COLLAGE - SOFA TABLES Design Alain Gilles for Bonaldo
28 Mar 2011, News by Alain Gilles
The Brown and black version.
These modular sofa tables have something to do with memories, vivid memories of odd shapes spotted in unusual places.... Or, how existing, recycled shapes, can give birth to a concept, a movement and new functionalities. It is the persisting image of an awkward collection of frameless mirrors of various sizes and obviously belonging to different eras that caught my eyes on a flea market and eventually gave birth to this collage of tables. Just like a “collage” art piece, these fragments of mental images have been extracted out of their original context and functionalities, and reassembled in order to generate a new entity with new function. In some versions, the concept of the collage is further emphasized by the used of different colors/material per “module”.
All but one table are linked and in a way constrained in their movement. The center point is the circular top table that serves as the link and articulation to 3 other tables that can partially gravitate around it in order to be positioned according to the needs and desire of the users. This circular table can also swivel around so everyone can for instance conveniently help himself to a piece of pie or a cup of thee... There is also an extra loose table that can be positioned anywhere and in a way completely redefine the architectures of this aggregated sofa table from a elongated shape to a square-like shape depending on the length of the sofa and its relationship with other seats in the room.
Overall these sofa tables are clearly defined by their connection, and interconnection, and by a certain visual fragility or lightness.
Materials: made out of lacquered metal (and brass in one case).
General Dimensions:
142 x 72 x 36cm ( W x D x H )
56 x 28.4 x 14.2 inches ( W x D x H )
In this specific version, the pivotal role played by the round table is further highlighted by the use of a fire-fighter red.
With one element in brass. The material itself becomes a graphic element and also add a reflection. Mixing materials and colors....
With one element in brass. The material itself becomes a graphic element and also add a reflection. Mixing materials and colors....
Endless graphic possibilities... in this case, the orange-white version
Simple, yet complex.... “simplexity”...
On the white version, the importance of the shadow as a graphic element and means to understand the piece is very much highlighted.
These small modular tables can go from a generally rectangular shape to a squarish one. Hens, they can easily adapt to the user’s interior. The “brow
Like a small architecture...
A subtle play on the size and shapes of the various legs elements...
The color/graphic treatment of these tables is an integral part of concept.
A collage of shapes treated as a 3 dimensional graphic work
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