(smow) blog compact Budapest Design Week Special: Cardboard Room Divider by János Terbe

Much like crisps, cardboard furniture is something with which we have a very troubled relationship.

However whereas with crisps the problem is saying no: with cardboard furniture it is saying yes.

We know that cardboard furniture makes sense, or at least can make sense. We even once developed our own cardboard chair, the (smow) chair

But most cardboard furniture simply doesn’t appeal to us. There is invariably something about the form, the construction or a pig ugly aesthetic we simply cannot get our heads around.

Not always though, and very occasionally we come across an item of cardboard furniture which genuinely fascinates us.

Such as in the case of a sadly otherwise unnamed room divider created by János Terbe aka Karton Design which we saw at madeinhungary during Budapest Design Week.

An essentially very simple design, the clou with the room divider is the small slithers of glass spread throughout the cardboard.

At first we didn’t realise it was glass. We thought it was gaps. Which for us is all the evidence we need to understand that the glass slithers open up the design, create an object that allows physical division without getting defensive about it. Keeps the room open despite offering closure. And because glass refracts light, as you move through a room your perception of the divider and its effect vary; thus transforming a passive piece of furniture into an active component of a room.

All in all an excellent example of simple yet effective furniture design.

We’re not going to claim to be big fans of everything that János Terbe and Karton Design produce. We’re not. But we are of the cardboard room divider.

Now where did we put those crisps………………………………………..

Cardboard Room Divider by János Terbe, as seen at madeinhungary 2014

Cardboard Room Divider by János Terbe, as seen at madeinhungary 2014

Cardboard Room Divider by János Terbe, as seen at madeinhungary 2014