Given the sculptural severity seen in such manifestations as Eggersman’s Corian Collection and The Dupont Corian Illumination Series, one might fairly infer that Corian is tailor made for the straight line, the geometrical block. I tend to associate its smooth texture and linear propensity forever and always with the kitchen countertop, and as illustrated by both 1 and 2, the material lends itself beautifully to that application. However, to hear Cal-based Ilan Dei Studio tell it, Corian can be coaxed into pliability, and thenceforth fashioned into such inspiring forms as the Tree Table.

Tree Table. Designed by Iland Dei Studio.

Exploring Old Forms with New Materials

The iconic figure of the tree may be an old form—geologically speaking—yet, from an A&D perspective, matching its intricately sinuous shapes is a newish endeavor. Ilan Dei’s Tree Table joins the likes of the Quasi Console and the Vegetal Chair, two pieces that aspire towards organic reproduction. Those two pieces (by Aranda/Lasch and the Bourouellec Boys, respectively) employ complex mathematics and novel fabrication techniques to achieve their compelling correspondence, while Ilan Dei merely heats the aforementioned Corian into compliant pliability, then steps out into the great big backyard of SoCal.

The Tree Table is modeled on the look of several arboreal species native to Southern California. As Ilan Dei, says, the piece aspires to the “simple gestures and subtleties that we see in the branches and canopies of the beautiful trees local to California.” The table’s underside thus reaches toward the branching habit of such deciduous species as the spindly yet elegant circidium, the luminously lavender jacaranda, or even the dramatic dragon tree, a strange yet bold transplant that’s taken to the climes quite well. In short, the tree table evokes any broad-branched species, full of limb and resplendent of leaf, that terminates in a wide, semi-flat canopy, as the Tree Table does with the sinuous capstone of its top. The Tree Table thus achieves an unprecedented aesthetic that’s especially reminiscent of the foliage out in the coastal West, yet the look is versatile too. So much so, in fact, that it’s sure to remind you of your most favorite of nature’s forms, regardless of the particular locale of your backyard.

Via MocoLoco.