There are some things in this world that I simply don’t get. How anyone would sit down, think about a design for a bench, and say to themselves “Hey, you know what would be cool? If we made a rope bench that’s kept intact just by tension!” Seriously where does a lightbulb like that come from? When you find out let me know, I want one, because this thing is awesome. No idea as to what it would cost mind you, as it’s hard to predict with this sort of thing. I mean technically you’d think some plywood and rope, but it’s artistic, which usually means a jump in the price tag is built in.
This particular design is the work of Yoav Reches (Well I didn’t know his name before but I will now!) and was displayed in Milan during Salone 2010. The bench itself is constructed from plywood pieces with a rope that’s strung through the bench surface. The tension of the rope alone is enough to keep the bench together, as we can see from the pictures. I need to get me one of these but I’d probably be too afraid to sit on it, I mean the joke would have to be on me I ended up in the ER because I can’t put together a rope tension bench. How would I even explain that to the nurse?
There is an animated gif posted on his site that shows the entire construction process and how he can break it right back down again but unfortunately it was too large to post. Still the pictures do a good job of showing how simple the design really is. Certainly we’ve seen some fun oddities in terms of furniture here at Walyou, such as the Geeky Furniture Designs or this glorious Wolfgang Keyboard Bench (I just know I’d bust those keys if I sat on it), but there’s something more to a design when it seems so easy and functional, and you don’t get much closer to that than a piece of rope holding a bench together.
Via: The Design Blog
