Hasta La Ideas

While the Oeben Mechanical Desk conceals all of its machinery inside its form, designer Joe Paine’s equally beautiful Mechanical Bureau proudly wears its gears on its sleeve. The now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t worksurface is operated by a crank attached to gears and a rack and pinion system, inspired by 19th- and 20th-Century farm equipment. Check out how smooth it looks in action:

Jo’burg-based Paine’s creation recently made an appearance at Design Indaba, where it was a Finalist for Most Beautiful Object in South Africa 2013.

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