Live@ICFF, Editor’s Pick: Divis Table

Mike and Maaike’s new table for Council mimics the random splitting and cracking found in natural wood.

Council has been one of my favorite new American manufacturers. They work with designers like Arik Levy, Khodi Fez, Monica Förster, and Nendo. This year, the San Francisco–based design duo Mike and Maaike debuted their Divis table (named after the nickname of a street in San Francisco that the designers take when they need to go to Council’s offices). They designers challenged themselves to see how natural processes could inspire the industrial manufacturing process. According to Mike Simonian, their design draws upon the idea that wood is a naturally anisotropic material—so the table highlights the random splitting and cracking found in wood. Here, the rectangular top is split by the supporting legs of the table, which creates a surface that appears to be cracking. It’s available in natural poplar or a slightly more expensive black-stained-ash version.

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