SQUARED

The natural companion to Qube Accent Chair, Squared Side Table spawns from the same fascination for a balanced, four-sided polygon and the exploration of the myriad possibilities contained within a single, perfectly symmetric shape. Stretching 19 inches in all three directions, Squared Side Table is in reality nothing other than a wooden box on a half-inch plinth for added convenience. But there is a caviat, for the box is incomplete, with one of the vertical panels missing.

In a vacuum, the perfect cube is devoid of the sort of trait that allows you to tell apart the vertical from the horizontal elements of it. In the absence of defining features or even blemishes, the cube can be flipped in any direction at any time without affecting its positioning: the Platonic idea of a cube, as it were, can never be upside down. It features six absolute positions (top, bottom, left, right, front, back) and any of its panels can adopt any of the positions interchangeably at any given time, but regardless of which panel occupies it, the top of the cube always stays at the top.

Needless to say, this interchangeability exists only on paper: the moment the cube  comes into contact with real life, the moment it gets sliding scratches (at the bottom) or tea stains (at the top), primacy is deferred to the particular layout of this one specific cube in this one specific context. It is precisely that passage from paper to reality – from the general absolute to the particular circumstance – which gives Squared Side Table its defining features, as well as its name. After all, what is a cube if not a square, multiplied by itself.

The transition from two dimensions to three, the physical embodiment of the line, also entails the triumph of purpose over concept, which places Squared Side Table firmly on its feet, as it were – felt pad gliders and a half-inch wooden plinth (both optional) protect the base from the elements while irrevocably establishing which elements are horizontal and which vertical.

For all the benefits of practicality, we’re still keenly interested in exploring the potential contained in the concept of the cube – but in order to do so the box needs to be opened. A cube with six adjoining faces, a complete cube, so to speak, is impenetrable, and by extension also mysterious. But the move from arcane mystique to intellectual observation necessitates the removal of (at least) one face of the cube.

As a matter of perspective, any actual cube can only ever miss the top, the bottom or any of the four vertical panels, which are always orientational, for any side can be gyrated to the front. Regardless of which panel is removed, the result of any disassembling of the box is always the same: revealing the secrets that otherwise lie out of sight. However, the decision concerning which of the three panels to remove is also clearly connected to the motivation behind the choice. Namely, the more pragmatic approach is to go with Pandora and lift the lid, while flipping the opening to the bottom would point to a more conservative approach, mindful perhaps of cost reduction and evocative of Shroedinger’s shroud of doubt.

If we get rid of the lid we have a fully functional box, if we get rid of the base we preserve the element of mystery surrounding its contents – but what if we take the front of the cube instead? Both the fiendish evils of Pandora’s box and the quantum paradox in Shroedinger’s point to a disconnect between ordinary space and the realm of the box. However, once we remove the front piece of the cube we liberate its confines from the mystery of concealment, integrating inside and outside space into a single environment while still preserving the enclosure comprised by five adjoining panels.

Whatever happens inside a closed box now happens before our eyes – and the result is mesmerising. If Qube Accent Chair applies the principles of Gothic architecture to furniture design, Squared Side Table is its Romanesque counterpart: solid, understated and self-contained, the open cube with its coloured backstop becomes a window into the properties of space, its interaction with light, and the role played by perception in our understanding of both, all the while providing support for your drink and fodder for your musings.

For the full spec sheet of Squared Side Table click on the table below.