The Vitra EM Table by Jean Prouvé
One of the most important players in global furniture design is without question the Swiss furniture manufacturer Vitra: a story that begins with seating by the American designer couple Ray and Charles Eames, which were produced in Europe for the first time by the Vitra founders Erika and Willi Fehlbaum from 1953 onwards. Since then, Vitra has built up a broad portfolio of furniture for the residential and office sectors, in cooperation with leading international designers and across genres, including table design. Whether in the living room or in the open-plan office - Vitra tables are an easy choice, not least because perfect design and first-class workmanship are guaranteed. As with the Vitra chairs, the Vitra portfolio includes many tables, such as the Noguchi Coffee Table. In addition to the established design icons Vitra also offers many contemporary designs that are tailored to the demands of the contemporary living area, home office or project area and reconfirm that the Swiss manufacturer understands the basics of functional, simple table design. A multifunctional all-rounder among the Vitra tables for the office is the Hack Table by Konstantin Grcic.
The Noguchi Coffee Table from Vitra creates a stylish ambience in any living room
LTR Occasional Table by Ray and Charles Eames
Vitra Guéridon dining table in a modern kitchen environment
The large Vitra Plate Dining Table offers plenty of space for sociable rounds
Vitra Belleville garden table by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec
...The Table - The Beautiful South "This table has four sturdy legs", The Beautiful South inform us, and you think, yeah standard table (ooh-oooh), an impression reinforced as we're informed it is an object which over the years has been sat upon (ooh-oooh), wined upon (ooh-oooh), dined upon (ooh-oooh), treated like a bed (ooh-oooh) and spat upon (ooh-oooh), although honestly who spits on tables... But can tables change, can tables turn (ooh-oooh)...
...Following on from the success of smow Cologne's Passagen Design Week début in 2014 with the USM Haller exhibition Facetten, 2015 sees a presentation of tables from the German manufacturer ASCO... Established in 1998 with the aim of developing tables which radiate a timeless elegance, the ASCO collection combines table tops in a range of hardwoods with bases constructed from wood, metal or concrete to produce objects that are as domesticated as they are rustic and individual as they are universally accessible...
...As the name implies 2tables combines two tables in one object - with the top/lid raised it can be used as a desk, lower the top/lid one not only hides all evidence of work, but gains a homely wooden table - and all packaged in a delightfully formed and elegantly crafted object which is endowed with the sort of attention to detail that separates genuine design from the run of the mill tat that is often presented as design...
...As observant readers may have noticed, during our visit to the ICFF we did spend quite a lot of time complaining about the lack of tables in the press room... Magis had of course delivered tables for the press room...
