Making Waves – Hong Kong, 2011

December 01 · Furniture Designs · Hong Kong, Kerry Properties, Reception Desk

Leave it to JOHNHOUSHMAND to figure out that casting a wood slab into acrylic would make for a natural, organic, diffraction grating! The clear acrylic transmits light perfectly (a giant fiber optics transmitter). But all interruptions – that means each and every natural grain, inclusion, and pocket in the wood –  catch the light and “pop” it.

This became the brainstorm for our latest creation – a reception desk developed specifically for the new Kerry Properties Tower in Hong Kong’s bustling Quarry Bay district. The fascia is as linear as a Mondrian painting, but the apron has the serpentine lines of a Fibonacci curve or golden spiral.

JOHNHOUSHMAND‘s reception desk is composed of three distinctive parts: a spalted maple facia, a solid slap top, and an undulating cast acrylic apron lit by eco-friendly LED lights.

The facia consists of a seemingly random plane of intersecting, rectangular pieces, whose varying depths and thicknesses creates a veritable living topography. These disparate pieces are unified by the simplicity of the unadorned maple slab countertop. However, the cast acrylic apron is unquestionably the show-stopping element.

At once stark and opulent, we feel this piece captures the fascinating dynamism of Hong Kong.