Plastic table by Tokujin Yoshioka for Kartell sparkles like crystal glass

Milan 2014: this plastic table by Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka for Italian brand Kartell resembles cut glass.

Kartell Twinkle by Tokujin Yoshioka_dezeen_1sq

Tokujin Yoshioka‘s Twinkle table for Kartell refracts light in a similar way to crystal glass. “The table explores a new possibility of plastic,” said Yoshioka. “Twinkle is a table that shines like a crystal by reflection of light.”

Kartell Twinkle by Tokujin Yoshioka_dezeen_3

The polycarbonate breakfast table is made using injection moulding, a manufacturing process that allows for a table size that would not be possible to create from glass.

Changes in the thickness of the material created by the shape of the mould produces a prism effect.

Kartell Twinkle by Tokujin Yoshioka_dezeen_2

With a square base, the table features shallow grooves that run along the single pedestal leg and spread out from the centre beneath the larger square table top.

The table was exhibited at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2014, which concluded on Sunday.

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Swirling patterns top tables by Elisa Strozyk

Milan 2014: fluid compositions of coloured glaze cover the ceramic tops of these metal-framed tables by German designer Elisa Strozyk (+ slideshow).

Ceramic tables by Elisa Strozyk

Strozyk created the table tops by covering them with different liquid glazes, which were then mixed together by rotating each piece and blowing air across the surface.

Ceramic tables by Elisa Strozyk

This technique makes the glazes “pool and mix together”, creating “traces of fluid movement and smoke-like patterns, which are solidified in the heat of the kiln,” said Strozyk.

Ceramic tables by Elisa Strozyk

Shades of grey, blue, brown and white swirl and blend together on the table tops, which have a reflective glass-like finish to them created by the glaze.

Ceramic tables by Elisa Strozyk

“Glazing clay is one of the oldest techniques to decorate products of everyday life,” said the designer. “The process of firing transforms the liquid suspension of metal oxides and powdered minerals into various glass-like surface-finishes.”

Ceramic tables by Elisa Strozyk

Strozyk also carved criss-crossing lines into the glaze on the surface of one table, allowing the ceramic base to show through the rust-coloured shades decorating the top.

Ceramic tables by Elisa Strozyk

The round ceramic tops sit on simple metal frames, which come in copper and steel and are available in three different sizes.

Ceramic tables by Elisa Strozyk

The tables were shown as part of the Berlin Design Selection in the Ventura Lambrate district of Milan last week.

Ceramic tables by Elisa Strozyk

Photographs are by Studio Been.

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Table top by MIT designers ripples when people are nearby

Milan 2014: designers from MIT Media Lab’s Tangible Media Group have created a shape-shifting table that reacts to human presence with a series of 1,000 tiny motors built into the frame (+ movie).

Transform by Tangible Media Group MIT

Named Transform, the table is divided into three separate surfaces, where more than 1,000 small squares attached to individual motors that are hidden from view.

Transform by Tangible Media Group MIT

When a user passes their hand across the surface, the individual squares rise up in sequence and create a ripple effect.

Transform by Tangible Media Group MIT

The table can also create abstract shapes on its own, and transfer objects across the surface, thanks to a series of pre-programmed animation sequences.

Transform by Tangible Media Group MIT

Transform was created by Daniel Leithinger and Sean Follmer and overseen by their professor Hiroshi Ishii.

“A pixel is intangible,” Ishii told Dezeen. “You can only use it through mediating and remote control, like a mouse or a touchscreen. We decided to physically embody computation and information.”

Transform by Tangible Media Group MIT
Hiroshi Ishii, head of concept design for Transform

According to the team, the concept is a look at how furniture could evolve in future. It forms part of the MIT Tangible Media Group’s Radical Atoms project, which explores human interaction with materials that are reconfigurable by computer.

Transform by Tangible Media Group MIT

“We don’t want the furniture to become more important than the motion. We want to make it feel like it’s a unified design and they are not separate,” said Amit Zoran, one of the product designers on the project.

Transform by Tangible Media Group MIT

Transform changes shape by a series of sensors that detect movement above the surface. However, the table could change according to the emotions of people around it, and create a melody to soothe those around the table, said its creators.

Transform by Tangible Media Group MIT

“Imagine, this is equivalent of the invention of a new medium. Painting, plastic, and computer graphics. It has infinite possibilities,” said Ishii.

