I visited “Tools Galerie” at 119 rue Vieille du Temple a few weeks ago to see this table from Frédéric Ruyant‘s series called fractal. I was expecting not to be able to keep my hands off the slick corian, but how wrong was I. A little snow blind from the white surface, I found myself standing well away from it and moving round leaning backward and forwards being fascinated by the different shapes and planes thrown as shadows. I think this table is best suited to indirect lighting or lighting from the side to create more subtle shadows across the surface.
This creative piece is in executed in corian, which has the warmth of wood, the toughness and hygiene of stone and the plastic possibilities of…well plastic. Having designed kitchens with corian I appreciate the considerable workmanship that has gone into this piece with it’s changing planes. The only part that jars a tiny bit for me was the metal bit that fitted around the top of the legs to fix it to the to the table-top. This joint didn’t seem to have quite the same level of design detail or workmanship as the rest. Then again this is something I frequently see in tables, that the bit that you’re not looking at can be less worked out than the rest. This table is after all about geometry not joinery.
I’ve had a lot of fun trying to do seating plans. Nine people in 2/1 /2 / 1 /2 /1 formation, or six people in a 2 /0 /2 /0 /2 /0 formation, or a more radical six in a 2 /1 /1 /0 /2 /0 formation. The last one is quite fun as it could throw conventions up in the air, but it perhaps isn’t respecting the geometry which is quite tight. If this table were mine I think I’d use it as a work table, it’s zone-able and possible to work with another person either together or individually. Most of all there are those three long grooves to stop erasers, pens and pencils rolling away.
Spatial organisation is another great game to play with this table, The multitude of possibilities that it opens up could occupy me for a week and become quite addictive. Unfortunately although it is a fun game it’s not one that many architects will get to play since the table is only produced in a limited edition of 5.
