color changing tables by susannah feiler react to your movements

susannah feiler’s ‘gratitude’ table is the result of a year-long investigation into communal experience, responsive materials and functional design. the minimal furniture piece is hand-built using bioplastics and embedded with custom light sensitive pigments, meaning the surface reacts to your movements.

images courtesy of susannah feiler design

susannah feiler embarked on the project with one question in mind: can embedding the built environment with reactive materials enrich day-to-day experiences within the home? the london-based multidisciplinary designer then began extensive experimentation and prototyping with the goal of showing how design can be reframed to enhance responsiveness, complement predisposed modes of performance, and magnify communal experience.

the gratitude table is hand-built using bioplastics

the resulting gratitude table was tested during an outdoor dinner party and documented through the imprints cast across the surface. by utilizing reactive materials, the diners’ movements and experiences are recorded by the table as traces — lingering shadows that fade away within seconds.

the surface is embedded with custom light sensitive pigments

can embedding the built environment with reactive materials enrich day-to-day experiences within the home?

the table fuses communal experience, responsive materials and functional design

the project took shape as a year-long investigation

the designer carried out extensive experimentation and prototyping

the gratitude table was tested during an outdoor dinner party

diners movements are recorded by the table

feiler documented her research in a book

lingering shadows fade away within seconds

project info:

name: gratitude

design: susannah feiler design

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom