Comfort Girls

are three cocktail tables designed by furniture maker Tom Huang, and built by Tom and myself. They represent an exploration in monocoque construction, supported only by their external shells. Their curvilinear forms subtly suggest the female form. We felt this was a nice reflection of their intended purpose, as tabless for a casual setting.

The inside of the form is completely hollow. Small lenses embedded into the top serve as drink holders and as portals to the interior.

Tom's original sketch and computer model. The modeling program Rhino allows us to create shapes quickly. We can then print out cross sections to create a mold for the bamboo strips.

Each strip is placed in a custom humidor for several days to aid in the bending process.

Quarter-inch strips are glued together over the forms generated by the computer model.

Each strip has a custom milled profile. This allows for more gluing surface and better rotation around tight curves.

The top is temporarily glued down before pouring black resin into the negative space.

The top is glued in and sanded flush. It is made of pressed nori (yes, the seaweed used in sushi) with a resin overlay.

The finished table