Transformable Work Table When is a table a table? When we sit down at it. When it is not used, a table can accom- modate other functions. One might need to transform a table daily or as one’s needs and space requirements change. Students made tables that accommodate many func- tions using a single 5’ x 5’ x 3/4” sheet of Baltic birch plywood. Waste material could be no more than 10%.They had to propose a table that folds, collapses, rolls away or trans- forms in any combination, while considering the practical and ergonomic issues of the transformation. Students had to quickly grasp how much the actual table weighs, or how cumbersome an act of transformation can be, through the building of full-scale models. These projects are conceived as the studio outcomes of Professor Filiz Klassen’s on-going research about the issues related to human mobility and the transformation of built envi- ronments in diverse cultural contexts. These projects were taught with Paul Mezei and David Johnston in Spring 2002 with invalu- able help from workshop technicians David Loewy and Blaine Evans.
Coffee Table/Shelf toys with the idea of what playful, adaptable and flexible really mean in the context of a plywood table by offering a surprise act of transformation.This exploration is about the simplicity of lifting up a 5’ x 5’ plywood sheet by adding a number of folds and hinges. (By Rene Ng)
Filiz Klassen shares her ideas with interior design stu- dents at Ryerson University and is an independent curator. Her research is in urban issues that involve transformability and sustainability in a hybrid practice of fashion, interiors, architecture and graphics.
Wall-Hung abstracts the relationship between table top and underneath. In its hung position, it reveals the carefully articulated underside of the table that we don’t usually get to see.The table unfolds by lifting a wooden peg, to reveal a Victorian traditional writing desk, resting on a single Queen Anne leg. By using, re-using and recycling traditional forms in a provocative and humorous way, this project re-interprets the tradi- tion of furniture making. (By Robert Walshaw)
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