One of the things I love about designer Piergil Fourquié’s Big Boss desk is that it possesses a kind of dual identity. This isn’t apparent from a first glance at its marquee side (a curvaceous and glossy exterior of iridescent charcoal that reminds me of a Porsche 911), but take a gander over to the inside and you’ll see what users see—the plush environs of a fine automobile.

Big Boss. Designed by Piergil Fourquié.

Situate Yourself Front and Center with Piergil Fourquié’s Big Boss Desk

If my words could speak, that last sentence would have taken on the smooth and silky tones of Samuel H. Jackson, as he describes a locale sacred to many men (and women). With Big Boss, Fourquié has perceived the importance of this space and re-contextualized it, thus conveying all the safety, security, and satisfaction of being behind the wheel.

Granted, the notion may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Fourquié has that eventuality covered too, since Big Boss is a highly functional and aesthetically innovative piece with broad appeal.

The design of Big Boss depends upon the cantilever principal familiar to architects, builders, and engineers: simply put, the finish surface extends beyond the underlying structure, which is carefully constructed so as to offer support, thus creating the illusion of a surface suspended in mid-air.

With Big Boss, this manifests as a lovely, light, and airy worktop in pale oak, jutting out and away from the formidable strength of the desk’s large, grounded, and very earthy cylindrical pedestal: “the lacquered metal skirt gives a solid volume on which the entire desk depends. This support contrasts with the light oak suspended top which juts out over an empty space.”

The contrast between the two elements, as well as between the exterior and interior, is at the heart of Big Boss: inside and out, earth and sky, the airiness of the surface and the solidity of the base—these dichotomies deed Fourquié’s innovative piece a singular character and unprecedented charm that will captivate all comers.

Via MocoLoco.

About the Designer: Graduate of the Birmingham Institute of Art, protégé to Arik Levy, and dyed-in-the-wool Parisian, designer Piergil Fourquié creates furniture with an edge. This is true in the literal as well as metaphorical sense, as much of his work involves a prominent cantilevered feature. Have a look at the Big Boss Desk, the Hip Table, and the Partition Storage System to see it action—and to get a sense of Fourquié’s compelling avant garde aesthetic.