Cantilever Tables

The beginnings of modern architecture in the twentieth century were embodied by the cantilevered armchair, a chair that offered a new, more comfortable way of sitting. The cantilevered table came next, and it is equally emblematic of the modern ethos. Formed by moving the legs from the corners of a table further inside--or by doing away with the legs altogether and replacing them with a central base--the cantilever table allowed tabletops to be shaped independently, with open, free forms. Architects and artists like El Lissitsky, Jean Prouvé, Charlotte Perriand, Alexander Calder, Alvar Aalto, Ellsworth Kelly and Marcel Duchamp took part in the evolution of the cantilever table, moving this piece of furniture away from its conventional, rectangular existence. This curiously-shaped publication offers an overview of the history of freeform, organic shapes, how they can be used and how they relate to architecture.