The project was part of Lexus Design Amazing exhibition, which premiered in Milan last week.

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Scholten & Baijings carve geometric patterns into marble table collection

Milan 2014: Dutch studio Scholten & Baijings has designed a series of marble tables decorated with engraved geometric patterns that contrast with the natural veined surface of the stone.

Solid Patterns by Scholten & Baijings
Disassembled tables

Scholten & Baijings created the Solid Patterns series for Italian marble producer Luce di Carrara and used different types of marble from the company’s quarry in Tuscany to produce five unique pieces.

Solid Patterns by Scholten & Baijings
Disassembled tables

“The collection is inspired by the uniqueness of marble quarried from the depths of the Apuan Alps,” said the designers. “Designing was all about expressing the various characteristics of the marble in a single form, merging mass, colour, unique line patterns and circular shapes.”

Solid Patterns by Scholten & Baijings
Dinner Table

Thin table tops with irregular rounded edges combine with bases shaped as columns, truncated cones, faceted blocks or fluid curving forms.

Solid Patterns by Scholten & Baijings
Low Table 1

In some cases, Scholten & Baijings applied its signature geometric patterns to the table tops, while other examples feature lines engraved into the bases.

Solid Patterns by Scholten & Baijings
Low Table 2

“Adding grid patterns to the designs has created a contemporary look that enhances the contrast between the graphics and the crystalline marble patterns,” the designers added.

Solid Patterns by Scholten & Baijings
Small Table 1

The largest table in the series can be used as a dining or conference table. It features a base made from a single block of white-beige marble, embellished with a subtle pattern of vertical lines.

Two low coffee tables, one produced from brown-beige Lericy marble and another from a pink-hued stone, feature criss-crossing diagonal lines covering their top surfaces.

Solid Patterns by Scholten & Baijings
Small Table 2

One of two taller tables for seating three to four people has a base made from a hollowed-out block of grey marble with a pattern of vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines. A similar pattern applied to the other table’s base emphasises the accuracy of its faceted form.

The collection was presented at Spazio Rossana Orlandi in Milan during last week’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile.

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Marc Thorpe reimagines garden vine to create steel table

Milan 2014: Brooklyn-based designer Marc Thorpe is showing a range of tables inspired by leaves and stems in Milan this year (+ slideshow).

Morning Glory tables by Marc Thorpe for Moroso

Designed by Marc Thorpe for the Italian brand Moroso, the collection is called Morning Glory and is made from powder-coated welded steel rods for the stems and laser cut bent steel plates for the leaves.

Morning Glory tables by Marc Thorpe for Moroso

The collection takes its name from the flowering vine that fills Thorpe’s garden in New York.

“The Morning Glory project is a personal story,” Thorpe told Dezeen. “My home garden in Brooklyn is covered in the vine. We live with it everyday. I’m inspired by the world around me and always look for what I like to call the modernism within.”

Morning Glory tables by Marc Thorpe for Moroso

While in real life the leaves of the vine would catch water, Thorpe said his leaves were designed to hold something stronger – “like beer”.

Morning Glory tables by Marc Thorpe for Moroso

Morning Glory is designed to be arranged in clusters. The tables come in a mix of autumnal and earth tones including forest green, burnt red and beige.

Morning Glory tables by Marc Thorpe for Moroso

The table is on display in Pavilion 16 at the Salone Del Mobile in Milan until 13 April.

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Nendo reimagines the Navy Chair to create new stool for Emeco

Milan 2014: American furniture company Emeco has revealed a collection of stools and tables made from recycled and reclaimed materials in collaboration with Nendo (+ slideshow).

Nendo reimagines the Navy Chair to create new stool for Emeco

Called SU, which means simple and plain in Japanese, the collection is being shown at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan this week.

Nendo reimagines the Navy Chair to create new stool for Emeco

The tabletop is made from high-pressure laminate (HPL). The stool seats come in three materials – reclaimed oak, eco-concrete and recycled polyethylene. The legs to the table and stools are made of reclaimed oak or recycled aluminium in natural or with a black anodized finish.

Nendo reimagines the Navy Chair to create new stool for Emeco

Oki Sato from Nendo said he was inspired by the American company’s Navy Chair design in making the collection. “The Emeco Navy Chair is “the chair”, and has always been inspiring many architects and designers around the world,” said Sato.

