Living trend from Milan: A piece of furniture for many purposes

Created: 06/09/2022, 1:00 p.m

It looks like an oversized bottle cork: the corker from ClassiCon.

But he is a table or a stool.

© Christian Kain/ClassiCon/dpa-tmn

Some furniture can do many things and can be found anywhere in the house.

The Milan Furniture Fair shows that this multifunctionality and flexibility hits a nerve.

Milan - Do you feel the same way: you need an extra stool in the living room from time to time?

But it shouldn't always be there, because they don't have the space.

And sometimes a small workspace by the window would be good, or an additional shelf when cooking in the kitchen.

It's a good thing that there is now, for example, a "wandering table".

The Italian designer label Opinion Ciatti is presenting this at the Milan Furniture Fair (June 7th to 12th) with Koji.

"Infinitely adjustable in height, Koji also hides two small wheels, thanks to which it becomes a traveling table that can be moved around as desired," says the label.

So it's not just a small side table and shelf next to the couch, the steel frame with a board made of MDF or recycled fiberglass can also be pulled out to form a high desk - anywhere in the living room where it's needed quickly.

Ingredients for more practical living

A jack of all trades, with many uses.

Opinion Ciatti prefers to speak of an ingredient "like in the kitchen".

Hence the name of the table: Koji is a mold that provides a full-bodied taste in Japanese cuisine.

Such furniture can be found in heaps at this year's world show for the furnishing industry in Milan, Italy.

No wonder, because working from home in a small home is now a big issue for many people.

And even if you have a lot of space, you often live in an open floor plan - by the way, in Germany it is almost standard in new buildings.

Where there are no walls between the kitchen, dining and living area and the boundaries between the functional areas are blurred, furniture that can be practical anywhere makes sense.

A stool is a table is a stool

A prime example of such multifunctional furniture are stools - or should they be called tables?

There is no difference for ClassiCon: Its Corker is a piece of furniture that, according to the manufacturer's description, can be both.

But actually so much more: "It's a little helper when you need a seat.

But it can also be a bedside table next to the bed,” lists Ascan Mergenthaler from the architects Herzog & de Meuron, who created the design.

"It can be used as a table, as a side table, to place a plant on it, for example.

You can stack them on top of each other.

And we even turned it around - it also looks really nice that way.”

And the Corker is outdoor furniture: "We've actually had quite a lot of it outside for ten years.

It does change its look a bit, but the Corker is weatherproof,” said Mergenthaler in an interview at the Milan Furniture Fair.

The design is already ten years old and was created for a London museum.

ClassiCon boss Oliver Holy, who is now making the piece purchasable for the first time, is a big fan of the Corker.

Also because it fits so perfectly with the new way of living.

"We took a fresh look at it," reports Mergenthaler.

And the corker has been allowed to change: It is now flat at the top instead of slightly curved.

“It has to do with flexibility.

When it is flat, it can also be used as a table.”

A piece of furniture is also a decoration

It is often such small things that, for example, turn a normal little table into a piece of furniture with many names.

This also applies to Tuky, a side table designed by Luca Nichetto for Wittmann.

Its greatest feature is a handle that showcases this new flexibility.

Tuky is the name of Luca Nichetto's new side table for Wittmann.

It can be easily carried around with one handle.

© Max Rommel/Wittmann/dpa-tmn

Nichetto also deliberately designed the side table like a sculpture: “You can work on it, you can put books on it, you can eat on it.

But at the same time it was important to me that it is also a decoration," says Nichetto.

“Usually such products are very technical, but I don't want to be surrounded by purely functional products.

After all, it is my home.”

For designer Luca Nichetto, Tuky (at Wittmann) is not just a side table, it should also be a decoration.

© Max Rommel/Wittmann/dpa-tmn

The winners and places on the shortlist of the "ein&zwanzig" young talent competition awarded by the German Design Council, whose products were exhibited in Milan, also show how diverse the category of multifunctional furniture can be and how many different ideas there are.

You can also benefit those roommates who see everything as a place to climb and store anyway.

An example of this is the “Ludo” furniture by Teresa Egger.

A coffee table, side table and small work table, optionally with a children's rocker and mini bench.

And it offers storage space.

Ziyi Gong and Jingyi Yu think of the pets: their side table "Lin" is also a cat or dog bed.

dpa