Maison&Objet 2015: Shanghai studio Neri&Hu has created two collections of furniture for Portuguese furniture company De La Espada, including pieces modelled on simple Shaker designs (+ slideshow).

Neri&Hu designed the Shaker dining table and dining chair as part of its product line manufactured by De La Espada.

The items reference the utilitarian approach towards furniture design developed by members of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing – commonly known as Shakers – during the 19th century in America.

"The Shaker Series was inspired by a distinctive pedagogical idea of the Shakers movement with the guiding principle of making simple, honest furniture pieces," said the designers.

Neri&Hu has reinterpreted the traditional ladder-back chair, which features horizontal struts bracing the vertical supports.

Available in walnut or oak, the structure rests on angled supports that cause it to lean backward slightly. The chair is designed to match a wooden table with a stone surface inlaid into the top.

"The Shaker Series celebrates the most basic and mundane tectonic quality of a wooden chair and a wooden table with a stone top," Neri&Hu said.

The designers also debuted the Frame collection, which comprises a bed and a sofa system supported by a structure in walnut or oak.

"The Frame Collection is lifted from the ground and supported by a clear wooden frame structure that can be seen as both utilitarian and sculptural," said a statement from Neri&Hu."The wooden structure is also a frame onto which various accessories, be it a tray or a light, can be clipped or hung."

De La Espada launched the products at Paris trade fair Maison&Objet last week, alongside Luca Nichetto's latest furniture collection for the company.

Neri&Hu first collaborated with De La Espada in 2013, when the studio created a collection of wooden designs including the Chinese-influenced Opium Sofa.