Furniture that can do many things and can be found anywhere in the house is the trend at the Milan Furniture Fair. For example, when they are a stool, side table and children's rocker at the same time - and then also look decorative.
Do you feel the same way: you need an extra stool in the living room from time to time? But it shouldn't always be there because you don't have the space. And sometimes a small workspace by the window would be good, or an additional shelf when cooking in the kitchen.
It's a good thing that there is now, for example, a "wandering table". The Italian designer label Opinion Ciatti is presenting this at the Milan Furniture Fair (until June 12) with Koji. "Infinitely adjustable in height, Koji also hides two small wheels, thanks to which it becomes a traveling table that can be moved around as desired," says the label.
So it's not just a small side table and shelf next to the couch. The steel frame with a board made of MDF or recycled fiberglass can also be pulled out to form a high desk - anywhere in the living room where it is needed quickly. A jack of all trades, with many uses. Opinion Ciatti prefers to speak of an ingredient "like in the kitchen". Hence the name of the table: Koji is a mold that provides a full-bodied taste in Japanese cuisine.
Such furniture can be found in abundance at this year's world show for the furnishing industry in Milan, Italy. No wonder, because working from home in a small home is now a big issue for many people. And even if you have a lot of space, you often live in an open floor plan - which, by the way, is practically standard in Germany for new builds. Where there are no walls between the kitchen, dining and living area and the boundaries between the functional areas are blurred, furniture that can be practical anywhere makes sense.
A prime example of such multifunctional furniture are stools - or should they be called tables? For Classicon there is no difference: His Corker is a piece of furniture that, according to the manufacturer's description, can be both.
But actually so much more: "It's a little helper when you need a seat. But it can also be a bedside table next to the bed," counts Ascan Mergenthaler from the Herzog architects' office
And the Corker is outdoor furniture: "We've actually had a lot of it outside for ten years. It's changed its look a bit, but the Corker is weatherproof," said Mergenthaler in an interview at the Milan Furniture Fair. The design is already ten years old and was created for a London museum. Classicon boss Oliver Holy, who is now making the piece purchasable for the first time, is a big fan of the Corker. Also because it fits so perfectly with the new way of living.
"We took a fresh look at it," reports Mergenthaler. And the corker has been allowed to change: It is now flat at the top instead of slightly curved. "It has to do with flexibility. When it's flat, it can also be used as a table."
It's often the little things that turn a normal table into a piece of furniture with many names. This also applies to Tuky, a side table designed by Luca Nichetto for Wittmann. Its greatest feature is a handle that showcases this new flexibility.
Nichetto also consciously designed the side table like a sculpture: "You can work on it, you can put books on it, you can eat on it. But at the same time it was important to me that it is also a decoration," says Nichetto. "Usually such products are very technical, but I don't want to be surrounded by purely functional products. After all, it's my home."
The winners and those placed on the shortlist for the "ein
An example of this is the "Ludo" furniture by Teresa Egger. A coffee table, side table and small work table, optionally with a children's rocker and mini bench. And it offers storage space. Ziyi Gong and Jingyi Yu think of their pets: their "Lin" side table is also a cat or dog bed.
(This article was first published on Friday, June 10, 2022.)
