Posts Tagged ‘coffee table’

See-through furniture

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Glas Italia tables - XXX series

These are a mix of glass and lucite, past and present. The bottom 3 pieces are from the 70s and all of the pieces at top are contemporary. Transparency puts furniture into the realm of the future or the imaginary, even when it also automatically harks back to the 1970s. Which may be the same thing. The 70s also had that thing for kaleidoscopic and candyshop colour, iconoclasm, disco and visual pleasure. And conveniently mirrored table tops. Above, XXX tables by Glas Italia, released this year. See this Arren Williams article. Below, glass and lucite by Italian company Sawaya Moroni, who are present-day masters of this too. Example further below are vintage.

Lucite tables by Sawaya Moroni

Sawaya Moroni

Sawaya Moroni

Two photos above are by Klick Interiors.

French Lucite Desk, 1970s

French Lucite Desk, 1970s

Above, French 70s lucite desk from here. Below, Electrified Plexiglas and Mirrored Glass Low Table by Ron Ferri, circa 1970’s USA. Mirror, Lucite. From Todd Merrill

Electrified Plexiglas and Mirrored Glass Low Table by Ron Ferri

Electrified Plexiglas and Mirrored Glass Low Table by Ron Ferri

Below, unknown chair.

Lucite chair

Gabriella Crespi

Monday, April 6th, 2009

Crespi steel coffee table

Crespi steel coffee table

This almost surreal Polished Steel Coffee Table by Italian architect and designer Gabriella Crespi looks like a metal crystal formation of some kind. Ca. 1970s. Very beautiful, and also multifunctional. The staggered leaves are retractable, as you can see, and it’s covered with a mirror-finish steel. It’s unfortunate that Crespi’s work never went into mass production – she did a lot of custom work – and that she eventually pulled away from design altogether. Read her bio by clicking below, via Todd Merrell Antiques. If I could have anything on his website, and I like most of it, it would probably be this.

(more…)