of your modern office. Enjoy!

1. Coffin Office Chair

Are you someone who absolutely despises your dead-end corporate job, well then, we may have found the chair for you! Shaped like a coffin, this wooden chair recently took the internet by storm. A Twitter user shared it on September 7th, and everyone who’s downright fed up with their jobs completely resonated with it.

Why is it noteworthy?

The conceptual coffin chair perfectly represents all the dreaded emotions employees feel throughout the entirety of their workday. It reflects the feeling of doom one experiences, as they have to sit through another pointless meeting that could have been an email.

What we like

  • Inspired by Rene Magritte’s painting titled The Balcony (1950)
  • Perfectly captures the feeling of having a dead-end job

What we dislike

  • It’s a concept!
  • There’s no cozy cushioning to get comfy in

2. D-Tach

D-Tach is a versatile stool that transforms into a small workspace designed to accommodate today’s mobile work culture. With each day, our world seems to become more and more mobile. Mobile offices, working from home, and freelance careers are increasing in popularity as we move away from corporate offices. With work culture making such a big shift towards mobile lifestyles, our home offices and furniture should reflect that.

Why is it noteworthy?

Industrial design student Andrew Chang decided to create a chair that fits the bill. D-Tach is a modular stool design that functions as a traditional office chair, only to disassemble into parts that provide a small working space on the go.

What we like

  • Transforms into a small workspace
  • Fits into most modern offices

What we dislike

  • We’re unsure how comfortable would the small workspace be to actually work in

3. The ZooZoo Collection

Adding an element of warmth will surely help employees to ease into their new work routine, after spending more than a year working from home. And a great collection of furniture could really help with that – such as the ZooZoo collection by Narbutas.

Why is it noteworthy?

Designed by Annie Lee for the workplace furniture brand Narbutas, the ZooZoo collection includes an intriguingly high coffee table and a complementing pouf. The sleek coffee table is 27.2 inches tall and features a metal base, as well as a smooth top. The coffee table is available in two sizes, and the metal base can be customized to the color of your choice. The collection also includes a series of matching poufs available in a variety of colors and textiles. The poufs are accompanied by cushioned seats.

What we like

  • The entire collection is available in a single color, or a two-toned option, hence allowing it to suit diverse interior spaces
  • The poufs can be neatly stowed under the coffee tables, and also boast handy storage nooks to hold books, folders, and other miscellaneous items

What we dislike

  • Not great for working long hours

4. The Follow Meeting Cone

Designed by office furniture brand Mara, the Follow Meeting Cone is an intriguing table with a conical base and an adjustable tabletop that can be controlled and operated using a mechanical component.

Why is it noteworthy?

The Follow Meeting Cone utilizes the brand’s pioneered height-adjusting mechanism that can support both sitting and standing working positions effortlessly! The table’s mechanical system allows the table to be raised or lowered, enabling you to position it at the angle you want to work in. The base and top are connected using a metal telescopic-element that is visible once the table has been raised.

What we like

  • The table’s interesting conical-shaped base serves as the star of the design and gives it a sculptural silhouette
  • The cone is designed to be used in commercial workplaces, as well as home offices or residential spaces

What we dislike

  • No complaints!

5. The Kameleon Office Booth

Designed by the Romanian brand Askia Furniture, the Kameleon Office Booth is a pod that takes major inspiration from a Chameleon. The pod is designed to adapt and merge with diverse offices and workspaces, just the way a chameleon does in nature!

Why is it noteworthy?

The adaptable pod comes in different sizes and features a panel-based system which makes it impressively customizable. This system ensures that different colored elements can be attached or detached from the pod, allowing users to set it up according to their personal preferences. These elements can be removed from the structural frame at any time. This patented system is what provides the office booth with its ‘Chameleon’ quality.

What we like

  • The office booth is recyclable since it’s built from wood and chipboard
  • Flat-packed and can be assembled within 40 minutes

What we dislike

  • No complaints!

6. The Zedo Desk

Not only should our desks be clean, but they should also sport an ergonomic and functional design. One such desk I recently came across is the Zedo Desk.

Why is it noteworthy?

Designed by Paolo Pampanoni for the workplace furniture brand Narbutas, the Zedo desk is great to bring some personality and character into a dreary old corporate office. It can be used as an individual desk or linked together with multiple other Zedo desks. The flexible desk system has distinct metal parts, and colorful accessories to help you create a desk space according to your personal taste and requirements.

