San Francisco design studio Mike and Maaike has developed the wood-and-metal Rolly bar cart to express “geometric purity” and fun in furniture design.
Mike and Maaike began the design process by considering a furniture design that would consist of four identical circular elements and landed on the bar cart form for Rolly, which the studio claims is the first rolling furniture piece made from four congruent circles.
“Other than functional bar carts, we haven’t seen the rolling side table as a format in furniture design. We believe this is the first rolling object made from four equal circles,” studio co-founder Mike Simonian told Dezeen.
“It’s the geometric purity that we find so interesting about it. I’ve been obsessed with wheels and circles for a long time.”
For the design, three of the circles have been positioned as wheels, two stationary and a back wheel in the middle that swivels to change direction, like a ship’s rudder.
The swivelling wheel is operated by rotating the top circle, which acts as both a surface for placing objects and as a wheel, connected to the swivelling wheel by a trailing arm.
Steel components connect the wheels and bushings allow for the cart to be moved – but with some friction, so that it can act as a solid table when stationary.
Mike & Maaike utilised two different types of wood for the design. The first is a finished ash wood that can be painted in different colours. Simonian noted the appealing visual effect of the wood grain as the wood spins.
Other varieties feature plywood wheels decorated with graphics, such as black and white stripes, which also creates an interesting visual effect when rotated.
“It makes people smile,” said Simonian. “When it’s rolling, especially the striped one, people really stare at it because it’s very visually dynamic. We noticed that kids are super attracted to it.”
The project was self-generated, and the studio worked with various manufacturing partners to create the different components.
“The fun thing about this project was that it started with a really simple idea, but as we built it, we discovered new things,” said Simonian “It’s defined by physics, and in this project, the physics worked out really well.”
Mike and Maaike was founded in 2005 by Simonian and Maaike Evers. It has produced work for firms inclduing Google and Steelcase. Recently, the studio released a design-forward heat pump system with startup Quilt.
Other recent innovative furniture designs include a collection of furniture created from building waste by Sara Regal and a much-hyped pouf from Kusheda Mensah showcased at the Danish design festival 3 Days of Design.
The photography is by Mike and Maaike.
The post Mike and Maaike creates rolling bar cart from four congruent circles appeared first on Dezeen.
