Shigeru Ban has had a big season, what with winning architecture’s highest prize, building disaster housing in the Philippines, and unveiling a huge luxury penthouse. The Japanese architect has many fans, including the designer of this wooden table, who says it was inspired by his low-tech cardboard buildings.
Ania Wolowska named this piece the Ban table, a nod to the architect’s ingenious designs for paper and wood structures that notch together with very little hardware.
The table’s eight pieces are carved by master woodworkers from Bacalar, Quintana Roo, in Mexico — the design is based on traditional joinery techniques found all over the world. Thanks to those notches, the whole thing slides into place in a matter of minutes — all you have to do is affix the glass table top.
There’s no price listed for the table, which is a sure fire sign that you can’t afford it — but since there’s no hardware required, it wouldn’t be too hard to make a version of this yourself. Think of it as adult-sized Lincoln Logs. [ITZ Furniture; Design Milk]