At BKLYN DESIGNS 2009: Bam-Boo

Boo-Coup is trying to “make the green revolution fun…lots of fun!” With a line of bamboo plywood furniture for kids and adults, Boo-Coup designs all manner of pieces from the sustainable material. Owner David Siegel, who has fifteen years experience designing and building in New York City—everything from toy store displays to custom furniture for architects—wanted to accomplish three things with the Boo-Coup line: employ renewable materials to create textured surfaces using bright colors.

Disc Chair. Designed by David Siegel of Boo-Coup.

It’s that simple. Sustainability, texture, and color dominate all of Siegel’s furniture. Showing at BKLYN DESIGNS 2009, the Yang-A-Rang Table measures 17″ H x 44″ W x 20″ D. Half a yin yang symbol or a complete comma, the shape transforms a simple table into a fanciful object. Complete with a built-in tray, Yang-A-Rang can hold anything from chips to flowers, candy to potpourri. Remove the tray and leave an interesting negative space—something kids can experiment with by playing their own version of Twister. Because it uses bamboo plywood, the Table accommodates a wide variety of textured finishes, ranging from croc to flow to turbulence. Combine the possible textures with Boo-Coup’s array of colors—blue, green, red, orange, yellow, teal, and brown—for a personalized look. I like the Yang-A-Rang in smooth orange; it looks like a stylized ranunculus petal.

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Yang-A-Rang Table. Designed by David Siegel of Boo-Coup.

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Door Cube. Designed by David Siegel of Boo-Coup.

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Door Cube. Designed by David Siegel of Boo-Coup.

The Door Cube is also a great, fun piece. Perfect for hiding anything from books to stuffed animals to dirty laundry (to little brothers), the Door Cube is a 15 ” H x 12 ” W x 12″ D box (therefore, not a cube). On wheels, this multi-functional piece is ideal for a child’s room. Roll it underneath a desk and use it as a computer cabinet or for media storage. Wheel it below a bunk bed to create a step stool. It’s mirthful in multiple colors: a green cube with a blue door looks great in an ocean-themed playroom. Another wonderful Boo-Coup creation is the Disc Chair, a lollipop-inspired, carnivalesque romp. At 25″ H x 12″ W x 12″ D, this chair makes sitting an imaginative exercise—a portal into whacky dreamscapes. Its only problem may be that it’s simply too much fun to take sitting down.

On a more serious note, all of Boo-Coup’s furniture should work well past childhood. The clean designs make Siegel’s pieces good options for transitional ages. Also, Boo-Coup’s designs will not clash with more adult furniture. There should be no jarring discontinuity between contemporary adult fare in the living room and the bamboo plywood constructs in the child’s room or den. Boo-Coup can please both young and old sensibilities.

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