Created by Belgian designer Bram Kerkhofs, Coil is a modular furniture system designed to combine the function of an open shelf and a display cabinet.

Each Coil unit is wrapped in a semi-transparent curtain of woven elastic rope instead of a hard shell. To create the curtain-like wall, the pieces of rope are stretched taut and slotted into a curve that is cut out of the stainless steel sheets that form the top and bottom of the cabinet.

"My focus in the objects I design lies in the construction," Kerkhofs told Dezeen. "I see the construction, the connection of two materials, the hinge, the joint, the knot, as a detail, a result of my education as a jeweller."

The internal shelves have a smaller surface area than the top and bottom, preventing them from touching the elastic, and are spaced 40 centimetres apart using aluminium tubes. To add or remove an item from the shelves, the user must push apart the strings of elastic.

The colour of the elastic matches the coating on the metal structure of the cabinet. As there are no doors to open, the freestanding unit can be accessed from any side, and the larger units can be used as multi-functional room dividers. The elastic also acts as an acoustic dampener.

"Coil is the answer to new ideas and new evolutions in living," Kerkhofs said. "Coil redefines the cupboard as an object in its use."

"The semi-transparency makes a large cupboard look small," he added.

The design currently exists in rectangular cabinet forms. Each module has a fixed dimension of 40 centimetres by 80 centimetres, and they can be combined to create larger pieces. The cabinets sit on 20 centimetre-tall legs.

Kerkhofs is currently working on a quarter circular module, with an inner radius of 40 centimetres and an outer radius of 80 centimetres.

"These modules create a more balanced whole in order to build freestanding walls as a composition of curved and straight forms, as functional screens," said the designer. "You can create cupboards that operate as room dividers in lots of different combinations."

Coil has been named joint grand prize winner in the Objects category for the Interieur Awards, which will be presented during the Biennale Interieur 2018 design fair in Kortrijk, 18 - 22 October.

The winner of the Objects grand prize at the last Interieur Awards in 2016 was Dimitri Bahler, for his collection Volumes, Patterns, Textures and Colors.