The W* House / Tables
'Progetto Domestico' desk
Vincenzo de Cotiis /
€28,000
Milan-based architect Vincenzo de Cotiis describes his design aesthetic as 'perfect imperfection' - a style which is clearly communicated in this desk design for his 'Progetto Domestico' collection. A series of perfectly polished brass volumes overlap and intersect to create an irregularly shaped writing desk with various storage compartments. As much a work of art as it is a piece of furniture, the striking composition incorporates salvaged materials and sits on a base made from recycled wood.
'Arturo' desk
Christophe Pillet / Ceccotti
€5,428
Italian cabinetmakers Ceccotti Collezioni can always be relied on to produce exquisitely crafted wood furniture. Its standout piece this year was this perfectly proportioned desk by french designer Christophe Pillet. its frame is made of American walnut, the inconspicuous central drawer of maple, and its angular structure is softened with rounded edges and a leather writing surface.
'Greenwich' table
Maurizio Manzoni & Roberto Tapinassi / Arketipo
€5,064
With a sculptural base inspired by the Greenwich meridian, Manzoni and Tapinassi's dining table for Arketipo is a strong and commanding design. An off-centre bronze or titanium ring that loops around the sweeping wood base provides stability while referencing the crossing lines of longitude and latitude. The frame is available in a variety of noble hardwoods including walnut, ash or ramin.
'Origami' dining table
Angela Adams / Angela Adams
US$5,400
A minimal, solid wood design based on geometrics, the Origami table offers function and beauty for generations. Handcrafted in Maine, it is available in cherry, walnut or white stain.
Ferdinand Kramer
'FK04 Calvert' coffee table / e15
£390
German architect and designer Ferdinand Kramer conceived this table as part of his 'Knock-Down' furniture series while in America in 1951. Revived by German brand e15, the easily invertible and collapsible coffee table is cut from a single plywood sheet, and is available in oak or walnut veneer, as well as coloured lacquer.
'Apollo' console
Stéphane Parmentier / Ormond Editions
€7,700
We've kept an eye on Stéphane Parmentier and his new-industrial aesthetic ever since he made his furniture debut at Maison & Objet two years ago. Working once again with Geneva's Ormond Editions, the Frenchman has created a new collection, including this elegant console in perforated wood and soft leather, that is brimming with aviation references.
'Colonnade' dining table
David Chipperfield / Marsotto Edizioni
€21,765
An ode to the most convivial of furniture pieces, Marsotto Edizioni's latest collection, 'Big Tables', comprises five statuesque tables in the brand's signature Carrara marble, designed by the likes of Naoto Fukusawa and David Chipperfield. The latter's modular offering is particularly poetic, its shape highlighting the material's classical roots.
'Ruler' coffee tables
Gordon Guillaumier / Tacchini
From €745 each
In the sea of tables and chairs we've seen this year, the purity of Gordon Guillaumier's coffee tables easily stood out. The Milan-based designer's choice of simple shapes is made all the more playful by his pairing of a wafer-thin marble surface with three or four classic wooden legs. Available in polished Biancone marble or matt black travertine, these versatile tables can be arranged and used in numerous combinations, while always embodying the contemporary aesthetic Tacchini is known for.
'Chandlo' dressing table
Doshi Levien / BD Barcelona
€7,266
The dynamic duo that is Doshi Levien has most recently turned its hand towards creating a sumptuous dressing table for BD Barcelona. Inspired by the bindis donned by many Indian women, the vanity unit is a bold amalgam of shapes centred around a large rimmed mirror. Perched on tubular steel legs, the De Stijl-influenced composition also comprises a rose-tinted side mirror offering generous peripheral views, and a wooden jewellery box that opens to reveal bright blue drawers. A little swivel stool completes the design.
'BS 01' desk
Bruno Serrão / Wewood
€3,870
Conceived as a compact work station, this desk embodies what we demand most from a work environment: a world of creative possibilities. Hidden under its smooth surface are eight drawers and compartments of various sizes for storing each and every work-related accoutrement. Designed by Bruno Serrão and skillfully produced from solid French oak by young Portuguese joinery company Wewood - without the use of any screws or nails - this is one hard worker.
'Wryneck' table
Pool / Pool
price on request
One of the more impressive exhibits at this year's Salone del Mobile was Nouvelle Vague which Milan's Centre Culturel Français held as a tribute to the new talents in French design. Among the pieces that caught our eye was this table by Pool, a Paris-based studio headed by Léa Padovani & Sébastien Kieffer. Made from a mix of digitally cut walnut and cork, its low squat profile is accented by a gently tapering beveled base. The result almost looks as if a giant pencil had been stabbed into the ground, a dark-humoured moment that pairs well with one of Pool's other designs, a fiberglass chair moulded into the shape of a human skull.
