Press Release
Palette Table by Rita Kettaneh Receives the A' Design Award in Furniture Design
Rita Kettaneh recognized for furniture design by the international grand jury of the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 23, 2020 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the A' Design Award in the Furniture Design category for Palette Table by Rita Kettaneh, designed for KRAY Studio. The recognition forms part of the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the A' Design Award
The Iron A' Design Award is awarded to good designs that meet the rigorous professional and industrial standards set by the A' Design Awards. This recognition is reserved for works that demonstrate a solid understanding of design principles and show creativity within their execution. Recipients of the Iron A' Design Award are acknowledged for their practical innovations and contributions to their respective fields, providing solutions that improve quality of life and foster positive change. These designs are a testament to the skill and dedication of their creators, showcasing their ability to address real-world challenges through thoughtful design.
More About Palette Table
Palette is a modular coffee table designed for mixing colors. The design is inspired by the Homage to the Square series of Josef Albers, and it transfers nested squares into three dimensional space. Each table top holds two acrylic sheets that overlap to create color mixes. Sliding a top layer from one table onto another produces a new combination. The top section locks into the stainless steel base, so each table can be moved as a single unit. Multiple tables may be arranged side by side to form a larger surface.
About Rita Kettaneh
Rita Kettaneh designs furniture that is unique, playful and meaningful. She seeks to make the experience of owning furniture an inspiring one where pieces evoke an emotion within their users and tell a story that is personal to each one of them. With an engineering foundation, an entrepreneurial specialization, and experience in marketing and design, she brings in a multitude of perspectives. This allows her to design furniture pieces that connect well with the person and with the market. Rita won the A’ Design Award in 2018 for her design The Crystal Tables and she has participated in exhibitions in Como, Beirut, Dubai, and Berlin.
Award Record
Rita Kettaneh is a winner of 2 A' Design Awards, including this recognition. The awards were granted between the 2017 - 2018 and the 2019 - 2020 editions of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Furniture Design Award
The A' Furniture Design Award is an international furniture competition recognizing good furniture designs by best furniture designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to furniture designers, product designers, industrial design studios and furniture brands from all countries. Typical entries include chairs, tables, sofas, beds, cabinets and shelves. The awarded furniture designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/furniture
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/98918
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/98918
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!98918
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/221189
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Palette Table
- Function
- Table
- Category
- Furniture Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Furniture & Home
- Colors
- Lavender, Crimson, Brown and Dark Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- KRAY Studio
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Rita Kettaneh
- Country
- Lebanon
- Recognition
- A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2019 - 2020
- Design ID
- #98918
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- The Palette is a table for mixing colors inspired by Josef Albers' "Homage to the Square". It invites the users to engage in color experiments to suit their interior and state of mind. In simple sliding motions, the top layers are interchanged among tables like Albers' "platters to serve color" and the colors are mixed through overlapping sheets. The Palette is a coffee table that is modular and dynamic: multiple tables may be arranged side by side in one's layout of choice.
- Inspiration
- This design was inspired by the works of the Bauhaus icon Josef Albers, namely his "Homage to the Square" where nested squares demonstrate how color interacts. The Palette deconstructs the squares into three dimensional space while preserving the play on transparency. It encourages users to create different moods by participating in color experiments as Albers advocated. Moreover, Palette answers a need to offer users the flexibility to tailor and refresh their space based on their preferences.
- Research
- The color experiments were carried out in three stages: the first developed color schemes through overlapping sequences of acrylic samples. Next, a constraint was added which is that the scheme would be made up of three pairs of overlapping samples to correspond to three tables made up of two layers each. Thirdly, the color mixes had to go into Albers' configuration. Layers of foam core and acrylic samples were used to model the nested squares and colored paper was added to finetune the colors.
- Challenge
- The design of the base had to embody the concept of the square while complementing the top's planar form and silhouette. Multiple designs were assessed through cardboard mockups and 3D modeling software. Moreover, experiments were done to identify the best performing mechanisms. In terms of locking the top to the base, bolts provided smoother locking and unlocking than rods. As to the sliding mechanism, it was reduced to sliding bars so the top sheet is easy to carry and slide into place.
- Realization and Technology
- The top section of the table is made up of steel sheets that are CNC laser-cut and bent with a press break. Welding is used to assemble the parts. The base is made up of stainless steel and is produced through a similar process. The top is powder-coated and includes two acrylic sheets, while the base has a brushed finish.
- Operation and Interaction
- The user can experiment with colors by sliding the top layer off a table and unto another where the overlapping sheets result in a new color mix. The entire top section of the table locks into the base to facilitate moving the table around as a single unit. This is done by fitting the pins of the top into their respective holes in the base and then sliding the top section sideways until the pins reach their stops and the top locks into place. The reverse motion is done to unlock the two parts.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in December 2018 in Kornet Chehwan, Lebanon and was completed a year and three months later in Mazraat Yachouh, Lebanon in February 2020 when the final prototype was produced.
- Specifications
- Width x Depth x Height: 500 mm x 500 mm x 435 mm Weight: 13.6 Kg
- Keywords
- palette, palette table, coffee table, rita kettaneh, kray studio, josef albers, hommage to the square, geometric table, colorful coffee table, color mix table
