'house of cards table' by mauricio arruda

‘house of cards table’ by maurício arrudaall images courtesy of maurício arruda

‘house of cards table’ by brazilian designer maurício arruda is a functional furniture object based off the game of building a structure out of playing cards. a part of fables and children’s fairy tables, a house of cards is light, unstable, easily falling down with a quick gust of wind or puff of air. playing with this image, arruda proposes a sturdy table made of steel that has the capacity to support up to 250 kg.

steel plates are laser cut and individually printed creating the ‘house of cards’

the table is constructed from 4mm depth steel plates that have been manufactured by means of a laser cutting process. this technology creates a perfect reproduction of a deck of cards at a 13:1 scale. to form the ‘houses’ which act as the table’s legs, the steel cards are welded together, one to one, forming a second-storey to the house of cards that accommodates different sized tabletops. the design options allow between 6-10 seats. each of the play cards’ images are printed individually onto the steel plates and are assembled like a house of cards in a real card game, in which the pieces are drawn randomly.

detail

the ‘playing cards’ act as the underframe or legs of the table

profile of the ‘house of cards’

front view