“After roughly two years, we are proud to present a stool, which is strongly linked with the Navy Chair. It is for us, definitely “the stool”.”

Nendo reimagines the Navy Chair to create new stool for Emeco

The reclaimed oak seat has been sourced from old buildings in the US and carved by Amish craftsmen in Pennsylvania. Magnus Breitling, Vice president of product at Emeco said the wormholes in the oak give the seat “character and uniqueness”.

“We keep the oak seat untreated to allow the colour to change depending on its exposure to the sun, humidity and above all – usage, thus creating its own history,” said Breitling.

Nendo reimagines the Navy Chair to create new stool for Emeco

The eco or ‘green concrete’ is made from 50 per cent recycled glass bottles and CSA (calcium sulfoaluminate cement), which requires less energy to make.

Nendo reimagines the Navy Chair to create new stool for Emeco

The recycled polyethylene seats are shaped into the SU seat through rotation moulding and come in red, flint grey and dark charcoal grey.

Nendo reimagines the Navy Chair to create new stool for Emeco

The stools and tables will be on show until 13 April at the Emeco stand, Hall 20, E09 in Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan.

Nendo reimagines the Navy Chair to create new stool for Emeco

Here’s some more information from Emeco:


Emeco Announces the SU Collection – Stools and Tables Designed in Collaboration With Nendo

SU Collection features the famous Emeco characteristics of design, engineering and strength, built with recycled and reclaimed materials.

Nendo reimagines the Navy Chair to create new stool for Emeco

HANOVER, PA – April 8, 2014 – Emeco today announced that they will launch The SU Collection of stools and tables designed in collaboration with Nendo, at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, Italy, April 8 – 13, at Emeco’s Stand Hall 20, E09. The Japanese concept of ‘su’ comes from traditional Japanese culture, and means simple, plain, minimal. Nendo brought the design aesthetic of ‘SU’ to the collaboration with Emeco, along with the name, for the Emeco SU Collection.

Nendo reimagines the Navy Chair to create new stool for Emeco

The SU Collection features precise engineering and the use of new, surprising eco-conscious materials. SU has “Emeco bones” the iconic seat of Emeco chairs made since 1944, and is made of reclaimed and recycled materials discovered through ongoing exploration of eco-conscious resources. SU seats come in three new material choices, all of which demonstrate a more environmentally conscious way of doing things, using responsibly selected alternatives of some traditional materials.

Nendo reimagines the Navy Chair to create new stool for Emeco

Solid reclaimed oak seats have been sourced from old architecture in the U.S.A., and carved into the Emeco seat by Amish craftsmen in Pennsylvania. Every piece is unique with signs of its past life. Eco- Concrete seats are made of Green-Concrete, a revolutionary concept that can replace the energy-consuming traditional concrete used in architecture. Emeco’s eco-concrete SU seat consists of 50% recycled glass bottles and CSA (calcium sulfoaluminate cement) that takes much less energy to make.

Nendo reimagines the Navy Chair to create new stool for Emeco

Recycled Polyethylene seats, made of 75% postindustrial and 25% post consumer content, and shaped into the SU seat through rotation molding, come in three timeless colour options – red, flint grey and dark charcoal grey. Emeco’s traditional material, recycled aluminium is used to make SU legs with either natural or black anodized finish. Reclaimed oak, as used in the seat, is another choice for the legs.

Nendo reimagines the Navy Chair to create new stool for Emeco

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Jaime Hayon designs Analog table for use in home, office or restaurant

Milan 2014: Spanish designer Jaime Hayon has created a table for furniture company Republic of Fritz Hansen that can be used at home or at work (+ slideshow).

Jaime Hayon designs Analog table for use in home, office or restaurant

Jaime Hayon designed the Analog to highlight the importance of tables as a central meeting point in the home and office.

Jaime Hayon designs Analog table for use in home, office or restaurant

“The table is an underrated piece of furniture,” said Hayon. “In my eyes, the table is the heart of the home, the heart of the office, the heart of the restaurant.”

Jaime Hayon designs Analog table for use in home, office or restaurant

The designer teamed up with Republic of Fritz Hansen to create a piece of furniture that can easily fit in any of those spaces.

Jaime Hayon designs Analog table for use in home, office or restaurant

“At the table, we share our greatest joys and sorrows, and at the end of the day, some of the greatest things in life happens at the table.”

