Kitchen Table for Shared Dining

The “Shared Dining Concept” is a project led by Professor Nahoko Kusaka of Doshisha Women’s University and is being undertaken by people from various companies and areas of expertise. This concept is a project aimed at creating a community and dining space (shared dining) where people can connect and share their joy through the act of eating, at a time when the isolation of the elderly is becoming a major social issue. We participated as an expert in the space and furniture field, and collaborated with Interoffice to design the kitchen table.

The theme of the project was to create a diversity of “distance”, “direction” and “place,” considering the nature of the shared dining space. Inspired by a puzzle called a “tangram”, the table design includes a variety of shapes and sizes, such as large trapezoids and small triangles for four to five people, which when combined form pentagons and square planar shapes. The various shapes, sizes, and combinations create various distances between users, as well as subtle shifts in the line of sight. The user can choose his or her place of residence according to his or her mood at the time and the nature of the work to be done, and this is intended to make the user feel comfortable.

While creating the mock-up, we incorporated into the design the practical features required, such as the ability to change the height of the tabletop to suit the user’s physique and activity, the ease of moving and changing the layout on a flat surface, a sink, IH stove, and trash can. The design also facilitates storage, packing, and transportation.

The structure is extremely simple: two boards (top and bottom) sandwich an X-shaped pillar; the X-legs are stabilized by fitting into grooves on the top and bottom boards, and the height can be adjusted by changing the angle. When the legs are removed, each component can be disassembled for compact storage and easy transportation. The top panel is equipped with a sink and an induction stove, and the sink can be made flat with the top panel if necessary. The top of the bottom plate can be used as a water supply facility, trash can, or storage space. By incorporating the functions and structure into the design in a straightforward manner, we aimed for an intuitive and operable appearance. The edges are rounded as much as possible in terms of plan and section to create a physically friendly design.

Crosstalk of Share Dining: Tetsuo Kobori & Nahoko Kusaka