Insane Sculptural Furniture “Unzips” Before Your Eyes

Craft & Design Furniture & Lighting Home Woodworking
Insane Sculptural Furniture “Unzips” Before Your Eyes

table

Artist and designer Sebastian ErraZuriz creates what at first appears to be sleek, minimalist, Ikea-esque pieces of furniture, but there is more to them than meets the eye. In his recently published videos on Vimeo, he demonstrates that his “functional sculptures” are far more than what they originally seem. In fact, once they are transformed they hardly resemble functional furniture at all and have morphed into truly artistic pieces of work.

His “Wave Cabinet” expands and contracts in a manner reminiscent of a handheld wooden fan. Pulling one of the individual wooden slats pulls the adjoining pieces in an undulating and successive movement. ErraZuriz says of his inspiration and intent:

“I am inviting people to look at one of the simplest forms of furniture design and to forget that we’re talking about furniture, instead to see it as a way of breaking a box. I love the idea of creating beautiful furniture; nevertheless I am much more interested in using the medium as an excuse to trigger people’s curiosity and create a connection with them.”

The mechanism by which this cabinet moves and magically holds itself in various configurations is difficult to pinpoint. It appears to operate on the physics of keystone arches, where a single wooden slat in the center acts as the “keystone” upon which the compression of the slats against each other allows for the entire side to cantilever off of the main structure. Or, perhaps each individual wooden slat is inserted into the base with varying depths which catch each particular slat at a predetermined angle. Either way, there appears to be a threshold before which the slats would fall back into the normal configuration if dropped and past which it floats enchantingly without the support of human hands.

ErraZuriz’s other functional sculpture pieces include coffee tables and various types of shelving that all rely on similar dynamics. While the physics he puts into play have been well understood by architects and designers for centuries, ErraZuriz put his own special twist on his designs that yield mesmerizing results.

How do you think the Wave Cabinet holds its shape seemingly without support? I’m certainly no woodworker or physicist, so I’d love to hear your theories in the comments below.

[via Gizmodo]

8 thoughts on “Insane Sculptural Furniture “Unzips” Before Your Eyes

  1. Mark Andrew Stewart says:

    it is quite clearly a system of pins and slots in each of the triangles at the right angle of the back and top of the table. also, there appear to be magnets along the top of the front slats that hold the top securely in place when closed. this wouldn’t be too hard to emulate.

    1. Nigel Tolley says:

      I concur on the slots and pins in the corners.

      Not certain about the magnets though, it could just be carefully weighted. Magnets probably wouldn’t stay fixed neatly except it exact positions.

  2. Squid says:

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  4. Geoff Gumban says:

    Each wooden element is connected to its neighbors, so moving one starts a chain of motion that ripples along the unit. The top and front side have fixed joints where they meet, while the vertical slats are attached to the base with individual hinges. Openings can occur at numerous intervals along the cabinet’s length to create undulations. The vertical pieces along the back of the cabinet are also hinged to the base and tilt back in the same way. With multiple configurations that allow for various options of aperture, the artist has re-engineered the familiar process of opening and closing, into rotating and undulating adaptations.

  5. hirnverbrandt says:

    Is it for sale and how much is it?

  6. Gothic Cabinet Craft says:

    This is amazing! I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s so simple, yet it’s an
    incredible idea.

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Sophia is the managing editor of the Make: blog. When she’s not greasing editorial gears, she likes to run, ride, climb, and lift things, and make lo-tech goods like zines, desserts, and altered clothing. @sophiuhcamille

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