'Homework' chair
Nika Zupanc / Nika Zupanc
price on request
We first spotted this chair and table at Spazio Rossana Orlandi during the recent Salone del Mobile in Milan. Amidst the frenzy of the week's exhibitions and shows, Nika Zupanc's pared back designs were a calming balm. We were particularly taken by the sinuous curves of the desk chair whose slender legs balanced on brass wheels. This charming nostalgic touch is replicated in the desk, a modern yet extraordinarily rationale interpretation of the traditional roll top desk. What appears at first glance to be a standard flat top table unlatches and lifts to reveal pleated concertina folds that act as shelving. Drop the lid and all your paperwork is hidden away. The proverbial messy desk just became a thing of the past.
'Jazz' table
Ferruccio Laviani / Emmemobili
£7,350
The very talented Ferruccio Laviani makes tables that make you want to just pull up a chair and sit around them all day. His remarkable 2011 collection for Emmemobili is a tour de force in simple lines that also manage to impress with their visual lightness. The 'Jazz' table, in particular, is a beauty from every angle. Solid strips of oak are gently bent around a circular frame to create an airy striated effect while providing plenty of leg room under the table. The table top is finished in either oak veneer or white marble. Elegant, perfect symmetry and practical -- a handsome addition, we think, to any living space.
'KVP10' table
Kari Virtanen / Nikari
€1748
Finland's Kari Virtanen first created this table for an architect friend, who was after an outdoor table with a detachable top, before Nikara snapped up the design and put it into production. With no screws or metal parts, the ash, birch and black alder configuration is held together by a series of neat bolts and is suitable for indoor and outdoor use. It bears characteristic Scandinavian simplicity and has a smooth surface that is extremely soft to the touch.
'Munken Cube'
/ e15 and Arctic Paper
£669
Here's one for the forgetful among you... e15's new Munken Cube - produced in collaboration with Swedish natural paper manufacturer, Arctic Paper - comes in the form of a giant notepad. Comprising 2200 sheets of Munken Pure Rough paper, stacked on a solid oak base, the cube twists and flexes as you move it, thanks to the one-sided gluing of the pages. A small metal pin in the centre of the oak plinth holds the stack of paper neatly flush with its base.
'Secret’ desk
Markus Schmidt / Zeitraum
£3,357
Manufactured by hardwood specialists Zeitraum, the 'Secret' desk is so called because of its discreet storage capacity: lift-up panels at the back provide a secure hideaway for a laptop, cables and a pencil or two. Made from sturdy solid oak, cherry or walnut, the design is pleasingly academic.
‘Incas’ table
Angelo Mangiarotti / Agape Casa
€5,564
Bathroom specialist Agape made its first move into furniture in Milan, launching Agape Casa, a collection of reissues and never previously produced designs by Angelo Mangiarotti. The 11 different ranges include 'Incas', first produced in 1978. The original table was in sandstone, with pyramid-shaped legs supporting the heavy square surface. Retaining all the elegance of the original, Agape Casa has updated it in solid oak. The result is in tune with contemporary lifestyles without compromising the table's powerful shape .
‘Arctic’ side tables
Jens Praet and Vibeke Skar /
Price to be confirmed
These elegant side tables are the result of a new collaboration between Belgian designer Jens Praet and Oslo-born Vibeke Skar. Made of white Corian, the only decoration comes from the water-carved grooves around the edges, meant to reference the melting ice caps.
Stable board
Mia Hamborg /
DKR 2500
As many well brought up children will recognise, Mia Hamborg’s ‘Stable bord’ was inspired by Brio, that bastion of Swedish toy manufacturing. Hamborg, spotting that noone ever really grows out of their childish desire to stack beautifully finished objects, created a side table along the same lines. The turned birch, modular pieces come in a range of shapes and colours, each with a hole in the middle so you can stack them on the central column as you like. The table is going into production with Unique Copenhagen and will be available later this year.
621 table
Dieter Rams / Vitsoe
£175 low, £195 high
In celebration of its 50th anniversary, Vitsoe is releasing the last 50 of Dieter Rams' 621 side tables from the original production. Originally commissioned in 1962 and not produced since the early 1980s, the versatile little table (it can be used upright or on its side) was part of Rams and Vitsoe's investigation into new plastics. It is made out of foam-injection-molded polystyrol, which we'd now refer to as high-impact polystyrene. Very hard but surprisingly light, the tables are being sold in their original packaging, another reason why they'll fly off the 606 shelving at Vitsoe when they go on sale in September.
