praktrik: self-built puzzle furniture

praktrik: self-built puzzle furniture
images courtesy of praktrik

buglarian studio and brand praktrik — named for their focus on practical tricks — engages users in a challenging puzzle to assemble their furniture. their expectation is to stimulate and require intelligence and rational thinking from the user. informed by the burr puzzle, an interlocking wooden structure consisting of multiple notched sticks which, when put together, make one three-dimensional, symmetrical unit. the low-tech production set, can be assembled and disassembled with renewable materials such as wood, rendering them not only sophisticated design elements, but also a fun and participatory industrial pieces. praktrik categorizes their products by collection, level of difficulty, and dimension. they have three collections, each one coinciding with the names of various interlocking principles: coordinate, impossible and sliding.

the ‘impossible’ collection has been appropriately named for its level of difficulty. theoretically, it is not possible to assemble the elements without leaving the right amount of distance between the faces of the notches or without applying some kind of pressure during building. the labor involved depends on spatial vision and dexterity.

‘4×6’ table is made from 24 wooden pieces

‘4×6’ table from the side and top view

 
‘5 x 4’, shown here assembled, is part of the ‘impossible’ collection

‘5 x 4’consists of 20 (5 different types, 4 pieces of each) wooden sticks and a 10 mm thick tempered glass top

the ‘coordinate’ collection, named for coordinate motion puzzles, requires all parts to be moved simultaneously into place. once finished, the whole structure stays stable even if one, or several of its parts are attempted to be moved out of place.

‘VIC’ consists of 6 plywood elements and is part of the ‘coordinate’ collection

‘VIL2’ can be used as both a chandelier and a table lamp. it is part of  the ‘coordinate’ collection

‘VIL2’ is made up of 6, flat identical elements, which stay together without the need of glue and nails

the ‘sliding’ collection involves an interlocking principle requiring only sliding movements, giving it a very fast assembly process. the pieces are locked in some directions only and depend on gravity to stay in place.

‘2×3’ is part of the ‘sliding’ collection

a side view of ‘2×3’, consists of 6 (2 different types, 3 pieces of each)