Designed and produced in Hong Kong by Italian designer Andrea Ponti, Kanban is a side table that pushes the boundaries of form and aesthetic, past and present. The project’s aim was to capture Hong Kong in a product: to convey the spirit of this cosmopolitan metropolis at the crossroads between East and West. The concept of table was reinvented starting from the essential components of base and top and an innovative use of materials, shape, color and layout.
The use of steel and concrete mirrors the style of Hong Kong’s historic industrial buildings - former multi-story factories converted into offices and warehouses. The shape was inspired by the large neon signs that light up the busy streets of Kowloon: the signs jut out into the streets while hanging from a single slender steel bar. The contrasting colors of neutral concrete and charcoal steel give the table a minimalist pictorial quality: they create a chiaroscuro – an effect of contrasting light and shade. The original layout of the flat horizontal top floating above the vertical cylinder base creates an unexpected shift in volumes and an exquisite contrast between density and airiness.
