Back in January we mentioned the Octopus Throne, an impressive creation from Maximo Riera that would have made any dictator hellbent on world domination proud. It was an elegant fusion of an octopus and an ornate chair and we liked it a lot. Little did we know that it was but one in a series of such chairs, which Maximo is simply calling the Animal Chair Collection. The above is the Elephant Chair, and is crafted much like the other one, “from compressed foam with an internal steel frame. The final object is enveloped in fine leather, allowing all the detail to be refined. Although not as heavy as an actual elephant, the chair weighs 160 kg or 353 lbs.” There’s no price information on this one, but the Octopus Chair was allegedly $53,000 and change, so we expect this one to be around that as well.
Not everyone is fortunate to be born in a part of the world devoid of earthquakes. It’s estimated that a total of 300 million schoolchildren worldwide go to school in earthquake prone areas and they are inadequately protected in case the building they’re in collapses. See, in many places, the kids are told to take refuge under their desks if things start trembling, but most desks are very unsuited to provide any sort of effective protection. But the table you see above, designed by Arthur Brutter and Ido Bruno from Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design is a different beast. Engineered to withstand the impact of up to 1,000 kgs (or 1 ton) dropped on it from what appears to be 8 or 10 feet, the table can provide effective shelter to anyone hiding underneath. What’s more, if arranged in rows, multiple tables then create evacuation corridors that you can crawl through when things have quieted down. It’s even light enough that it can be carried by two kids, so it makes an ideal addition to any classroom.
The earthquake-ready desk will be featured in the 2012 Design Bonanza Bezalel exhibition in Milan from April 17 to April 22, and has been nominated for London Design Museum’s design of the year award. It’s more than just a concept design, though. The table is currently licensed by school furniture manufacturer A.D. Meraz Industries Ltd. for distribution in Israel.
According to Bruno, the team is working on further international manufacturing and distribution negotiations.
It’s around 2.5 times more expensive than current school desks, but its sturdiness also means it will likely outlast current designs by about the same factor.
Well it can’t really be an exotic dancer, but that’s not what we mean. The Pixel Table is just a bunch of wooden sticks arranged into a tidy cube. And you just move the sticks around to fit your needs. Want a surface? Pull some sticks out and there it is. Want to put something away? Push some more sticks and there’s your drawer. It’s simply ingenious and if you look at it with the right kind of eye (read: the possibly artistically pretentious eye), it looks fantastic.
We’re assuming the outer edge is glued to hold everything together and the sticks within are somehow prevented from being pushed all the way out. There is sadly no word on price or availability, although it looks like an easy enough project to make in shop class…
Most coffee tables just sit pretty in front of your TV. They let you put your feet up, eat your dinner, cover them in magazines, knock your shins agains them… But they sure a hell don’t let you control your Nintendo. The above does. Simply remove the glass cover, and the giant buttons as well as the oversized D-pad will function exactly like a controller. The cord is retractable, and it’s “made from maple, mahogany and walnut with dovetail joinery and mid century modern legs.”
It’s also pretty expensive at $3,500. Of course you’ll have something pretty unique in your living room.
It’s a 6 inch plexiglass cube lamp with energy efficient LEDs inside, which is made to look like the iconic Super Mario Bros. coin block. What’s really cool is that the lamp has a touch sensitive bottom; simply punch touch it and it will light up while emitting the classic “coin” sound. Even better, every 8 cycles, you’ll get a “1-Up” sound instead. There’s an 11 foot power cord, while the power supply is 100v-240v compatible. There’s even an optional night stand if you don’t want to hang it from the ceiling.
It’s $75 and there is a two week lead time. Hit the jump for two videos of it in action, plus links.
Manuel Llorens is a skater. He also happens to be a technical architect and with his wife decided to launch Skate Home. It’s a company that sells furniture made from skateboards. Nothing but skate boards. There are skate board chairs, mirrors, shelves, benches and even mirrors. Manuel really likes skate boards. But his designs are different and striking. The prices however are a reflection of this uniqueness: the above shelf for example costs €269 (abut $361 in today’s dollars).
Manuel contacted us and directly pitched us. Seeing as we like good design and often feature household items, we figure we’d give him a little shout out. So if you share his passion, or are just looking to deck your place out with stuff that isn’t from IKEA, hit the jump for more pictures and a link.
Sharing a small room with others is all fun and games until you want to do anything that requires privacy. The Privacy Pop is a small tent specifically designed to fit over beds typically found in dorms and kids’ rooms, and it aims to give you at least a tiny bit of separation from your undoubtedly grateful neighbours. Sure, you’re not going to fool anyone into thinking you’re “just sleeping”, seeing as a thin layer of polyester never stopped sounds from escaping, but at the very least you won’t turn your bed into a peep show. And of course if you start looking at the non-juvenile-minded uses, there are quite a few: using your laptop without the light waking up everyone in the room for example.
It fits Twin and Twin XL beds and is easy to carry around when not deployed. It’s $99 and is available now.
People still read paper books and it’s likely to stay that way for a while. Nostalgia and all that. So until then, why not store and display them in a visually (and organizationally) appealing manner?
“REK is a bookcase that grows with your book collection,” writes Reinier De Jong Design on its official website. “The more books the bigger the bookcase gets. The zigzag shaped parts slide in and out to accomodate books in the resulting voids. REK will always be full, regardless of the quantity of books. Also the books can be arranged according to their sizes. The narrow spaces are excellent for magazines.”
Sadly the REK bookcase is one of those items for which you have to ask the price. And we all know what this means.
Related Tags: Furniture, Unusual
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