What we like

  • As ideal as Zedo is for office space, it could also work great in your home office
  • You can team it up with the Polytone-L chair, which is also by Narbutas

What we dislike

  • No complaints!

7. Iko

“A levitating sphere, a focused capsule, a refuge for the senses” are just a few of the things Ivo Andric prefers to call his design rather than simply a ‘hanging chair’. After all, the Iko doesn’t look or feel like your traditional chair. Designed like a nest of a weaverbird, this little hanging cocoon provides a neat enclosed space to lounge in, allowing you to take a reclusive break right within your office.

Why is it noteworthy?

Iko is made using a few well-curated materials. Its outer frame is crafted from wooden elements that are machine-made and surface-treated by hand, with metal rod internal cores. The rods provide rigidity, the wood gives Iko its classy appeal, and the negative triangular spaces are filled with wool-covered acoustic panels that absorb sound.

What we like

  • Almost every aspect of the Iko (barring the metal) is designed with natural materials

What we dislike

  • It may not merge with the interiors of a modern office

8. The FLO Concept

When you’re working all day at your desk, the last thing you need is a chair that makes the work even more tiresome, not to mention actually dangerous to your health. The FLO concept tries to change the equation by designing the casual swivel chair as a more visually whole shape. Of course, the chair is actually made of different parts that you do have to assemble, but once connected, it would seem as if the chair came out of the factory as a single piece, except for the base and swivel cylinder, of course.

Why is it noteworthy?

This design allows the eyes to smoothly follow the contour of the chair like flowing water, hence the name. Perhaps almost as a side effect, the overall design of the chair looks futuristic and something from a utopian office. The sleek form and twisting structures of the armrests and the bent shape of the backrest give it an almost otherworldly appearance, definitely not something that would fit in today’s office settings.

What we like

  • Visually striking
  • The structure of the chair is actually designed to provide more stability and durability, especially when leaning back

What we dislike

  • The shape of the backrest itself might not be that comfortable after long hours of use

9. The Lumina Desk

Blending a functional furniture aesthetic with functional technology, this height-adjustable desk brings an altogether new way to organize digital spaces for maximum productivity. Designed by a startup company otherwise known for its AI webcam (delivering DSLR-level quality), the smart programmable desk is primarily built to bring passive data to the peripheral view in the most non-intrusive way.

Why is it noteworthy?

There are countless options when we talk of Sit-stand desks with push-button raise/lower action, but Lumina desk is different. The smart furniture piece brings a programmable height adjustment feature to the equation, and it’s going to be highly useful. The in-built Windows and Mac-compatible software allows the user to set the start and end times for raising or lowering the height ranging from 30-47 inches.

What we like

  • The scratch-resistant and fingerprint-resistant OLED display is centered in a way to make space for placing the primary monitor along with the secondary screen and keyboard and mouse

What we dislike

  • No complaints!

10. The HÅG Capisco Chair

The HÅG Capisco chair ergonomic office seat is an innovative chair design that’s been amped with a variety of active sitting options, that ensure you don’t have to sit still all day long! It pairs perfectly with standing desks, or desks with an adjustable height. It comes in twelve different upholstery options, as well as three different color options.

Why is it noteworthy?

The chair works well for all kinds of people. Whether you’re a fidgety personality who loves to move around, or someone who enjoys stretching and practicing yoga – this chair works perfectly for everyone! It supports any seating position you may occupy – whether you sit backward, sideways, kneeling, cross-legged, squatting, or more.

What we like

  • Adjustable height – 15″ to 40″
  • Supports a maximum weight of 250 pounds

What we dislike

  • The chair’s quirky form may not merge harmoniously with modern office spaces

The post Top 10 office furniture designs that your co-workers and you will love first appeared on Yanko Design.

