MATERIAL-MINIMISED LONG TABLE

An experiment in which the tensile forces in the underside of a traditional table top are transferred to a taut steel wire. The aim is achieve a perticularly long free span with an unusually thin table top.

As in an archer's bow pr certain birdge designs, a central supportive ash frame and thus the table top are tensioned centrally in a gentle upward curve. If a load is placed centrally on the table, the top and frame only have absorb pressure, while the counter force passes into the taut wire. The ends of the wire are fixed to cross-set leg trestles, preventing the splayed legs from shifting outwards. Thus, in an interplay with the floor, loading has a positive, stabilising effect. In other words: the greater load, the stronger the table.

The structural concept has been deliberatly "over-exposed" to create a clearly understandable, elegant effect.