The picNYC table by Haiko Cornelissen Architecten is an unusual object that aspires to transplant a snippet of rural life into your city apartment. Attuned to the growing phenomenon of urban farming, the folded aluminum table might blend into any chic urban interior, save for its tabletop of grass, soil and water-draining stones. The vegetated surface is designed to offer the surreal experience of picnicking indoors, providing an earthy bed on which to nestle a bottle of wine and place fine dishware. As the designers explained: “Suddenly, spilling water becomes a necessity instead of a problem and wine glasses need coasters not to prevent ring stains but to avoid tumbling.” More after the jump!

This new Chia Pet of the furniture world also requires constant care, calling on owners to tenderly hand cut their elevated plots of grass and tend to their demands for temperature and sunlight. If treated with love and affection, the table rewards owners with a flourishing indoor garden, accommodating grass, flowers, herbs and vegetables alike in endless combinations of flora. However, if neglected, the table may be quite unforgiving, interiorizing all the charm of a lifeless, unkempt lawn and perhaps emitting the odors of a flat of compost. Thus, not only does the picNYC table transform the average city dweller’s dining experience with its surreal reversal of indoor and outdoor, but it also integrates the rewards and responsibilities of rural life into city living, challenging urbanites to quite literally confront farm-to-table connections in a highly aesthetic manner.

[All images courtesy the architects]

by Kelly Chan

posted in Product sustainable design

tagged design, farm, furniture, green, Haiko Cornelissen Architecten, picnic, PicNYC table, product, Rural, sustainability

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