Link About It: This Week’s Picks

An “upcycled” skyscraper, a magnet for microplastics, a swimming dinosaur discovery and more

Paleontologists Discover a Swimming Dinosaur

In Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, scientists discovered the bones of a previously unknown dinosaur species, Natovenator polydontusthe first and only dinosaur found that had specific adaptions suited for swimming. Hailing from prehistoric Mongolia about 71 million years ago, the Natovenator was a “many-toothed hunting swimmer” that measured around a foot long. A relative of the Velociraptor and other sharp-toothed predators, the new species has distinct traits—like a long jaw with tiny teeth to snatch fish and swept-back ribs—that set it apart from other dinosaurs that were believed to be capable of swimming now and then, such as the SpinosaurusThese familiar yet adapted traits in the Natovenator suggest that there could be a whole family of non-avian swimming dinosaurs, which further study of the known species could help elucidate. Learn more about it at Smithsonian Magazine.

Image courtesy of Yusik Choi

Using Design to Restore Indigenous Sovereignty

Architecture across reservations reveals and renews present-day colonialism. More than half the structures throughout the Navajo Nation, for instance, are dilapidated or in need of large repairs, while 39% of houses remain overcrowded, according to a report from the Navajo Housing Authority. In working to further tribal sovereignty, Indigenous artists and architects are using design as a vehicle for decolonization. At creative practice Studio:indigenous, founder Chris Cornelius rethinks HUD Houses (aka housing provided by US Department of Housing and Urban Development) by incorporating the needs of Indigenous lifestyles: space for ceremony, a large porch, a view of the sky and a place to build a fire. Others, like Design Build Utah, a graduate program from the University of Utah’s College of Architecture + Planning, focus on building affordable housing for Navajo Nation residents in a way that departs from the white saviorism embedded in the typical structures made on reservations. Learn more about how design is being used to empower Native communities at Architectural Digest.

Image courtesy of Timothy Hursley

Engineers Create Magnetic Powder That Captures Tiny Microplastics

At Melbourne, Australia’s RMIT University, researchers have developed a magnetic powder made from recycled waste that can capture the smallest invisible fragments of microplastic—including pieces that are 1,000 times finer than hair. This in itself sets the material apart from other filters that can only capture larger fragments, but the powder also acts quickly; it’s capable of working within an hour. The powder functions because it has a nano-sized structure that allows it to catch microscopic pieces. “It’s a porous material with a special surface that can react with microplastics,” explains Nicky Eshtiaghi, a chemical engineering professor who led the research team. Once the plastic is caught, it can then be recycled and the material can easily be removed from the water using magnets. Learn more about the innovative new filter at Fast Company.

Image courtesy of Lisa Schaetzle/Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images

10-Foot-Long Fish Thriving Again in The Amazon River

Measuring up to 10 feet long and weighing 450 pounds, the pirarucu is one of the world’s largest freshwater fish and used to permeate the Amazon river before overfishing dwindled their population. Now, sustainable fishing programs have helped revive the species so that in some areas along the river the population has come back tenfold. At Brazil’s Mamirauá nature reserve, fishing is carefully monitored and tracked so that only 30% of the total population are allowed to be harvested and only adults can be caught. Noticing the success of these rules, locals have organized their own boat patrols to ensure no illegal fishing takes place. As exploitation and deforestation continues to threaten the Amazon, this news comes as not only a rare environmental victory but also a testament to how climate organizing can suceed. Learn more at NPR.

Image courtesy of Bruno Kelly/NPR

The World’s First “Upcycled” Skyscraper

In 2014, the AMP Centre—formerly the tallest building in Sydney, Australia—was slated for demolition. After realizing the environmental consequences and CO2 output this would cause, the owners opened an architectural competition to see how the building could be “upcycled” instead. This year, the renewed building, designed by 3XN, opened as an expanded 49-story skyscraper that has been named World Building of the Year 2022 by the World Architecture Festival. Now dubbed the Quay Quarter Tower, the building retained 95% of the original skyscraper’s core as well as over two-thirds of its structure. The architects’ method involved erecting a new structure directly beside the old one and “grafting” them together, forming a larger, contemporary building unified by a glass facade. When compared with removing and constructing a new structure, this approach has been more sustainable and cost-effective, saving 12,000 tons of CO2 and $150 million AUD. Read more about it at CNN.

