Press Release
Uni Side Table by Xubai Li Receives the Bronze A' Design Award in Furniture Design
The international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Xubai Li for furniture design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 25, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ Uni Side Table by Xubai Li has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Furniture Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The recognition forms part of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Bronze A' Design Award Means
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
About Uni Side Table
The Uni integrates inside and outside surfaces to create unconventional forms. Inspired by origami and negative space, Xubai Li designed it by forming a flat aluminum sheet into a three dimensional volume. Scaled from one sixteenth models to full size prototypes, it achieves stability through fold based geometry. Intended for urban environments, the Uni functions as both a table and a freestanding object, providing unobstructed negative space and mobility for modern studio living while maintaining an unobtrusive appearance.
About Xubai Li
Xubai Li is an interdisciplinary designer specializing in visual identity and object making. Her core methodology centers on deconstruction, systematically recontextualizing the established uses of ready-made materials and conventional design iconography. Utilizing a theoretical background in brand identity, she connects distinct physical and conceptual elements to construct objects that cross both cultural and formal boundaries. Through this practice, Xubai contributes to the broader design field by examining preconceived structural norms, challenging accustomed traditions, and expanding the standard applications of industrial and everyday materials.
Award Record
With this recognition, Xubai Li is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
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. The competition 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. Entries typically include chairs, tables, sofas, beds, cabinets and shelves. Awarded furniture designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/furniture
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission 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. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated 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. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates 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, the upload of a work and the 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. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/182518
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/182518
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!182518
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/377973
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.xubai.design
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
- Uni Side Table
- Function
- Side Table
- Category
- Furniture Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Furniture & Home
- Colors
- Rosy Brown, Dark Gray, Dim Gray, Gray and Silver
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Xubai Li
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #182518
Credits
- Image Credits
- Photographer Jonah Takagi, Uni, 2025.; Creator Xubai Li, Uni, 2025.
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Uni is a singular, continuous form that transmutes a flat aluminum sheet into a sophisticated, freestanding volume. By blurring the line between interior and exterior, the design achieves a structural duality where the tabletop and base exist as one uninterrupted gesture. Its innovation lies in this seamless geometry, offering a sculptural aesthetic that redefines traditional furniture assembly through minimalist rationale. This piece was designed by Xubai Li and manufactured by Bestcase in New York, United States, in a collaboration program, led by Rhode Island School of Design.
- Inspiration
- Inspired by origami, Uni explores the transformation of a two-dimensional aluminum plane into a self-supporting, multi-dimensional volume. The design utilizes fundamental roller bending techniques to transform a single sheet into a sophisticated, freestanding object. By eliminating traditional joinery in favor of a singular, continuous gesture, Uni achieves structural integrity.
- Research
- The research for Uni was a hybrid of theoretical exploration and material investigation. The primary objective was to subvert traditional expectations of furniture by blurring the boundaries between interior and exterior spaces. The study sought to translate the philosophical principles of origami—transforming a flat, meaningless plane into a meaningful 3D volume—into a functional furniture silhouette. The methodology employed a "form-from-flatness" approach, utilizing comparative analysis of contemporary sheet metal furniture and traditional origami techniques.
- Challenge
- The main challenge was finding a form that elegantly embodies the essence of origami while adapting to harsh sheet metal processes. Every additional pressed piece introduced unwanted aesthetic noise. To solve this, we minimized assembly to a singular, continuous form. We also bypassed standard industry powder coating; instead, a simple waxed finish preserved the aluminum's subtle shine, reducing maintenance while celebrating the material's raw, industrial elegance.
- Realization and Technology
- Uni is made with 5052 Aluminum sheet in .25-inch thickness. The process can be divided into three simple stages: 1. Roller Bending and Brake Press Bending 2. Edge Welding 3. Sand and Standard Waxed Finish to preserve the original aesthetic of the raw material.
- Operation and Interaction
- Uni isn't just a table; it's functional art. You interact with it by placing items on its surface or simply admiring it. As you walk around the room, its folded metal design visually transforms from a solid block into an airy, open sculpture. It performs better than standard furniture because it serves dual purposes: it provides a handy resting spot for everyday objects while elevating your space as a beautiful, free-floating centerpiece that doesn't need to be hidden away.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started its design process in February 2024 in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, and finished its first edition for manufacturing in May 2025 in New York, United States, and was first exhibited in International Contemporary Furniture Fair 2025 in New York City, United States, and the Convention Center in the same month, in Rhode Island, United States.
- Specifications
- 533 mm × 508 mm × 457 mm
- Keywords
- industrial decor, aluminum furniture, minimalist design, side table, sheet metal, sculptural furniture, origami
