Tag Archives: bent plywood

Minimalist wooden furniture uses curved shapes to add storage spaces

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Furniture takes up space, there’s really no getting around that. Of course, you need that space to actually use the furniture, but the furniture themselves aren’t always in use. You might not sit on those chairs or couches all day, and tables might be empty at certain points in time. During those moments, they might just be wasting space, so it sometimes pays to have them perform some other purpose, even if it means just looking pretty. That’s not to say you have to stop at looks, especially if such aesthetic furniture can also function as storage spaces, like what this collection of design concepts tries to achieve using nothing but simple curved layers of plywood.

Designer: Julian Topor

Partly thanks to the popularity of flat-packed products from the likes of IKEA, minimalist wooden furniture has become a popular choice in households. Their simple designs save space not only in packaging but sometimes also on the floor. Furniture, however, can also become a space to place some of your things, from books to accessories to even shoes. The KURVE furniture collection accomplishes this without having to resort to complicated construction or mechanisms, using only curves that wrap around an empty space to create a hollow nook for your stuff.

The throne-like KURVE chair, for example, has no legs but instead has a curved backless box for its bottom half. What makes its design particularly interesting is that the seat, backrest, and arms are all made from the same single sheet of layered plywood, just bent on the back and sides to create those support structures.

The KURVE Couch stretches out this concept, quite literally, to provide sitting for two. A central console splits the couch in half and provides a small area to place cups and phones, as well as a compartment below for things like the TV remote. The bottom of the couch is an even wider space for more things, whether or not they have business being there.

The table is admittedly the simplest of them all, nothing more than a wooden trapezoid to hold things above and below it. Its lengthy shape makes it more suited to be placed against walls rather than being a center table, perhaps somewhere near the front door so your shoes and keys can easily find a home for easy access next time you step out.

Last but not least, the KURVE Night Stand is also a trapezoid, just taller and narrower. Like other nightstands, it has a drawer, but this compartment is oddly located a little below the top. This creates yet another space for your things, maybe for a phone that you don’t want to tempt you while you’re resting.

The post Minimalist wooden furniture uses curved shapes to add storage spaces first appeared on Yanko Design.

This Single-Piece Bent Plywood Lounge Chair Also Has Its Own Built-in Magazine Rack

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It’s difficult to appreciate how simple yet complex the Void chair is. Look at it and you realize that it’s entirely made from one singular piece of plywood that’s been contorted into this beautiful shape. The plywood bends to form the seat, legs, and backrest, also giving you an easter-egg in the form of two hidden pockets that let you store books and magazines. The ‘simple-looking’ chair, however, isn’t so imple to produce. It requires to be cut from a large plywood sheet, then heat-treated to make it pliable, and formed into its unique shape using molds and vices. The result is a lounge chair that really highlights the capabilities of bent plywood as a viable (and classy) material, and of designer João Teixeira’s creative abilities.

Designer: João Teixeira (Teixeira Design Studio)

The Void lounge chair gets its name from the void created in the center while it gets cut out as a flat piece. The flat version of the chair is then ‘folded’ into its shape using a series of heating and bending processes, and the void eventually gets closed, becoming the small gap between the seat and the backrest.

A closer look at the Void lounge chair’s actual void.

The bending process results in the creation of two pocket areas within the chair’s legs. Rather than just closing them off or leaving them as a visual detail, Teixeira adds function to them, turning them into book-holders that you can use to store books, newspapers, magazines, or even vinyl discs. The slim profile of these holders keeps the books upright and has them right at your fingertips whenever you want to just sit and read for a bit.

The chair’s upholstery is continuous too, ging from the seat to the backrest via these book slots. I’d imagine that area would gather dust with time, but its cushioned design is much better than dropping your books directly onto plywood and having their corners or binding get bent, damaged, or crushed in the process.

The result is a lounge chair that’s minimalist in form and material, but maximalist in its expressiveness. The simple lounge chair adds a unique calming effect to your interiors without distracting too much from other elements of decor. It’s perfect for a living room around a coffee table, or even your balcony, and works just as well in coffee shops, bookstores, and coworking spaces looking to elevate their decor through functional furniture.

The post This Single-Piece Bent Plywood Lounge Chair Also Has Its Own Built-in Magazine Rack first appeared on Yanko Design.