Image courtesy of AdamMork/3XN

Digital Artist FVCKRENDER’s Otherworldly LVCIDIA Project

Self-taught, Vancouver-based artist FVCKRENDER (aka Frederic Duquette) created an immersive digital world called LVCIDIA, a project of “collective-based generative art, where people own planets others can visit.” While it’s free for anybody to access the virtual world, it’s also populated with NFTs that can be purchased and used by owners. FVCKRENDER, who suffered from anxiety when he was younger, wanted the dreamy world to be “anxiety-reducing,” he tells Highsnobiety. “I wanted to make this relaxing environment people can get lost in and see art in a different way that hasn’t been done before. As long as you innovate and do these things that haven’t been done before, that’s where you’re going to keep your integrity.” Float through LVCIDIA here, and read more of the interview at Highsnobiety.

Image courtesy of FVCKRENDER

Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on social media, and rounded up every Saturday morning. Hero image courtesy of Lisa Schaetzle/Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images

AW2 references Bedouin tents for resort in Saudi Arabia's AlUla desert

Tent at Banyan Treet AlUla resort

French studio AW2 has completed the Banyan Tree AlUla Resort in Saudi Arabia‘s Ashar Valley, with tent-like suites that have roofs made of sand-coloured canvas.

Across a dramatic, open site in the AlUla desert, the resort comprises 47 luxury tented suites, two restaurants and a spa with a pool, all arranged around the surrounding rock formations.

The suites reference the tents of the nomadic Bedouin people who historically occupied the area, and are designed by AW2 to balance the views of the vast landscape with more intimate pockets of shelter and privacy for guests.

Tent among rock formations at AlUla desert resort
AW2 has completed the Banyan Tree AlUla Resort

“Our architecture responds to the fragility of the Ashar site and aims not only to restore but also to protect it from future harm by consciously addressing the balance of man and nature,” said AW2, the studio led by architects Reda Amalou and Stéphanie Ledoux.

“Our concept involves harnessing the natural beauty of the landscape with a project that seamlessly integrates into the site, a design that is adapted and adaptable to the cultural, historical and natural specificities of Ashar.”

Plans for the Banyan Tree AlUla Resort were first revealed in 2020. It forms part of the Royal Commission of AlUla’s project to transform the historic desert area – home to Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site – into an international tourist destination.

Tents at the Banyan Tree ALULa Resort by AW2
It is located in Saudi Arabia’s Ashar Valley. Photo is by Reda Amalou and Stéphanie Ledoux

The suites, which range in size from one to three bedrooms, are all built from compressed earth bricks. They are topped by large tensile roofs that stretch outwards, supported by wooden posts, to shade and provide privacy for guests.

Openable wooden screens with a geometric pattern drawn from motifs used by the Nabataeans – one of several nomadic Bedouin tribes – provide natural ventilation and access to paved terraces with seating areas, small pools and firepits.

Tent-like hotel suite in Saudi Arabian desert
It comprises tent-like suites with canvas roofs

“Spaces are designed to create an indoor-outdoor feel, to help guests feel connected to nature,” said AW2. “Terraces extend from the interior spaces with the canvas tent covering above.”

Banyan Tree AlUla Resort is connected by a series of narrow desert trails, with the restaurants and spa nestled between existing rock formations and also built using compressed earth bricks.

“To emphasise the light touch approach in the development of the vast site, paths and walkways were designed as trails in the sand,” added the studio.

“Guests travel through a landscape of sand dunes allowing them to get closer to nature. In this way, the footprint of the resort is reduced to a minimum and the site’s natural habitat is preserved,” it continued.

Terrace beneath tent-like roof of desert resort by AW2
The walls are made of compressed earth bricks. Photo is by Reda Amalou and Stéphanie Ledoux

For the resort’s interiors, a sandy-brown colour palette drawn from the roofs and the surrounding desert is used.

Bespoke dark wood furniture and fittings are combined with more decorative patterns that also reference traditional motifs of the Nabataeans.

Pool at AlUla desert resort
There is a spa with a pool

Saudi Arabia’s extensive tourism push has recently seen Foster + Partners reveal designs for “the world’s first fully immersive experiential marine life centre” in the Amaala resort, as well as a series of hotels and villas on the island of Shurayrah.

The country also recently unveiled the latest plans for its Neom development, which include designs to hold the Asian Winter Games in the desert and The Line, a 170-kilometre-long mirrored skyscraper that will be home to nine million people which has been criticised for its claims about sustainability and livability.

The photography is by Banyan Tree AlUla Resort unless stated otherwise.