Open room No 1
Matali Crasset / Established & Sons
£7500
True to its name Matali Crasset's Open Room is like a whole room without walls. With more than a touch of Mondrian about it, the design is part workspace, part colourful cubist sculpture and a beautiful if unusual option for the home office.
Slim office
Bertjan Pot / Arco
€2273
Bertjan Pot's beautifully pared down 'Slim' office is made from oak veneer on steel, which not only makes for a deceptively robust surface, but means the entire range is magnetic too - handy for keeping all your paperclips together and off the floor.
Essay dining table
Cecilie Manz / Fritz Hansen
£2827 excluding VAT
Danish designer Cecilie Manz’s new dining table for Fritz Hansen is a sparse but robust creation and as such, the perfect piece of furniture for everyday use. Made of just three parts of solid wood – a slab for the surface and two square loops for the undercarriage - you can choose from oak, ash or walnut for the top with the addition of white or black lacquer for the legs. Manz wanted to create a piece of furniture that would fit in someone’s home forever, hence the simplicity. And as anyone with a good eye will spot, the small details such as the bevelled edges on the legs and the subtle floating support of the tabletop are what brings it to life.
Teatime trolley
Claesson Koivisto Rune / Swedese
Price awaiting confirmation
Swedish stalwarts CKR's take on the hostess trolley is a rather attractive option to wheel into your living room. Unmistakably Scandinavian, the graphic silhouette and pristine white won't really be bettered with too much cluttering and the odd tea spillage so, despite its name, we're using it as an occasional table instead.
Glacier Hallway collection
Jarl Fernaeus /
€5000
Beckmans graduate Jarl Fernaeus was a finalist of the Prix Emile Hermes with this brilliant table, light and stool ensemble, made from ash and Corian. Though seemingly just a clean and pure set of furniture, the table is actually a very clever gadget too. Built into the underneath are a series of sockets, meaning chargers for any and every gadget you might own are seamlessly concealed in the design, with just the end that you attach to your phone, camera or iPod on show. One cable emerges from the table leg to power up everything else.
Camus desk
Armani/Casa /
€28,500
The Camus desk by Armani/Casa is a particularly seductive, luxurious piece of furniture for getting down to business. The whole desk is clad in lizard skin and unfolds to reveal a hand-finished rosewood interior.
Table B
Konstantin Grcic / BD Barcelona
Price awaiting confirmation
Providing a welcome antidote to the recent fashion for large wooden rustic dining tables, this new design by Konstantin Grcic is elegantly sleek while still being thoroughly robust enough to cope with even the bawdiest of banquets. The tabletop, which consists of a vast aluminium extrusion (up to 3.5m) comes with three optional substructures in wood, steel or artificial stone.
A la recherche du temps perdu
EXH design /
£2900
EXH design is a Shanghai-based design and architecture firm set up in 2006 by Xi Zhang and Swiss-born Erich Diserens. With an eye for a clean line and a foot in tradition, the furniture they design combines contemporary appeal with antique charm. This oak table, charmingly named ‘A la recherche du temps perdu’ after Proust’s seminal tome, was inspired by a Ming original, with horizontal beams that transport the weight of the surface to the elegant legs.
Bell table
Sebastian Herkner /
€1600
German designer Sebastian Herkner had a stint working at Stella McCartney but in 2006 he put down his scissors and opened his own studio focusing instead on industrial design. His Bell Table design stood out for us at this year’s Satellite. Alongside the multitude of raw wood, Perspex and white lacquer on display elsewhere, the blown blue glass and brass combination made for a rich, confident design with a distinct antique charm.
Sprout vanity stand
Air Division /
From $935
There’s certainly nothing sinful about Air Division’s vanity stand. The Singaporean company specialises in sustainable wooden furniture and high quality craftsmanship, resurrecting antique references and giving them a contemporary edge. Their 2010 collection for example, unveiled at IMM Cologne, has nods to 17th century Windsor chairs and 19th century cruise liner railings but it’s the elegant, spindly vanity stand that has us searching for our favourite things to show off.
Eke table
Christian Spiess /
Prototype
Another rising star at ECAL, Spiess showed this trestle table as part of a group show at Salone 2009. It can easily be folded away thanks to its three detachable parts: aluminium legs that support any flat surface; the tabletop of your choice; and a beam that extends up to 1.6 metres.
