ori mishkal, a student of the belzalel design academy in jerusalem, has sent in images of a recent project he’s completed entitled ‘soil table’. questioning the place of nature in our lives, mishkal wanted to design an object which suggested a way to bring nature into the living space in an intimate way. constructed from a ready-made table, soil, iron net and ferns (mishkal chose fern as it is known for its love for shade), he reverted the growing of the plants to allow one to see the ‘underground growth’ of the plants by placing them upside down to grow.

unlike how we usually see plants, here, mishkal has hidden the ferns and instead made the soil the most visible component. not exactly a table or a flowerpot, the ‘soil table’ is a bit of a disturbing object, where one is accompanied by the strange feeling of plants on the hips when sitting at the table.

soil table by ori mishkal

soil table by ori mishkal

soil table by ori mishkal building up the ‘soil table’