The post AW2 references Bedouin tents for resort in Saudi Arabia’s AlUla desert appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen's top nine mass-timber buildings of 2022

House in Chilterns by Kirkland Fraser Moor

With mass timber becoming an increasingly mainstream building material, we continue our review of the year by looking at nine of the most interesting cross-laminated timber and glued laminated timber buildings of 2022.

This year has seen cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glued laminated timber (glulam) used to create buildings that vary dramatically in scale as well as in form, from an angular residential tower to a tubular holiday home.

Read on for Dezeen’s top nine mass-timber buildings of the year:


Bert treehouse
Photo by Christian Flatscher

Bert, Austria, by Precht

One of the year’s most unusually shaped buildings, the tubular Bert dwellings were informed by cartoon characters. Four of the rounded structures were built as guest accommodation at the Steirereck am Pogusch restaurant in the rural village of Pogusch.

Each of the buildings, which are covered in shingles and feature large round windows, were constructed from prefabricated components made from bent cross-laminated timber. The factory-made components were then assembled on site.

Read more about Bert ›


MORE Cabin
Photo by Scott Norsworthy

MORE Cabin, Canada, by Kariouk Architects

This dramatic, cantilevered holiday home was designed by Kariouk Architects to stand out from its natural surroundings overlooking a lake in Québec.

The cabin was constructed from a combination of glulam beams, CLT panels and additional steel supports.

Read more about MORE Cabin ›


Camp Lakota
Photo by Here and Now Agency

Camp Lakota, USA, by Perkins&Will 

Architecture studio Perkins&Will utilised mass timber to create 24 cabins and a 1,022-square-metre dining hall at a Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles campground in California.

Each of the cabins at Camp Lakota was made from timber Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) and supported on a timber frame, while the main hall has a glulam structure.

Read more about Camp Lakota ›


House in Chilterns by Kirkland Fraser Moor
Photo by Edmund Sumner

Ashraya, UK, by Kirkland Fraser Moor

The distinctive Ashraya house, built in the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is enclosed by a large CLT arch.

Topped with grass, the house was designed to be both contemporary and integrated into the landscape. Along with the timber roof structure, internal walls were built from chalk blocks to reduce the home’s environmental impact.

Read more about Ashraya ›


The Plus furniture factory by BIG for Vestre
Photo by Einar Aslaksen

The Plus factory, Norway, by BIG

Set within a Nowegian forest, The Plus factory was designed by Danish studio BIG to be the “world’s most environmentally friendly furniture factory” for outdoor furniture maker Vestre.

Built from PEFC-certified cross-laminated timber and glulam, the Passivhaus factory was arranged in  four double-height wings radiating out from a central office area that each contain a different stage of the company’s production line.

Read more about The Plus factory › 


Hayward Field stadium in Oregon
Photo by Kevin Scott

Hayward Field, USA, by SRG Partnership

Seattle-based architecture firm SRG Partnership added a ETFE canopy supported by a glulam structure to Hayward Field (pictured above and top), which is the track and field facility for the University of Oregon.

The canopy rises from the seating in slightly curved arches as a nod to the forests of the Pacific Northwest.

Read more about Hayward Field ›


Glass-clad mass-timber tower in Milwaukee
Photo courtesy Korb + Associates Architects

Ascent, USA, by Korb + Associates Architects

At 86.6 metres, the Ascent residential tower in Wisconsin officially became the world’s tallest timber building this year. Designed by Korb + Associates Architects, the 25-storey tower has a concrete base, elevator and stair shafts, with the rest of the structure made from CLT and glulam.

The building, which contains luxury apartments on the upper levels and retail on the ground floor, replaced the 85.4-metre-high Mjøstårnet building in Norway as the title-holder.

Read more about Ascent ›


Office for United Nations on Lake Geneva by SOM and Burckhardt+Partner
Photo by Dave Burk

United Nations offices, Switzerland, by Skidmore Owings & Merrill and Burckhardt+Partner

Built on the United Nations campus in Geneva, this 24,000-square-metre hybrid mass-timber and concrete office block was designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill and Burckhardt+Partner.

Designed to accommodate 1,500 staff, the building was arranged around two diamond-shaped courtyards with large amounts of glazing that provide views across the campus and Lake Geneva.

