NEX received a Metamorphosis Award for the table design from Metropolitan Works, the creative industries
centre created by London Metropolitan University, and the UK Technology Strategy Board. The competition was
launched to identify innovative breakthrough design ideas and provide support for new product development. The
judging panel, led by Metropolitan Works’ head Matthew Lewis, said the table was chosen because of the striking
quality of its design and its advanced synthesis of digital design and manufacturing techniques with skilled hand-
crafted assembly.
The table enables new forms of communication through a sophisticated arrangement of material
and structure.
Like the reciprocating back and forth of a good conversation, the table is made up of a field of
delicate wooden fins that vary in angle to each other and interlock to form an intricate lattice that appears most
transparent in the vicinity of the person sitting diagonally opposite the viewer and increasingly opaque elsewhere.
As verbal communication accounts for only a small part of how we interact, the To-and-Fro Table facilitates more
open full body communication with certain individuals while remaining discreetly hidden to others.
The prototype
is made from solid walnut and with a low reflective iron free glass top.
NEX is a London based multidisciplinary design office
Metropolitan Works is London’s leading Creative Industries Centre, helping designers and manufacturers
develop ideas
To-and-Fro Table by NEX
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- Giulia Guzzini
- 05 October 2010