Hiip tables
Leonardo Talarico / Cappellini
€814 excl. VAT
Cappellini showed this simple contemporary update of the traditional nesting table set in Milan, designed by Leonardo Talarico. Available in plain ash or brown, red and blue painted versions, we felt it was best to nest au naturel.
Otto coffee table
Paolo Cattelan / Cattelan Italia
€643
Cattelan Italia’s take on mirrored table is one of the more interesting we’ve reflected on in some time, marrying a neat geometric shape with a mirrored finish it’s a perfect surface for serving a final coffee on whilst checking there’s nothing in your teeth before a lingering kiss goodnight.
Peanut tray & Bishop stools
India Mahdavi /
€1950 set
India Mahdavi’s ceramic ‘Bishop’ stools have become a bit of a signature design for the French multitasker. Increasingly though, she found they were being used as side tables and, not happy with the small surface area, decided to tie two together with the addition of a peanut-shaped, walnut tray. “I called it ‘The Peanut’ not just because of its unusual shape, but also because peanuts are associated with cocktails, and, just like the nuts, the tray is perfect for serving cocktails,” the designer explains.
Jack in the Box
Andree Putman / Litton Furniture
£6400
The Jack in the Box low table with silver brass edging is inspired by one of Putman’s favourite jewellery boxes, the refined nature of which bears testament to her core ethos: “ornamentation is a crime - seduction resides in simplicity.”
Desk
Konstantin Grcic / Muji
from £250
An unexpected but very genius pairing between historic German manufacturers Thonet and Japanese lifestyle retailers Muji resulted in a range of furniture manufactured by Thonet and sold through Muji. James Irvine (Thonet’s Creative Director) reinterpreted the bentwood chairs and Konstantin Grcic has taken up Marcel Breuer’s tubular steel mantel, creating this austere Bauhaus desk with dark grey MDF top and suspended drawers. Complete the look with a Type 75 anglepoise a charcoal Muji notebook and a sharp HB pencil.
Airia desk
Kaiju Studios / Herman Miller
$2200
Rhode Island-based Kaiju studios seek to bring practicality back to the home office with their Airia desk for Herman Miller. Feeling that too many table and desk designs of late have scrimped on function in favour of an elegant aesthetic, the designers wanted to redress the balance by providing options. “The elevated rear surface could be a place to put your printer, or that document you’ve been meaning to review or your cat could take a nap there,” they explain.
Bureau
Marina Bautier / Atlantico
From £1095
With its simple structure in natural oak or walnut, this lightweight desk is definitely more domestic than corporate and a pleasure to sit at. Practicality is still key though. The white aluminium hood, which hides a laptop and ugly cables when closed, turns into a magnetic noticeboard when raised.
Grand Ecart table
Jean Nouvel / Pallucco
€2500
If you haven't managed to get into that Jean Nouvel designed luxury penthouse yet, investing in this stunning dining table designed by the French master himself could score a very close second. A fine example of pure minimalism with it's refined simple shape and material of painted aluminium of the top and painted steel for the bottom. Yet it is the ingenious way this table extends as if from nowhere to fit another one, two, three or even four extra place settings that shows how novel Nouvel really is. Although the piece is also available in opaque black and opaque white, we're all over the luscious Bordeaux red.
Drawer side tables
Tina Roeder /
Prototype
Berlin-based designer Tina Roeder takes her lead from the simple drawer and transforms it into a universal assistant. This series of drawer side tables form part of A Personal Living Concept, which Roeder explored in her first solo show, 'Independent Furniture', at last year's International Furniture Fair in Milan. These quirky, disembodied drawers come with legs made in either solid European oak with a matt clear varnish, white matt lacquer opaque that leaves the wood grain visible, or in steel that is white matt coated or chrome-plated.
Flip folding table
Richard Lampert / Richard Lampert
£220
German designer Richard Lampert devised this handy design with ease of storage or transportation and flexibility of function in mind. Lampert lists its range of possible uses thus, "it's a table to perch on, if used carefully, a seat or surface whilst fishing, a little helper in the kitchen or simply a table next to an easy chair." As a practical addition to the kitchen it's perfect should you run out of chopping space or need to create an impromptu table extension for an extra guest. The folding, powder-coated steel design is available in a range of eye-catching colours, and later this year will be joined by a folding sofa table and balcony table.