Read more United Nations offices ›


King's Cross Sports Hall by Bennetts Associates
Photo by Hufton + Crow

King’s Cross Sports Hall, UK, by Bennetts Associates

UK studio Bennetts Associates used a combination of CLT and glulam to create the King’s Cross Sports Hall in London, which is currently being used as the Construction Skills Centre.

Built to the north of King’s Cross, the sports centre was designed to be a lightweight structure as it is three metres above a railway tunnel.

Read more about King’s Cross Sports Hall ›

The post Dezeen’s top nine mass-timber buildings of 2022 appeared first on Dezeen.

This week we looked at the best US, UK and Chinese architecture projects of 2022

Water Drop Library in Shuangyue Bay, China, by 3andwich Design

This week on Dezeen, we continued our review of the year by looking at the most interesting buildings completed in the USA, UK and China this year.

Along with focusing on the key projects in the countries where Dezeen is based including the Water Drop Library (above), we also looked at the best houses of the year, best extensions and best cabins of 2022.

Exterior of Iqon tower in Quito by BIG
BIG completed the Iqon skyscraper in Quito

In architecture news, two major skyscrapers were completed in Quito. Danish architecture studio BIG revealed its Iqon skyscraper, which is defined by numerous cascading balconies, near La Carolina park in the Ecuadorian capital.

Built for the same client, Boston-based architecture studio Safdie Architects unveiled its Qorner skyscraper, which has a snaking profile with staggered apartments designed to look like an undulating hillside.

St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine by Santiago Calatrava
The St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church officially opened

In New York, the Santiago Calatrava-designed St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which replaces a 19th-century church destroyed in the 9/11 attack, officially opened at the World Trade Center site.

Also in the city Studio Gang completed the 11 Hoyt residential skyscraper and OMA created a pair of stated skyscrapers in Brooklyn.

A man wearing Dyson Zone headphones
Dyson launched Dyson Zone

In design news, Dyson launched its air-purifying headphones that air “to tackle the dual challenges of city noise and air pollution”.

Named Dyson Zone, the noise-cancelling headphones come with a detachable visor for filtering out air pollutants.

A living room set for Black Panther
Five of Jomo Tariku’s afrofuturist chairs feature in Wakanda Forever

In a pair of articles focused on the design of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, we spoke to Ethiopian-American designer Jomo Tariku about his five afrofuturist chairs that were featured in the film.

The film’s Oscar-winning designer Ruth E Carter told Dezeen that the costumes in the film “push the boundaries” in an exclusive interview.

Bacchanalia London
Bacchanalia opened in London

Popular projects this week included a restaurant in London with monumental sculptures designed by Damien Hirst (above), a villa in Tulum and an eight-sided house in an Oregon desert.

Our most recent lookbook showcased interiors that use this year’s Pantone Color of the Year for 2023.

This week on Dezeen

This week on Dezeen is our regular roundup of the week’s top news stories. Susbscribe to our newsletters to be sure you don’t miss anything.

The post This week we looked at the best US, UK and Chinese architecture projects of 2022 appeared first on Dezeen.

Abacus-inspired wristwatch brings a uniquely traditional experience to timekeeping

Here’s a fun fact I didn’t know until I actually googled it. The Abacus is believed to have been invented as early as 2400 B.C. by the Babylonians – that’s a full 1000 years before timekeeping sundials were first developed by Egyptians. So the Abacus and Sundial have co-existed for roughly 4000 years, but it’s only taken up until now to integrate their principles into a functional hybrid wristwatch! Meet the Beads Of Time, an unusual wristwatch by industrial designer Eshaan Kothari. It combines an abacus, a digital watch, and a day calendar all into a device small enough to fit on your wrist. Tradition, technology, timekeeping, the Beads Of Time has them down to a T!

Designer: Eshaan Kothari

Reading the watch requires a little patience and skill if you aren’t used to an abacus, although the time IS presented digitally on the top left just in case you’re in a bit of a hurry. However, if you’re looking to read the time, the ‘beads’ in the upper row have a value of 5, while the lower row beads are valued at 1. To read the time, all you need to do is see the position of the beads. The upper beads move down to register a number (otherwise they’re valued at 0) and the lower beads move up to register a number. For instance, the vertical columns on the watch read 1, 2, 4 (notice the lower beads), while the last column reads 8 (one upper bead is down and three lower beads are up, totaling to 5 + 3 = 8). The time, therefore, reads 12:48. A digital window on the top gives you the time and date in an alphanumeric format, while an arc-shaped subdial on the side tells you the day of the week.

