Bram Boo furniture overdose

In that definitively gray area between art and design, these desk, chair and cabinet designs by Bram Boo have one clear purpose in mind: unusually additive storage. However, the execution of that idea is so haphazard one has to wonder: why add complexity when something could be accomplished with simplicity?

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The short answer is that the inherent chaos of the design is supposed to be an opportunity to create order – by slotting things into certain boxes and filling the nook-and-cranny additive spaces. While this intent may engender some initial skepticism there may be more to the claim than meets the eye.

Bram Boo furniture
Bram Boo furniture detail

If you think about it, there may be some method to these mad designs. A chair with storage compartments on top makes a certain kind of sense: after all, you can sit below and not bump them but when you stand you can reach them, right?

Bram Boo furniture odd shapes

Likewise we all get a feel for where we put things when we regularly sit in the same place – the dashboard, center storage or door spaces in our cars for example. Maybe if we used a chair like the one shown above regularly enough we would likewise become accustomed to using each place for different things.

Whether you want to take these various furniture designs as works of clever art or functional innovation, they do press us to think about the additive potential of industrial design – the ability to take a simple object and simply graft other aspects onto its core functionality.

Bram Boo furniture circular table

Bram Boo, son of Belgian artist Bram Bogart, is an autodidact who works as an independent designer. For him, design is a way of life, a way to surprise.”

“Boo’s approach is as wide as the meaning of design broad. He strives to find the right balance between function, technique, culture, emotion and personal input. By challenging the norm, he aspires to create new ideas and emotions with a focus on function and aesthetic values.
Boo uses different techniques to achieve this desired element of surprise, but he usually starts with the functionality of an object and give it his own personality. This logical step gives his designs something intimate and recognizable.”