Tag Archives: Deniz Aktay

This Side Table Tricks You Into Thinking Books Are Holding It Up

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Side tables have always been one of the harder pieces of furniture to make genuinely interesting. They’re functional by nature, meant to hold a drink, a remote, or that ever-growing stack of books. Most designs take the easy route: a flat surface, four legs, and nothing more. A few try to add storage or visual flair, but the table and whatever sits on it rarely share anything deeper than proximity.

Deniz Aktay’s Delusion Table turns that relationship on its head. The Stuttgart-based designer has crafted a side table concept where books aren’t just accessories resting on the surface; they become part of the table itself, or at least appear to. The idea is simple but arresting: a purpose-built metal framework connects the tabletop to the base, and once books are loaded onto it, the metal structure all but disappears.

Designer: Deniz Aktay (dezinobjects)

The trick borrows from a principle already used in certain bookmarks and floating wall shelves, where a thin metal channel slides between a book’s pages and disappears behind the covers. Aktay applies the same logic vertically: the table’s central stem has integrated clips that hold books upright against the structure. Slot a few thick art or design volumes in, and the metal seems to dissolve quietly into the spines.

What results is a table that looks as if a small stack of books has somehow defied physics to hold an entire surface aloft. It’s a visual gag, but an elegant one. The books aren’t floating or leaning on something concealed behind them. They’re gripping the structure, pages pressed against the clips, covers facing outward, spines reading clearly, creating something that looks accidental but is actually very deliberate.

That deliberateness extends to the books themselves. The volumes you choose to insert don’t just support the illusion; they become part of the design statement. A stack of oversized architecture monographs communicates something entirely different from a row of photography books or a handful of paperbacks. The table changes with whoever assembles it, which is a quiet but genuinely meaningful layer of personalization built right into the concept.

It’s also worth considering where a table like this fits most naturally. A reading nook, a home office corner, or a bedside setup for someone who always has a few books in rotation: in any of these settings, the Delusion Table doesn’t need anything extra to feel complete. The books it needs to function are probably already nearby, waiting to serve a purpose they weren’t originally designed for.

Aktay has made a habit of designing furniture that asks questions as much as it answers them, and the Delusion Table is no exception. It’s a concept that works on two levels: as a functional object that holds books and a tabletop, and as something that quietly unsettles your perception. You look at it, pause a moment, and find yourself genuinely unsure of what’s doing what. That’s exactly the point.

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This Side Table Has No Legs: Its Two Storage Units Are the Structure

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Side tables rarely demand much attention. They hold a drink, a lamp, or a book, and that’s essentially all anyone expects from them. The more ambitious ones add a drawer or a second tier, but the core formula stays the same. It’s one of those furniture categories where function has long settled into convention, quietly waiting for someone to rethink the structure itself.

Designer Deniz Aktay has been doing exactly that kind of rethinking through his designs. His latest concept, the Torque High Side Table, takes the structural question seriously, proposing a pedestal that isn’t really a pedestal at all. The table’s support comes entirely from two metal storage units that carry the weight of the design, both literally and visually, stacked and rotated against each other.

Designer: Deniz Aktay

The idea of torque, that mechanical tension created by rotation, becomes the organizing principle here. Each storage unit opens in a different direction, offset against the other to create the visual friction the name implies. It makes the structure feel active, as if the table is caught mid-turn. The two-tone blue colorway reinforces that, with a dark navy upper section against a brighter blue lower.

That rotation also creates something practically useful. Where the two units meet, a small shelf platform projects outward between them, adding a third storage level beyond the two main compartments. It reinforces the visual logic of the twist while giving you somewhere to set smaller objects. Three storage spots from a single structural idea is a tidy outcome for a table of this size.

Books sit naturally in each compartment, held upright in the curved enclosures without needing brackets or dividers. Each section holds a small collection without effort, turning what might otherwise be a purely decorative object into something you’d interact with daily. That balance between use and visual statement is where this kind of furniture concept tends to either land well or feel entirely theoretical.

The storage-as-structure approach means the Torque table looks interesting from every angle. There are no legs, no base panel, and no conventional framing hardware. The two open-faced volumes do all the work, with a circular disc on top forming the table surface and a matching flat disc at the bottom serving as the foot. Everything between them is either storing something or making a structural point.

Aktay has built a body of work around this kind of thinking, concepts that start with a formal problem and arrive somewhere genuinely practical. The Torque High Side Table fits that approach well. It doesn’t need to announce its cleverness because the structure speaks on its own, and anyone who tucks a book into one of the compartments and sets a cup on top will feel the logic in it.

The post This Side Table Has No Legs: Its Two Storage Units Are the Structure first appeared on Yanko Design.

Artistic unibody chair concept is simple, stackable, and stunning

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All chairs have a common, standard purpose, but there is no hard rule to follow when it comes to their design. As long as they offer a stable seating surface, and in most cases, some form of back support, they qualify as an acceptable piece of furniture, even if the actual experience can be a bit uncomfortable at times. It’s only by convention, for example, that most chairs have four legs or are made of different pieces, and some designs try to push the boundaries of what’s physically possible when it comes to the composition and form of chairs. This concept, for example, does away with the standard makeup of this kind of furniture and instead embraces a single flowing form that, surprisingly enough, works just as well in terms of practical use.

Designer: Deniz Aktay

Bending a single sheet of material, be it metal or plastic, into a less trivial form isn’t exactly easy, especially when you have to make sure that it is stable enough to sit on. You need not only balance but structural integrity as well since it will be something that humans expect to be safe to use. Some designs tend to overcomplicate things to meet those goals, but this chair concept goes in the completely opposite direction with its extreme simplicity.

Named after the last Greek alphabet, the Omega design concept simply takes a single folded sheet of material and bends it at the sides and back to create the two wide legs and backrest of the chair. There are no sharp angles in this design, giving the seamless form a smoother and more organic appearance. While it is aesthetically pleasing, it isn’t just an art piece, and at least based on the concept, it is just as functional as your stereotypical four-legged plastic chair.

In particular, the design of the Omega chair allows it to be stacked together, rather unexpected given its nontrivial shape. It doesn’t even take up more space than most stackable chairs, which makes the design practical for widespread production and use. It definitely offers an interesting alternative to common mass-produced designs as it offers both a compact shape as well as an attractive appearance.

On the surface, the Omega design also looks sturdy, with the legs angled inward to cover a bigger surface area than a normal straight edge. There might, however, be some concerns with the comfort of the seat itself, as the curved sides could make some slide off too easily. The backrest might also be too short for comfort, with the top edge digging into people’s backs when they lean backward. Nonetheless, it’s a beautiful and simple design that could be improved on for an even more comfortable and ergonomic experience.

The post Artistic unibody chair concept is simple, stackable, and stunning first appeared on Yanko Design.