The beauty of Kothari’s timepiece is its rejection of the status quo to present time in a uniquely traditional way. Abacuses aren’t just historic number calculators, they engage your brain too, boosting its cognitive abilities – abacuses are most commonly found as toys for children to help them sharpen their thinking skills for the very same reason. The watch makes for a great conversation piece, while also simultaneously being really fun to read (and especially watch as the beads dance up and down with every passing minute)!

The Beads of Time watch looks incredibly sophisticated, even though its primary timekeeping method dates back nearly 5 millennia. The watch comes with a surgical-grade stainless steel body and pairs wonderfully with leather or silicone straps based on the model’s color palette. A crown on the side lets you adjust the time and date on the digital window, while two pushers allow you to manually adjust the abacus beads, letting you potentially turn the Beads Of Time into a dual-timezone watch!

Although currently conceptual, Kothari’s creation is currently in the works for being turned into a physical timepiece. He’s been granted a design patent for the watch and is getting ready for the next phase of the product’s development. You can follow his Instagram for updates.

The post Abacus-inspired wristwatch brings a uniquely traditional experience to timekeeping first appeared on Yanko Design.

This laptop accessory turns your portable workstation into a multi-screen monster

Some office workers swear by having more than one computer monitor to boost their creativity. Others, on the other hand, believe it’s just a distraction disaster waiting to happen. For those working at home or on the go on their laptops, the debate is moot anyway since they are forced to use one and only one screen. There have been attempts to “fix” that situation, either with laptops with multiple screens or attachments that give laptops a hefty makeover. It’s easy enough to smirk at these attempts, especially because of how clunky and clumsy they can be, but one somewhat recent attempt does offer a bit of refinement and finesse to hopefully give mobile workers the productivity edge they’ve wished for.

Designer: Xebec

To be honest, there is really no way that a laptop with screens hanging off its sides won’t look unusual, to put it kindly. At least not by our current standards that have been weaned for decades to accept that laptops have only one monitor in front of the user. The future might hold a different attitude, but until people get used to seeing multi-screen laptops, some people are going to be laughed at. Then again, users of this kind of accessory probably won’t care as much about other people’s opinions as long as they end up a wiz at work.

Xebec’s latest design for its Tri-Screen accessory is admittedly rather smart. One of the biggest hindrances to attaching more monitors to a laptop is how they need to take into account different laptop sizes and designs. To solve this puzzle, the Tri-Screen 2 borrows a design from smartphone game controllers that use elastics and telescopic mechanisms to accommodate different phone sizes. With this, the base attachment can grip almost any laptop screen size and doesn’t require screws, adhesives, or magnets.

Two 10.1-inch Full HD screens slide out of this module and independently connect to the laptop, which does mean that the laptop needs to have enough ports to support two external displays. A small built-in kickstand keeps the laptop’s screen from falling backward from the weight, another inherent problem for accessories that add heavy screens and frames to a thin laptop lid. In order to keep the assembly lighter, however, the Tri-Screen 2 doesn’t pack its own battery and instead sucks from the laptop, another consideration to keep in mind when using it away from a power outlet.

It is, of course, arguable whether such a design will get in the way rather than help your productivity, but it’s definitely more convenient than one of those portable monitors you’d have to set down on a table. The expanding base is definitely a nice touch to be able to accommodate more laptops, but it remains to be seen how durable that elastic material will be and what effects the pressure might have on the laptop lid’s integrity. Like with the laptop itself, it’s always a matter of weighing pros and cons, and those who will grab this Tri-Screen 2 better see plenty of Pros to use something like it.

The post This laptop accessory turns your portable workstation into a multi-screen monster first appeared on Yanko Design.

This eerie desk pen holder makes it look like aliens are coming after your pens

Most of us have a favorite writing instrument, be it a specific brand and grade of pencil or, more likely, a specific kind of pen. More avid writers also favor a particular pen design, often of the more luxurious bent, that they put on display on their desks when not in use. Such pen stands and holders are designed to put the focus on the pen itself, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be attention-grabbing themselves. This pen holder design, for example, is truly out of this world, literally and figuratively, as it suspends your favorite writing instrument in mid-air as if caught in a tug-of-war between the Earth’s gravity and an alien spaceship’s tractor beam.