Jaime Hayon designs Analog table for use in home, office or restaurant

The result is a desk that doesn’t conform to any one stereotype in table design.

Jaime Hayon designs Analog table for use in home, office or restaurant

“It’s neither square, round nor oval but something in between, which supports dialogue and intimacy,” said Hayon.

The Analog’s elongated shape features four wooden legs arranged at diagonals to allow more people to fit around the desk at the same time. The table top meets the legs vertically, connecting the table with its support.

Jaime Hayon designs Analog table for use in home, office or restaurant

“I have worked a lot with the shape of the table and the way in which it is simultaneously heavy and light, so that it exudes quality,”  said Hayon.

The Analog comes as either a six or eight person table. There are five different table top and leg colours and finishes, including oak and walnut veneer.

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Discarded materials from Milanese homes used to make furniture by Atelier Biagetti

Milan 2014: Milan designer Alberto Biagetti has created a furniture collection inspired by his home city that incorporates materials salvaged from its aristocratic palazzos.

The Bonjour Milàn collection developed by Biagetti’s studio, Atelier Biagetti, comprises a cabinet, a lamp, a large table and groups of side tables made from materials including discarded tiles.

Discarded materials from Milanese homes used to make furniture by Atelier Biagetti
This image: Milàn small table. Main image: Milàn table

“All of our pieces are hand made in Milan and each material has been selected to represent an historical era, a sort of sedimentation of materials,” the designer told Dezeen.

“This idea made us think that maybe in the future people will search for plastic in the ground as one of the most precious materials, as happens today with many materials that become more precious and rare over time.”

Discarded materials from Milanese homes used to make furniture by Atelier Biagetti
Milàn small tables

Hexagonal tiles taken from typical Milanese residences act as surfaces for side tables that feature bases made from rectangular brass profiles.

The structure of each table creates a seemingly delicate contrast to the weighty tiles, which are positioned at different heights.

Discarded materials from Milanese homes used to make furniture by Atelier Biagetti
Milàn cabinet

“When I found these parts of a wonderful old floor with this incredible patina I thought that was a treasure and the perfect starting point,” explained Biagetti.

A mixture of discarded materials including copper, brass, plastic laminate and wood are applied to the glass surfaces of the table and cabinet and arranged in patterns that resemble sectional views of stratified rock or earth.

Discarded materials from Milanese homes used to make furniture by Atelier Biagetti
Parabola lamp

The patterns spread across the glass top of the table and continue onto the upper portion of the supporting trestles, while the top and bottom of the glass cabinet are covered in opaque materials that conceal its contents.

The Parabola lamp features an adjustable brass base supporting a parabolic dish that is inspired by the shape of the huge antennae used for space research.

Discarded materials from Milanese homes used to make furniture by Atelier Biagetti
Parabola lamp

A small reflector at the centre of the dish directs light onto the domed surface, which projects an even light into the room.

Each of the pieces in the collection is unique due to the irregular combination of available materials and the use of handmade production processes.

The collection was launched at a preview event in Paris last week ahead of a presentation at Atelier Biagetti’s Milan showroom from 8-13 April.

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Benjamin Hubert’s lightweight Ripple table is now strong enough to stand on

British designer Benjamin Hubert has developed a more stable version of his lightweight Ripple table, which features on the shortlist for Designs of the Year 2014 (+ slideshow).

Ripple Table 2.0 by Benjamin Hubert

Hubert launched the original Ripple table during last year’s London Design Festival to demonstrate the structural capabilities of a lightweight laminated plywood material called Corelam.

Ripple Table 2.0 by Benjamin Hubert

The nine kilogram product was described as the world’s lightest table, but attracted criticism from Dezeen readers who wondered whether it was robust enough for practical use.

Ripple Table 2.0 by Benjamin Hubert

“I can’t imagine this is very sturdy – at 2.5 metres long it looks and feels too flimsy,” said one reader, while another suggested: “You should prove stability, not lightness.”

Ripple Table 2.0 by Benjamin Hubert

In reaction to doubts over the product’s practicality, Hubert and his team performed a series of strength and stability tests before overhauling the design to improve its structural properties. It is now strong enough to hold the weight of a person.

“I think it’s important to make products that really work,” Hubert told Dezeen. “A concept always needs to be proven, and we enjoy healthy criticism as it pushes us to go further.”

