Is it a chair, a table, a stool? Should it be upright or not? Columbian designer Danilo Calvache leaves the answers to you with his Ne Stool, a continuous loop that forms a sinuous stool, which can be placed on the long or short end. This bright red gem transforms the idea of a stool, since we have long ignored the stool as a simple repository for the feet. But now, Calvache returns our attention to this multi-purpose piece of furniture, making it an art object as much as a place to sit yourself, stack your books, or rest your feet.

Ne Stool. Designed by Danilo Calvache.

Like the Muungano Bench, which brings a splash of whimsy to the quotidian task of waiting for the bus, Calvache’s Ne Stool makes the stool cool (for once). Get those horrid archaic visions out of your mind–those Renaissance queens resting their shrunken feet on elaborate pincushions with carved legs. No! Instead, the Ne Stool offers a rebirth (ne does mean born in French, though I have no idea if Calvache intended this language play). Intended or not, Calvache’s red stool reinvents this formerly modest piece of living room furniture, bringing us something we can admire for its style as much as for its purpose. A large grouping of these Ne Stools just might make a great gathering place for a trendy bar; without upholstery, you can even spill your drink. Something about the intense hue also makes them perfect for the salons of tarot card readers, as well as the foyers of Chinese restaurants–the Ne Stool would have come in handy when Seinfeld and company suffered an inexplicable and interminable wait at their local Asian eatery.

For the big city effete elitists (here I’m paraphrasing current political rhetoric, should you accuse me of damning the metropolitan), use the Ne Stool as a book stand for your prized first-edition Proust or original Gattorno painting. Calvache’s Ne Stool obviously abhors the Laz-y-Boy, as should everyone skirting the center of the country. Unlike certain news-worthy figures, however, I will not damn those in certain regions. The Ne Stool would be just as lovely in a St. Louis loft.