Designer: Hesham El-sheikh

We might have different reasons for putting a pen on a pedestal, whether it’s for ease of reach or simply for display. Most of those simply involves a piece of metal or wood that holds the pen upright, sometimes at an angle. It’s a convenient and efficient way to show off a pen and only the pen, but it’s also a rather boring one, especially compared to this.

The UFO Desk Pen Holder leaves no room for guessing what it does but leaves the “how” a complete mystery. The pen still stands upright, which makes it easy to grab it when you need it. Given how it’s levitating in the air, you can definitely grab it easily, though your brain might have second thoughts lest you risk losing parts of your hand to some molecular transportation device. It’s all a trick of the mind, of course, being that there is no real alien technology at work, or so we presume.

The top of the pen holder is your stereotypical alien spaceship in the shape of a flying saucer. Why extraterrestrials would choose such a design is anyone’s guess, but it is a familiar form and a practical one for this purpose. You could put the USS Enterprise or a Star Destroyer, too, but its irregular shape would break the illusion and remove a bit of the eerie atmosphere surrounding this design.

The saucer also serves as a desk lamp of some sort, its light providing both illumination as well as the suggestion of some retro sci-fi tractor beam. The pen hangs directly below it, of course, though it’s not clear whether it’s coming from or going toward the UFO. How it’s floating without any evident support is even more mysterious. Ironically, the UFO itself is supported by a pillar rather than hovering in the air as well.

It’s definitely possible to pull this off using some transparent support since it would be impossible to keep a pen float using only magnets, at least not with design. We do have “hoverpens” that meet that requirement, though those don’t have the same “retro punk” appeal as a UFO that’s trying to steal your favorite pen away.

The post This eerie desk pen holder makes it look like aliens are coming after your pens first appeared on Yanko Design.

Orchid-shaped villa is rare beautiful combination of nature-inspired architecture and luxurious living

Orchids are some of the most famously precious plant species just for how specific their cultivation needs are. An orchid is easily 30-50 times more expensive than a rose, so it only made sense that Thilina Liyanage chose that flower as inspiration for his luxury villa design, located somewhere on the banks of a rocky creek. The Orchid Villa is a rather eye-catching jewel emerging out of the wilderness. The luxury holiday home sits away from civilization, providing its residents with the perfect getaway residence for a weekend or two. The multi-level residence comes with living quarters on the lower floor, a private pool on the terrace, and a cantilever hammock that hangs right above an adjoining lake, giving you an incredible lounging spot to watch the sunsets.

Designer: Thilina Liyanage

The Orchid Villa falls perfectly into Liyanage’s nature-inspired style, but one could argue that this is perhaps one of his most beautiful pieces yet, with an aesthetic that almost perfectly balances elegance and visual commitment with spatial practicality. Sounds like a mouthful? Let me explain myself…

With the Orchid Villa, Liyanage’s done a remarkable job of fitting the proportions of a villa into the orchid shape without really any sort of compromise. The building still looks remarkably like its inspiration, with petals forming the walls and the facade on the side, and one lilting petal on the front that not only exposes the interiors, but also provides the perfect base for the hammock deck that emerges from the living quarters. It’s a beautiful building that looks exactly like the flower and serves almost perfectly as a luxury villa too.

Like almost all of Liyanage’s creations, the villa is realized using bent pieces of bamboo, assembled together to form the orchid shape. The bamboo is then clad with a translucent fabric that lets you see each individual bamboo column, almost looking like the veins in the petals of the flower. A clever use of lights allows the flower to change colors too, bringing a unique aesthetic to the overall architecture, and making it look just as beautiful at night as it looks during the day!

The post Orchid-shaped villa is rare beautiful combination of nature-inspired architecture and luxurious living first appeared on Yanko Design.

Limited Edition Dog T-Shirt

Represent pioneering riot grrrl band Bikini Kill with this limited edition T-shirt designed by Steve Dore. Available in black or white and in XS to 3XL, the garment features a pooch flipping its middle finger—an apt gesture when celebrating the girls-to-the-front punk rock of Bikini Kill.