Milan 2016: this trio of side tables by Japanese studio Nendo for Italian brand Capellini features corkscrew legs that allow them to interlock (+ slideshow).

The Tangle furniture is made from steel, and was created in response to a brief from Capellini that called for a casual but "not typical" modular table.

The design features square tabletops and comes in three heights, with the tallest and shortest linking to the middle table.

"By placing the leg of another table into the twisted section of the first, the two tables appear to be entwined together, as if holding hands," said the studio.

"This relationship between the tables only becomes apparent through the pairing of multiple units."

Led by designer Oki Sato, the studio has developed numerous unconventional tables, including a sketch-like design that follows the contours of a gallery, a series made from coloured glass, and a collection shaped like Winnie-the-Pooh characters.

The Tangle tables are included as part of the design brand's exhibition Capellini Point, which is taking place at Milan's Bastioni di Porta Nuova 9, until 17 April 2016.

Nendo is showing several other new designs during the city's design week this year, including a collection of 50 chairs influenced by comic books, and a transparent rocking horse created for Kartell.

The studio has also designed a set of slanted marble tables for Marsotto Edizioni, which are arranged as black and white mirror images of one another in an exhibition at the Spazio Bigli, Palazzo Ponti.

Nendo's prolific output was the subject of the studio's first major museum retrospective at Israel's Design Museum Holon earlier in the year.

Other furniture highlights from Milan this year include Zaha Hadid's last piece of furniture design for Sawaya and Moroni, and the Bouroullec brothers' flat-pack sofa for Hay.

Photography is by Akihiro Yoshida.