Futaba Convertible Coffee Table

Futaba, meaning “double leaves sprout from one seed” in Japanese, was the first solution designed for entertaining in small spaces. Futaba began as an exploration into ways to make a furniture work double duty - to be equally functional when home alone and when in the presence of guests. I began by thinking about transforming furniture and challenged myself to come up with thirty ways in which a table could transform into seating. Starting with sketches and then moving to chipboard models to see the change in 3-D gave me a better understanding of the process. Solidworks models added to my understanding of movement while full-scale cardboard models were made to flesh out proportion and scale. The final solution requires a metal pipe with stoppers all hidden in the armrests that allow the table top to flip up to the perfect back angle to become a love seat for two. Check out the video below to see Futaba and Tagei in action.