Bronze Furniture Design · 2025
Focal Table
by Yilmaz Dogan
- A' Design Award 2025 Bronze Winner in Furniture Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: QZENS Furniture
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 13,009
- Verification code 2E3FC202D2 · Verify this award
About Focal Table
Focal is a dining table that balances refined aesthetics with structural innovation. Inspired by Baroque and Rococo architecture, it merges ornate detailing with modern minimalism. Its delicate yet durable stance is achieved through a concealed steel frame, while outward extending legs maximize seating space without compromising stability. Crafted from natural wood with precision cut surfaces and brass accents, Focal embodies timeless sophistication. Integrating structural support within its minimal form was a key design challenge, resolved through meticulous craftsmanship.
Focal Table by Yilmaz Dogan engages the distinguished lineage of refined furniture design where functional necessity meets aesthetic contemplation, positioning itself within conversations surrounding mid-century modern revivals while demonstrating contemporary sensibilities in proportion, material selection, and detail resolution that suggest both historical awareness and forward-looking design intelligence. The compositional achievement of this work resides in its masterful negotiation of horizontal emphasis and vertical punctuation, the generous tabletop surface establishing commanding presence through measured proportion while the four elegantly splayed legs introduce dynamic diagonal vectors that animate the form and prevent static horizontality from becoming visually inert, creating instead a balanced tension between repose and energy, stability and movement. The chromatic sophistication demonstrates considered restraint, deploying a triadic material palette of warm neutral surface tone, deep glossy black structural elements, and warm metallic accents that function in sophisticated counterpoint, each material voice maintaining distinct identity while contributing to overall harmonic unity, the taupe-gray tabletop suggesting organic warmth and tactile invitation, the ebony legs providing structural clarity and visual grounding through tonal contrast, and the brass or bronze ferrules offering jewel-like punctuation that rewards close observation while anchoring the composition at its four contact points with the ground plane. Technical facility appears evident in the leg profiles, which demonstrate fluid curvature transitioning from slender terminations through gentle swelling to robust attachment points, suggesting both structural logic and aesthetic refinement, the outward splay creating not merely visual interest but functional stability through widened footprint while the curves introduce organic reference that softens geometric severity and invites haptic appreciation. The marriage of materials speaks to enduring furniture design principles where honest material expression serves both structural requirements and sensory experience, the wood or wood-finish surface offering visual and tactile warmth appropriate to surfaces supporting human activity, the metal components providing durability and precision at stress points while introducing chromatic variety that elevates the composition beyond monochromatic uniformity. This work appears to explore themes central to domestic and professional environments where objects serve simultaneous roles as functional supports and aesthetic contributors to inhabited space, the table's refined proportions and material sophistication suggesting contexts valuing design consciousness, environments where daily objects receive consideration as contributors to spatial quality and lived experience rather than mere utilitarian provisions. One might contemplate how this design negotiates the perennial furniture challenge of achieving sufficient visual presence to register as considered design while maintaining restraint that allows integration into diverse interior vocabularies, how its formal language speaks across stylistic boundaries through proportional intelligence and material honesty rather than overt stylistic signaling, inviting viewers to consider the table as both autonomous aesthetic object worthy of contemplation and adaptable element within larger environmental compositions.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Focal is a dining table that stands out with the positioning of remarkable delicate legs that maximize the seating area.
Beneath its minimal and serene appearance lies precise craftsmanship. Thanks to its concealed steel frame structure, it maintains a delicate stance while ensuring durability. Brass-detailed leg ends and meticulously assembled surface panels enhance Focal’s sophisticated aesthetic. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Width: 223 cm, Depth: 98 cm, Height: 74 cm. The steel frame structure provides a lightweight yet durable build. The elegantly tapered legs adorned with brass details create a minimal yet striking presence in the space.
- Tags
- Focal, Table, Baroque, Rococo, Luxury, Timeless, Aesthetic, Wood, Brass, Handcraft
- Production Technology
- Focal consists of a wooden tabletop reinforced with a special steel frame. Carefully selected natural wood is used for the surface, while brass details are intricately integrated. Precision-cut surfaces obtained through CNC technology and handcrafted leg joints enhance the timeless elegance of the design.
- Design Challenge
- The biggest design challenge for Focal was creating a structure that appears light and refined yet ensures high durability. Concealing the steel frame and processing the brass details in a way that balances aesthetics and functionality were the most critical stages of this process.
- Project Duration
- The project began with the initial sketches during a trip to Paris in 2023. The production was completed in the same year, in Ankara. Focal was developed with the aim of combining the elegance of classical art with modern design lines.
- Operation Flow
- Focal maximizes seating space with its outward-extending leg positioning while maintaining stability. The brass-adorned leg ends create a striking sense of balance. Its refined surface finish, combined with delicate lines, offers both a visual and tactile experience, enhancing the table’s overall elegance.
- Research
- Focal’s design process began with in-depth research into the decorative details of the Baroque and Rococo periods. Studies on how traditional forms could be integrated with modern functionality led to the creation of a balance where grandeur transforms into minimalism.
