Timescape: Marble Coffee Table

•

Timescape.

Marble Coffee Table

Designer: Joseph Coddington, Callum Allen, Matt McGowan

Refined, and historically streamlined design, a feature of which is the negative details inspired by Italian archways. Note the details for this particular model draw inspiration from the uniform architecture of Venice’s Procuratie Vecchie, wrapping the detail around the form. Negative details heighten the dramatic effect of shadows, visually demonstrating the passing of time due to the interaction between the table and sunlight. Adding fluid quality to static form, the design for this marble coffee table demonstrates sunlight’s interaction with a form. The visual quality of the coffee table will change based on the sun’s position; a viable interaction as coffee tables are used throughout the day. Designed using parametric software (Rhino6 with Grasshopper plug-in) allows for a varying range of objects to be crafted from the same design code. Customization can occur at an aesthetic level and to fit within manufacturing capabilities.

Brief

Design a coffee table which showcases the material “botticino classico marble” as the primary material.

Inspiration

Botticino marble is a traditional material native to Italy which has been incorporated throughout thousands of years of architecture and design. Referencing the historical impact of this material ideas were drawn from a range of historic Italian architecture. In particular the uniform repetition of archways and columns.

Italian Architecture, drawings and sketches where complied and studied to inspire form

Design Workflow: Parametric Software

Parametric design is a design method where features are shaped according to algorithmic processes, in contrast to being designed directly using traditional CAD techniques; providing designers with the ability to visualize the results of their customization in real time. This speeds up the design process drastically, while simultaneously encouraging playful design exploration without having to rebuild the entire object from scratch.

Like many aspects of the Timescape table, Parametric design is a fluid creative process. Instead of submitting a static object, we have submitted a parametric system that has the potential for a range of designs to exist. The designer defines the parameters and constraints of their object, which can be adjusted on the fly, prompting a 3D preview to update.

This opens up a wide range of possibilities in terms of mass customization. If customers want an existing coffee table they have seen in person or online, however they want it to be 40mm taller to better suit their space, these changes can be fed into our system, and a custom 3D model extracted, ready for tooling.

Code made using Rhino6 with Grasshopper plugin in

Conceptualization

As only a concept render is required to achieve the brief, all conceptualization was done within the digital space. By using parametric software, the design could be easily changed and altered based on chosen qualities. Parametric variables where added extra materials such as brass where explored. A range of concepts where explored using parametric variables.

Final Design

The final design was chosen as it addresses the theme of adding fluidity to a static object, while incorporating the refined features which reflect historic Italian architecture trends. The design uses only Botticino classico therefore maximizing the impact of the material, key element in the project brief.

Detail

Negative details draw from Italian archways, and provide a district detail across the table, the refined design brings the historic element into contemporary aesthetic trends.

Transition from inspiration to design detail.

Form

The form provides a smaller coffee table suited for 2 people to gather around. The tightening then expanding profile draws from the profile of a hourglass, as well as a refinement from the cylinder columns of neoclassical architecture.

Visual Change

Coffee tables are used throughout the day and sometimes into the night. They are objects where people pass time around, whether it be sharing a coffee with a friend or reading a book next to a coffee table. Despite time passing the user by, most coffee tables are static in their design; the tables aesthetic or form does not change as time passes.
Our design embeds the theme “passing of time” within the coffee table design. The sun is the purest form of documenting time; it moves throughout the day, emitting light and constructing shadows which warp and change as the sun moves and time passes. Shadows are formed by the sun, acting as a visual indicator for movement and time, therefore objects which may be static now adopt a sense of movement and visual change when incorporating the suns shadows. Timescape incorporates a series of cuts which are negative details and allow for shadows to be constructed as part of the design. As time passes and the sun moves, the coffee table will alter its visual qualities as different cuts become effected by the light and shadow.
Timescape is made from solid Botticino Classico Marble. Materials such as Botticino Classico showcases a quality of being static, solid and strong. Timescape's interaction with light allows for a fluid change in visual aesthetic, allowing the design to showcase movement; an elegant solution that breaks from the visual strength and static quality of marble material, providing a refined design solution to the coffee table.