Nim Coffee Table
Furniture Design, Material Innovation & Exploration, Fabric upcycling
Nim is a three-legged coffee table that showcases the mouldability of blended fabric. From a mixture of blue denim, light green and yellow cotton, the two contrasting colours are achieved solely through two different degrees of blending. By saturating the fabric with starch, layering and compressing it in a 3D-printed mould, the resultant single-piece construction displays a seamless blend of two colours without any form of joinery.
from fabric to fibers
In our bid to expand the natural colour palette of fabric, we broke down the material into it's simplest element - fibers. This is done through shredding and blending while carefully considering the original colour of the fabric to be blended, type of fabric, degree of blending, and ability for different fabrics to stack without joinery due to the interlocking of fibers under compression, resulting in a limitless combination of new colours and patterns.
from fibers to form
Through starching, compressing in a 3D-printed mould, and oven drying, blended fabric becomes strong, rigid, and highly mouldable. A gradually sloping tri-conical structure that seamlessly fuses together as a single piece construction was chosen to accentuate these new-found properties.
what are the "holes" for?
To overcome the long drying times, air channels were incorporated into our design. They serve as an aesthetic iconic to our design process while providing an ornamental function such as a flower vase.
Thank you for viewing.
Special thanks to the people who donated their unwanted fabrics.
Construction of 3D-printed moulds were kindly referenced from The Pastille Collection by Emeline Ong
A collaborative work by Bryce Lim and Madeline See
Under the guidance of Tiffany Loy
Platform leader | Native Colours
Division of Industrial Design, National University of Singapore
