Magic Levitating Coffee Table Uses Magnets to Mysteriously ‘Float’ | Designs & Ideas on Dornob - Feed https://dornob.com Architecture, Interior and Furniture Design Thu, 07 Aug 2025 23:57:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.1 Magic Levitating Coffee Table Uses Magnets to Mysteriously ‘Float’ https://dornob.com/magic-levitating-coffee-table-uses-magnets-to-float/ Sat, 19 Oct 2013 15:00:15 +0000 http://dornob.com/?p=39947 Push on any side of this Rubik’s cube-like coffee table, and it will give in to the pressure like it’s on springs, and then snap back into place. Look closer, and you’ll see that the individual wooden blocks that make up the “magic levitating” table are barely tethered to each other, each one seeming to […]

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Push on any side of this Rubik’s cube-like coffee table, and it will give in to the pressure like it’s on springs, and then snap back into place. Look closer, and you’ll see that the individual wooden blocks that make up the “magic levitating” table are barely tethered to each other, each one seeming to float in place. The ‘Float Table’ by RockPaperRobot is no ordinary piece of furniture.

Magic levitating float coffee table

The steel cables that hold the blocks into place aren’t supporting them. The walnut blocks are magnetic, so they sort of hover in place with respect to each other.

This kind of handcrafted conversation piece doesn’t come cheap – a table with 27 cubes goes for $10,000, while a 54-cube rectangular table is priced at twice that.

Magic levitating float coffee table cubic design
Magic levitating float coffee table magnets

“The Float Table is a matrix of ‘magnetized’ wooden cubes that levitate with respect to one another. The repelling cubes are held in equilibrium by a system of tensile steel cables. Each handcrafted table is precisely tuned to seem rigid and stable, yet a touch reveals the secret to Float’s dynamic character. The Table elastically deforms and stabilizes when external force is applied. Rare earth magnets and stainless steel cables are at the core of the technology. Standard finishes include a variety of woods and colored lacquers, but anything is possible (e.g., metals, images, etc.). All hand-made pieces ship from our studio in Brooklyn, NY. The tables ship in custom crates with White Glove service facilitated by RPR.”

Magic levitating float coffee table cube

About the designers: ” RockPaperRobot (RPR) is an engineering and design company specializing in shape-shifting and connected furniture. Our products are designed by a team of master fabricators and engineers, headed up by founder and formally trained roboticist, Jessica Banks. Celebrating the wonder of physics, our invention ethos draws inspiration from nature to create pieces that are as much experiences as they are objects. We are material, aesthetic, and genre agnostics with insatiable curiosity. It’s an honor to share our expression of this attitude through pieces that enhance engagement with the physical and imaginative spaces we all occupy.”

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