nendo: stone garden for caesarstone at toronto IDS 2013

‘stone garden’ installation for caesarstone by nendo presented at the toronto interior design show 2013

presented at the 2013 toronto interior design show, the ‘stone garden’ installation by japanese studio nendo was conceived as clusters of overlapping one-legged tables overlapping in order to support each other. produced in collaboration with caeserstone, the pieces were held in place without using any nails or screws to secure them, and employed a modular system, allowing for the option to change the depth and direction of their placement, forming to freely fit within the environment – like how an amoeba adaptsto its surroundings. since the tables are stabilized by the weight of other ones, caesarstone – a crushed natural quartz – was implemented for their surfaces, creating a new kind of ground surface seeming to float like a garden in the universe.

general overview of the ‘stone garden’ installationimage © designboom

‘the installation explores the boundary between ‘furniture’ and ‘non-furniture’. tables that aren’t quite tables form a cluster, creating a new kind of ground surface like a garden floating in the universe, far beyond the scale of individual tables. the unique variety and quality of natural colours and textures of the caesarstone surfaces are perfect to be arranged in a composition like the stylized landscape of a japanese rock garden.’ – oki sato, chief designer of nendo

the tables form a landscape of stepping stonesimage © designboom

the installation is composed of one-legged tables which are supported by one another to create the floating landscape

detailimage © designboom

clustering of the tables draws from that of the arrangements seen in japanese rock gardensimage © designboom

the tabletops are made from caesarstoneimage © designboom

aerial view of ‘stone garden’