WORDS Lindi Brownell Meiring
New York City-based designer Ian Stell creates multifunctional, flexible furniture that – thanks to the way the pieces are designed – can each be used in a variety of ways.
“Mutability in a piece of furniture should serve a purpose,” explains Ian on his website, “but the act of transformation should be a kind of dance.”
We rounded up a few of our favourite creations from this talented designer.
Big Pivot is made up of over 1 500 pieces of wood and can alternate between a desk and a dining table.
Chorus serves as both a chair and a side table and can be folded and locked in any direction.
Sinan transforms itself from a small table into a large one, similar to the way that Lattice and Sidewinders have been designed, tables that start out small, but can be extended into much larger pieces.
Femten works “by arranging a number of pivoting members around a central plane, a system is developed by which a chair can assume several different configurations, including being turned inside out,” explains Ian.
Two chairs become long loungers in Austrian Loop, while Ian’s latest work entitled Diagint involves an interchangeable staircase.
For more information about his work, visit ianstell.com.