Bambi table
Nendo / Cappellini
€1334
Designed to tease, yet still look as appealing and fragile as it's namesake, this table in the form of a single plain, bends this way and that, while each leg folds in a different direction creating, at first glance, a sense of unsteadiness. Of course it's not, for Nendo's Bambi table is made of ultra-thin sheet metal, 1.5mm thick that is laser-cut and folded into a handy 150 x 60 x 73 cm format. Easily dismantled, this flexible friend can be used indoors or out. Bambi's polish lacquered entrance for Cappellini, at this year's Salone Internazionale del Mobile was in blue, but it also comes in white, yellow, grey, red and black.
Glass side table
/ Kubista
CZK 19,000
Remember all those times you've been round design museums drooling at old vintage pieces and wondering why oh why these beautiful designs ever fell out of production. The people behind the Kubista Gallery in Prague did and decided to do something about it. At the end of 2002 they opened their own gallery in the historic centre of the city that sells not only reproductions of beloved antiques but has also branched out to display pieces by contemporary designers that have been inspired by the decorative art and design for the 20th century. Among several fantastic objects, we fell for this exact replica of a glass side table originally found in a Prague antique shop and dates from around 1930.
Saturno side tables
D'Urbino-Lomazzi / De Padova
€1036
Like a lesson on how the planets revolve around the sun, Donato D’Urbino and Paolo Lomazzi's ingenious side table is made up of two different size circular tops that revolve around a circular axis. Each table-top moves independently, so the main table-top which is 24.8" wide, can be easily rotated close to a seat for eating, working or drinking, while the lower surface creates space for other useful, terrestrial objects. Saturno is made of powder painted steel with a base in HPL stratified laminate, the table tops are MDF with polyurethane paint in black or white, or a combination of both, giving table manners a whole new meaning.
Side tables
Hanna Ehlers /
Prototype
Serene in their simplicity, these smart wood and white ceramic combos by graduate designer Hanna Ehlers stole the show at last year's SaloneSatellite. Drawing inspiration from ecology and sustainability these low tables perfectly capture the theme of this year's Salone. Plus Ehler's effortless, modern lines and creative combination of blonde wood and ceramic were indicative of a larger trend of mixing materials to great effect.
Arche table
Patrick Norguet / Poltrona Frau
£910
There's something so decadent about mixing the finest Poltrona Frau leather with the crème de la crème of marble. Patrick Norguet certainly didn't hold back when it came to choosing the highest possible quality of materials for this piece, preferring instead to show restraint with the design. Should marble however not be to your taste, the top is also available in natural oak, Canaletto walnut or ebony, while the leather upholstery support can of course be made up in any colour you so wish.
Divider nest tables
Dylan Freeth /
Prototype
Dylan Freeth is a London-based designer whose quiet, practical designs are inspired by simple observations of daily life. The results are often playful details rather than grand gestures but details intended for smoother function, not simply for decorative effect. His Divider nest tables are a case in point and a contemporary update on a classic piece of design. Taking inspiration from file dividers, the graded tabs on each table means they can be nested and separated with greater ease. The four, sheet aluminium tables are graded in something of a 1970s colour palette, a nice nod to a time when file dividers were commonplace, before the advent of virtual document storage.
Pinocchio desk
Marco Dessi /
€2500
Unlike the serial lying cartoon counterpart though, Dessi's wood and metal desk has little to hide. The aluminium tabletop, bent from one sheet and finished in matt grey is an exercise in pushing the metal to its limit, creating an industrial but very light overall design. And what of the name? "The original models, made from cardboard and wood, reminded me of Pinocchio with his paper clothes and wooden legs," explains Dessi. "When I came to making it in aluminium, I couldn't call it anything else."
Poms desk
Julie Pfligersdorffer / Ligne Roset
£685
You don't see new writing desks too often these days, perhaps because letter writing is becoming a thing of the past. But Julie Pfligersdorffer's desk might be enough to inspire a small resurgence of the epistle. 'Poms' is a lightweight design, which comes in either walnut or maple and has a neat side drawer lined in leather. Meanwhile the desk's hood cover and chromed steel base add a contemporary edge so if you can't quite quit the laptop it won't look totally out of place.
About The W* House
We thought it only fair to throw open the doors to The W* House and share with you our wealth of experience in the design world. From cutlery to cupboards, pots to plumbing, The W* House features our favourite pieces of design from around the globe, room by room. We'll update them every time we find something new we like, building the collection into an archive for as long as the pieces are for sale. Practicality isn't often a buzzword at the Wallpaper* HQ, but when it comes to sharing our finds we wanted to keep things simple, letting you furnish your house the Wallpaper* way, with the click of a mouse.
