Michael Gordon, Wood Mosaic Bar Cabinet (WORLD 2024)

Photos:

Michael Gordon

Country:

Ghana

My design philosophy emphasises the need for furniture to be both functional and interactive. This in my opinion recognises the importance of engaging the senses in our fast-paced, short-attention-span world. Beyond serving a practical purpose, I believe furniture should invite users to touch, feel, and experience it on a tactile level, fostering a deeper connection with the piece. This approach transforms furniture from mere objects into interactive experiences, encouraging people to pause, explore, and appreciate the design. In an era where attention is fleeting, creating such sensory engagement can make a lasting impact and enhance the overall experience of a space and even the relationship between its owner and visitors. The absence of a pull handle on this piece for instance, is one of the lures deployed to encourage that engagement: first you wonder what this piece is, then as you get close and start running your fingers all over the surfaces of the individual pieces, trying to figure out where the opening is, if you press hard enough, it pops open with the push-to-open system. To add to the engagement, I also stained a few of the pieces on both doors in Rubio Ice Brown to capture a bottle on the left door and a glass on the right door. All these come together, I believe, to give you a more memorable experience than you would have with ordinary furniture. With regards to its functionality, the Mosaic Bar Cabinet whose doors open out at an almost 180 degree angle, serves as a back up bar that offers convenience and even more so when installed with wheels. It will sit comfortably in any part of ones home, making sure that whenever you need that one crucial drink, it is only an arms stretch away.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.