Whether it's a place for kids to play or just a better way to fold a table,
designers are working to flll what has generally been considered nonproductive
space. Their ideas range from everyday storage solutions to emergency shelter.
For example, Ron Arad has developed a prototype table that stores folding
chairs, which would otherwise have to be stacked up or hung on the wall.
At the other extreme, Berkeley-based designers Thom Faulders and Anna Rainer
have developed the Undercover Table as a response to the idiomatic advice
to "duck and cover" during an earthquake. Compact during everyday
use, the table springs into action when necessary, transforming into a tent
full of emergency items. There is no design term for the trend yet, but
we call it "underspace."
The Undercover Table prototype, by Thom Faulders and Anna
Rainer of Beige Design, turns into an emergency station in
the event of a disaster. Three bands hold a tent and other
supplies in storage containers beneath the tabletop, which
pulls off to transform into a stretcher with handholds.
Jeffrey Bernett's Urban table for Cappellini is available as
a folding or flxed table. The tabletop consists of wood panels with
a honeycombed center. Unlike those of traditional folding tables, its sculptural
stainless-steel legs don't beg to be tucked out of sight.
The Table That Eats Chairs, a prototype by Ron Arad for Cassina,
has a shelf under the tabletop that can hold a set of folding chairs.
The Org table prototype, by Fabio Novembre for Cappellini,
has 171 legs of rope. Only six, which conceal metal rods,
are structural--the rest hang freely.
The Playground Table, by Moniek Gerner for Droog Design, is
a set of polyurethane hooks that allow children to hang
toys, transforming an ordinary table into a playground.
Blu Dot's Flip Me is a clever dining table that has alternating
tops--on one side is white laminate that kids can mark up with crayons;
the other side is veneered in white oak for when the adults show up. (More
finishes will be available in the future.)
Offsite:
For information on Ron Arad's Table that Eats Chairs, visit
www.cassina.it.
Blu Dot's Flip Me table is available through
www.bludot.com or by calling
(612) 782-1844. For information on or purchase of Moniek Gerner's Playground
Table, contact Droog Design at 011-31-20-626-9809. Jeffrey Bernett's Urban
Table and Fabio Novembre's "Org Table" are both available through
Cappellini; contact Annalisa Biasiotto at Cappellini Modern Age, (212) 966-0669.
For further information or purchase of Thom Faulders and Ann Rainer's Undercover
Table visit their Web site at
www.beigedesign.com.
