Sechser table by Peter Draenert: Keeping your space
13th December 2007
There are some people who can’t stand to share their personal spaces with anybody else. They can’t even stand for having someone else’s things encroaching on their territory. For instance, it would upset them if you so much as inadvertently place your drinking glass a few centimeters on their table space. Well, the Sechser table designed by Peter Draenert, which I saw over at Bonluxat, would probably meet with such a person’s approval.
It looks like a series of small tables that are all stuck together in one big table. It seats six, with small round surfaces for each one. So in effect, it’s like each person has his or her own personal table. Slim chance of mistakenly placing your drinking glass or other tableware in another person’s table space with this one!
According to the product description, people are narcissistic – and selfish in a way, I gather. A communal activity, like eating together, would still entail some form of the need for self-preservation. That sounds confusing, but apparently some people feel that way. The Sechser table would be suitable for such situations. It seems to be suitable for both the home and commercial venues; the dishes would be placed at the center, from which guests would take what they want to transfer to the plates and other flatware placed within their own personal space at this table. There’s no denying that it looks pretty, though. Kind of like someone’s translation of a flower into furniture. Or perhaps water ripples. If I were the designer, those two items would probably inspire me to make something like this table. I just don’t know how such things would inspire me to make bistro chairs with a similar effect!
Draenert is a much deeper thinker, apparently. He and some other furniture designers create their pieces with some sort of ideological, psychological, or sociological meaning. Which is all well and good – as long as they function like they’re supposed to.
