Dezeen Magazine

Family by Kaman Tung

Young designer Kaman Tung has created a set of cafe furniture with compartments to hold personal belongings.

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The collection includes three chairs and a table. One chair has a compartment for belongings behind the seat, another incorporates space for a laptop or briefcase in the arm and the third has a hook for keeping a coat and accessories our of the way and off the floor.

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The table has a shelf below the glass surface for items that users remove from their pockets in order to sit more comfortably.

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Here's some more information from the designer:

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DESIGN ACADEMY GRADUATION 2008
MAN AND ACTIVITY
KAMAN TUNG
FAMILY

These series of chairs are designed for outdoor café or restaurants and public spaces. The idea came from the habit and needs people have when they are outside. For example, in restaurants and bars, we always put our coat and bags on the back of the chair, and we always have to worry that someone might steal our belongings. And sometimes, we have bags that are too precious to put them on the dirty floor. That is the reason why I try to make public furniture that response to these needs.

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I am focusing on chairs/seating, as I found that the most frequent used public furnitures are seats for people waiting or resting or doing something on it (like searching things in our big bags, writing, having a quick lunch etc..) . So these is a series of some simple chairs that discreetly merge our little needs in public space.

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The members of this family include the Case Chair, the Backpack Chair, the HangerChair and the Table.

BackPack Chair
This Chair is for people who carryhandbags, and those who has the habit of putting their bags/belongings on their back. In the outdoor cafe terrace, when I have a handbag, I used to put it behind my back so that I can feel the presence of the bag, that I will notice if someone is taking it, but it is not comfortable to sit on something. And the option of hanging it on the chair is not safe, as anyone could steal the bag from behind. Thus, this chair aims to provide a safe zone for stocking our belongings.

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CaseChair
The Chair is for people who carries a suitcase or a laptop with them. The side compartment permits the laptop or valuable object to be placed in a safe place and reducing the risk of the user forgetting the object when they leave.

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HangerChair
This Chair is for people with the need of hanging their long coat, scarf, hats. People used to put their coat on the back of the seat, but the items always fall off the chair at some point, and the winter coat are always too long and touches the floor very often. The scarf is an easy item to forget, at least for me, I used to forget the scarf under my coat in general (as the scarf is usually what you take off before your coat). While as the hat and gloves never have a place to be store. They always end up falling on the floor or put on the dirty table.

Table
The Table is for people who are used to lay out their wallets, money, cigarettes etc. on the table. Some people do not bring bags and they used to take their belongings out from their pockets as it is not comfortable to sit with. The compartment of the table permits people to have their objects united and visible, so that they don’t have to worry about thieves or forgetting them behind.