Known for creating conceptual pieces, Austrian design studio Mischer’Traxler has done it again with a confounding sideboard that’s sure to get your mind into gear. Gradient Mashrabiya is a labyrinthine study of the traditional Arabic latticework windows known as Mashrabiya or Shanasheel. This hand-lathed and hand-crafted oak sideboard highlights the architectural method, “exposing the many steps of production, to make the craftsmen’s work visible and understandable to the observer.”

Gradient Mashrabiya sideboard. Designed by Mischer’Traxler.

Hand-lathed and Hand-crafted Oak Sideboard Celebrates Arabic Architecture

Commissioned by Carwan Gallery, the Gradient Mashrabiya sideboard deconstructs itself in order to illustrate the complexity of construction. Composed of “a network of more than 650 distinct pieces of manually carved wood,” Gradient Mashrabiya includes rectangular slats, orbs, pegs, and decorative pieces that showcase woodworking technique. From left to right, the sideboard gets progressively more ornate, delicate, and three-dimensional. It almost looks atomized, as if the sideboard is revealing its molecular structure.

Measuring 146 cm x 37cm x 89cm high, the sideboard is a limited edition of 10 + 2 P. Made of Oak wood, the piece is produced by hand in Lebanon. This one-of-a-kind creation by Mischer‘Traxler is like the visual embodiment of a brain puzzle. Not only does the Gradient Mashrabiya Sideboard celebrate a confoundingly complex construction method, it also materializes the immaterial—by representing the idea of deconstruction and the beauty inherent in an object’s substantiation.

About the Designers: Mischer’Traxler is a design studio founded by Katharina Mischer and Thomas Traxler. Located in Vienna, Mischer’Traxler designs and develops products, furniture, and exhibitions. The partners are graduates of the IM-masters department of the Design Academy Eindhoven. Winners of numerous awards, including the Austrian Prize for the Advancement of Experimental Design in 2009 and the Sustainable Design Award, Mischer’Traxler is known for experimental and conceptual work.