Ta Tisch & Joburg Stool, Belgium

The foldable ‘Ta Tisch Table’ was originally designed for the architects’ travelling exhibition Pacing through Architecture (2012). Made for laying out the drawings, sketches and photographs of their projects, these pieces were constructed in birch plywood measuring 112cm by 303cm, resting on two elegant legs in the same material, which can be folded flat on hinges under the desk. The furniture touches the floor on two linear surfaces; the big plate seems to float rather than stand on legs. The table is of a solid construction, which is easily transportable because of the folding system. In 2015 valerie_objects, a furniture gallery from Antwerp, approached Robbrecht en Daem to develop the piece further. This collaboration resulted in two new versions with colour and a third constructed in French oak, stained dark brown and finished with high-gloss varnish. 

Alongside the foldable table in the exhibition they also incorporated an adaptation of a stool first designed for Cinematek in Brussels (2003–2009). Built out of a folded steel leg and carrying oval seats stained in vivid colours, these small, playful objects are spread around Cinematek’s entrance hall. For the presentation of Pacing through Architecture in Johannesburg the piece was simplified to a plywood construction and was produced in situ; it was given the name ‘Joburg’. This, too, became a production in its own right, and various versions were made in different colours and finishings, as with ‘Ta Tisch Table’. Robbrecht en Daem have a very subtle, sensitive way of applying colour to both their architecture and their furniture.