Swedish design team Front have presented images of their latest body of work, called the Magic Collection.
The collection consists of furniture developed in collaboration with magicians, borrowing some of their illusionary techniques to make lampshades that appear to hover in the air, chairs that seem to balance on one leg and drawers that appear not to be there.
Above: the Vanishing sideboard uses mirrors set at 45 degrees to give the illusion that the two drawers are not there, and that the drawer pulls are floating in thin air.
Above: the Levitating lamp has a light source concealed in the stem and a shade that floats in the air, suspended from the ceiling on invisible threads.
The collection was first shown at Design Miami/Basel last month and also includes Balancing chair (top image) and Divided chest of drawers (second image), both of which use weight distribution techniques to appear to defy gravity.
Below is a short statement from Front:
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Front’s new collection is magical. They have created design with impossible characteristics that seem to defy the laws of nature. Front collaborated with magicians and learned their secrets. In the Magic collection, design pieces are made to make other objects disappear, a lamp that levitates, a chair balances on one leg and a chest of drawers separates and floats away.