3rd Place design winner in the 2011 "anonymous.d" furniture competition.

Designed by Breanna Carlson + Carson Smuts

Our proposal for an ottoman +  table set offers nested pieces which are minimal, practical, and functional while inspiring a variety of uses and configurations to encourage activities such as meeting, conversing, eating, waiting, or learning.  Each ‘piece’ is comprised of both a table and an ottoman.  The hard shell is a wood cube whose interior has left void with a corner removed to house an upholstered removable dense foam cube.  The shell functions as a table or a seat and the removable cube is firm enough to be used as an ottoman or a table.  Our intent is to arrange these pieces in groups to provide tables with ottomans both nested and removed to create intimate seating arrangements for groups of various sizes and activities ranging from a conversation between two people to a meeting or presentation to a large group.

When the inner cubes are removed from the outer shell, the interior of the shell accommodates magazines or other waiting room materials.  We envision a range of finishes to appeal to a large consumer market.  From sustainable wood shells such as sorghum, bamboo, plywood, or wheatboard with recycled foam cubes wrapped in organic cotton or wool upholstery to a high-gloss lacquered finish with crisp leather cube interiors.  A set of four remains ambiguous, when packed together or separated with the cubes removed. Possible configurations range from 8 tables to 8 seats and everything in between.  In addition, the wood may be wrapped in a skin or fabric to match the cube- we’re thinking shagreen would be very chic for both components to further enhance their ambiguity.