Ripple Table 2.0 by Benjamin Hubert

The updated version features a curve across the underside of the table surface that increases its tensile strength, as well as a new leg design with a triangulated cross section.

A brace attaching the legs to the tabletop is also made from Corelam. This has been pressed to produce an undulating profile that creates a transition between the corrugated surface and the flat area to which the legs are fixed.

Ripple Table 2.0 by Benjamin Hubert

Up to ten people people can be seated around the 2.5 by 1 metre table, which uses 80 percent less material than a standard timber table and still weighs just 10.5 kilograms

In direct response to comments suggesting that the original table should have been shown with someone standing on it to demonstrate its strength, Hubert has done just that with the new version.

Ripple Table 2.0 by Benjamin Hubert

The Ripple table is on show as part of the Designs of the Year exhibition at London’s Design Museum, which opens today and runs until 25 August.

Here’s a press release from Benjamin Hubert:


Ripple 2.0
Held by 1. Holds 1. Seats 10.

Ahead of the Design Museum’s Designs of the Year 2014, Benjamin Hubert Ltd has launched the production-ready version of the nominated Ripple table, which is now also available for purchase through Benjamin Hubert Ltd. The table can still be assembled and manoeuvred by a single person but can now easily support the equivalent of a person’s weight, further demonstrating the properties of the lightweight construction.

Ripple Table 2.0 by Benjamin Hubert

Following a series of rigorous strength and stability tests undertaken by the studio, the underside of the table’s surface now curves gently across its length and width, adding tensile strength to the structure. The improved leg design now employs a hollow triangular profile that offers increased strength and rigidity in two directions. The brace between the legs has a curved cross section to increase the strength of the connection between the leg and the table surface. As the corrugated plywood meets the legs, it gradually transitions to a flat surface, providing a smooth intersection.

Ripple uses 80% less material than a standard timber table, and at 2.5 metres long and 1 metre wide, it now offers ample space for ten place sittings. The table’s impressive strength to weight ratio is enabled by an innovative production process of corrugating plywood for furniture through pressure lamination, which was developed by Benjamin Hubert Ltd in collaboration with Canadian manufacturer Corelam.

Ripple Table 2.0 by Benjamin Hubert

Ripple is made entirely from 3 ply 0.8mm sitka spruce, a timber sourced only in Canada, where the table is manufactured. The engineered timber was also used in construction of the Hughes H-4 Hercules – popularly known as the “Spruce Goose” – the world’s largest all-timber airplane. The strength of the material in combination with a unique lamination process means the edge of Ripple measures just 3.5mm.

Ripple was designed as part of an internal studio research project into lightweight constructions, and was first launched at Aram Store during London Design Festival last year. Ripple will be exhibited as part of the Design Museum’s Designs of the Year 2014.

Material: Sitka Spruce 0.8mm aircraft plywood
Dimensions: L 2.5m x W 0.95m x H 0.74m

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Uma by Kazunaga Sakashita updates archetypal trestle table

The base of this table by Japanese designer Kazunaga Sakashita was inspired by trestles found in factories and on construction sites.

Uma by Kazunaga Sakashita updates archetypal trestle table

Japanese designer Kazunaga Sakashita updated the archetypal trestle table support to make it suitable for use in the home or office, reproducing it in curving tubular steel.

Uma by Kazunaga Sakashita updates archetypal trestle table

“The trestle in a factory or construction site is very functional, and there are various ways to use it,” said the designer. “Because the top board is only placed on the trestle, you can make it suitable for the space by changing the material and size of the top board,”

Uma by Kazunaga Sakashita updates archetypal trestle table

A horizontal bar supports the table surface at each end, supported by one angled leg in its centre and a second bar that extends down from one end, along the floor and back up.

A diagonal strut between the bar on the floor and the angled leg stabilises the structure.

Uma by Kazunaga Sakashita updates archetypal trestle table

The trestle legs are treated with a soft-touch urethane coating which is exposed to ultraviolet rays to give it a hard finish.

An oak top is pictured in combination with the trestles, but Sakashita suggested that the material and size of the surface could be specified by the user.

Uma by Kazunaga Sakashita updates archetypal trestle table
Trestle-type table that the design was based on

Sakashita is currently producing the trestles himself while seeking a manufacturer.

Because the top board is only place on the trestle, you can use it in a use suitable for the space by changing material and the size of the top board.

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