- Inspiration
- Focal is inspired by the refined details of Baroque and Rococo architecture. The gilded columns, curved forms, and intricate surface craftsmanship of the most opulent palaces in history have shaped Focal’s design DNA. This era, where art, aesthetics, and functionality harmoniously merged, creates a delicate balance in every detail of the table. The fusion of traditional grandeur with modern minimalism makes it timeless.
- Image Credits
- A. Murat ARIK
Erinç ULUSOY
Giray AYDOS
Colors of Focal Table
Get Focal Table
Grand Interview about Focal Table
My visit to Paris in 2023 served as a catalyst for reinterpreting historical ornamentation through a contemporary lens. Walking through Versailles and the interiors of Haussmannian apartments, I was captivated by the rhythm of Baroque repetition and the sensuality of Rococo curves. These inspirations informed the sweeping lines and ornamental logic of the Focal Table’s leg structure. However, to maintain modern minimalism, I translated these elements into clean geometries and structural clarity. The result is a piece that honors the past not by imitation, but by abstracting its emotional richness into a minimal yet expressive form.
The cantilevered stance of the legs created significant structural challenges, particularly in managing load distribution and lateral torque. To counteract this, we developed a concealed steel framework embedded within the tabletop and extending into the upper leg sections. This frame acts like a skeleton, redistributing the forces and anchoring the entire structure. Each leg was carefully angled to achieve both aesthetic dynamism and ergonomic clearance for seating. The challenge was not just the strength, it was to make the table appear effortless and light, despite its underlying complexity.
Focal Table embodies the dialogue between human touch and machine precision. The brass accents are a nod to classical furniture detailing, offering warmth and material memory. Meanwhile, the surface planes and joints are defined with CNC-milled accuracy, ensuring tight tolerances and sharp clarity. This interplay was intentional. Where technology ensures consistency, craftsmanship brings character. We worked with artisans to hand-finish the brass and wood interfaces, softening their transition points and preserving a tactile presence that modern tools alone can’t replicate. The balance lies in respecting both methodologies equally.
Our main goal was to create a table that visually floats yet performs like a robust structural object. To do this, we integrated a laser-cut steel armature inside the tabletop that extends discreetly into the legs. This internal framework is completely hidden, allowing the wood elements to retain their visual lightness. Special joinery was developed to interface steel and wood without compromising surface integrity. The final result is strength without bulk, elegance supported by engineering.
We selected premium-grade, book-matched oak veneer for its depth, uniform grain, and tonal richness. Each sheet was hand-sorted and laid out in mirrored patterns across the table surface to create visual continuity. The panels were then press-laminated onto engineered wood cores for dimensional stability. After CNC trimming, the surfaces were hand-sanded and oiled in successive layers to enhance the grain and protect against wear. Achieving this refined look required both technical planning and sensitivity to the organic nature of wood, recognizing that even the smallest inconsistency could disrupt the harmony of the whole.
I’ve always been intrigued by how familiar objects can be reimagined through new proportions and gestures. With Focal, I wanted to challenge the static, heavy perception of dining tables by creating something sculptural yet usable. The legs, which radiate outward like architectural buttresses, redefine the visual hierarchy, placing emphasis on the periphery rather than the center. Yet despite the expressive form, every element was engineered for functionality: generous legroom, balanced weight distribution, and a spacious top. It’s a piece that pushes boundaries without forgetting its purpose.
The brass-capped legs serve as punctuation marks, deliberate interruptions in the flow of the structure. They were inspired by classical column bases and the ornamental logic of Rococo interiors, where transitions are always celebrated rather than hidden. From a narrative standpoint, they mark the transition between ground and form, adding a note of refinement where the table touches the floor. The warm metallic contrast also brings visual weight to the bottom of the piece, anchoring its otherwise elevated silhouette. It’s both a material and symbolic gesture.
Winning the Bronze A’ Design Award validated our approach to merging historical inspiration with forward-thinking construction. It encourages me to continue designing furniture that doesn’t merely occupy space, but also tells a story. Going forward, I’m more motivated to explore hybrid typologies: pieces that serve multiple emotional and physical functions. The award also reaffirms the value of slow design: carefully developed concepts that mature through research, iteration, and collaboration. It sets a high standard that I now hold myself to more consciously in future work.
Paris offered a living museum of contrast: heavy facades with delicate ornamentation, monumental forms with human-scale details. The curvature of wrought iron balconies, the rhythm of façade pilasters, and the theatrical composition of French salons… All of these subtly informed Focal’s language. I began sketching the leg structure after studying the scrollwork of a Rococo mirror in the Louvre. The challenge was distilling this ornamental energy into clean geometries. The influence of Paris was not in direct replication but in emotional translation, bringing classical poise into a new form.
Focal Table encapsulates the character of QZENS, a commitment to timeless artistry, cultural relevance and precise execution. From our beginnings in small-scale handcrafted projects to now producing award-winning and globally recognized pieces, Focal represents a new chapter. It reflects how we have grown not by abandoning our roots but by refining them through innovation. The piece is the result of deep collaboration between design, engineering and craftsmanship, values we have upheld since day one. It signals our confidence in shaping the future of luxury furniture where emotion, technology and history converge in objects of lasting beauty.