Most furniture designers put function over form, but why not have both? Mundane items like tables, bookcases and lounge chairs take a turn for the strange and surprising in these 15 incredibly artistic furniture designs, including benches with tentacles, tables with galloping legs, dressers that seem to be in the process of exploding and chairs that are as much fine art as a place to sit.
Tables Inspired by Galloping Horses
With serpentine legs that resemble nothing so much as octopus tentacles, the ‘r.n.i.’ series of tables by Chul An Kwak is actually inspired by images of running horses. Sculpted from wood, these designs offer the same sort of flat surface you’d see in a conventional table but with legs that seem kinetic and alive.
Gravity Lounger
The Gravity Lounger by Varier Furniture has an unconventional design, but it certainly looks comfortable. The makers claim that sitting in this chair is “probably the closest you’ll ever get to zero gravity”, reclining to the point where you feel almost weightless. It can also be positioned upright to work at a desk.
Woodloops Maze Bookcase
The Maze Bookcase by Woodloops offers an entertaining, eco-friendly way to store and display books and décor. The designer says that Woodloops furniture, made of FSC-certified wood, ““covey our original views to common behaviors, weaving known circumstances into new and curious concepts”.
Recycled Metal Alien Table
You probably wouldn’t find this in a museum curator’s home, but it’s amazingly artistic all the same. This Alien-inspired table is supported by a sculpture made almost entirely from recycled materials like spoons, wrenches and car parts. The makers of this unique piece also create tables and chairs inspired by Star Wars, and you can have one of your own for $150 and $4,500.
Tentacle Bench
The Tentacle Bench by Carpenter’s Wood Gallery seems to have a mind of its own, with curvilinear wooden slats collapsing into a pile to one side of the bench and then traveling up the wall like ivy.
‘In the Woods’ Balanced Stacks of Found Chairs
‘In the Woods’, a project by British artist Karen Ryan, is really more art installation than functioning furniture, but it’s quite striking and it’s got a message, too. Ryan says the project, which was made using found chairs, is “a reaction to the ever increasing consumer mountain of design and design waste. The struggle that I have with my conscience at the irrelevance of creating yet another one-off design object against a global backdrop of poverty, violence and greed remains a permanent dilemma in my creative process.”
Ghostly ‘Slow White’ Tree Branch Furniture
Dutch designer Bo Reudler created the ‘Slow White’ series of furniture as a sort of protest against the controlled way in which nature is usually presented in design. Reudler rejected the process of using a computer to design furniture, instead setting out to gather branches that could be transformed with his own two hands into tables, chairs and bookcases that have retained their connection to nature.
Loopy Lounger
It’s a bit loopy, but the bent-wood ‘Artistic 4 Chaise’ fits the curves of your body within its unusual design. Handmade from British Oak, this lounger will certainly be a conversation piece in any home or outdoor area if you’ve got $6,500 to drop on it.
Compelling Bookshelves Made of Twigs and Found Boxes
Like Bo Reudler’s ‘Slow White’ collection, these bookcases by Peter Marigold are inspired by the natural forms of wood, but they take the concept of using found objects a bit further. The shelves are made from remnant boxes and packing materials, and the way the branches extend beyond the top shelf gives the sense that they’re still growing.
‘Trap’ Beds
Would you want to sleep under a bed canopy that looks like it was designed to trap you? These playful designs were created for an annual hotel art installation, and the one on the right turns the safety and comfort of a bed into something sort of unsettling. At left is a design that accomplishes the opposite, with a nest-inspired design that seems welcoming and safe.
Artistic Meta-Bench
Benches don’t have to be bland and boring. This unusual, artistic design by Yvonne Fehling and Jennie Peiz features a long and narrow stretch of wood that seems to have swallowed a number of wooden chairs. The resulting composition allows face-to-face conversation as well as isolation from the rest of the people seated on the bench, and the fact that the wood grain is aligned on every piece gives it a cohesive look that tones down a bit of the chaos.
Calypso Multi-Function Seating
Bizarre yet beautiful, this futuristic-looking piece of furniture aims to provide a number of functions while maintaining the streamlined look of modern design. It’s a love seat, a couch, a chair and a table. Folding wooden supports provide a platform for your notebook computer, the chairs can be flipped to sit side-by-side or to face each other and the whole thing can be folded flat into a coffee table when not in use.
Wacky, Imaginative Kids’ Furniture
Why shouldn’t kids’ furniture be just as imaginative as children themselves? Straight Line Designs creates whimsical furniture that looks like something out of a Tim Burton movie. From tables and clocks that look like they’re about to spring to life to melting dressers and tin-can benches, these remarkable pieces are ideal for the young or young at heart.
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