Shrub Tables by Zhili Liu
Chinese designer Zhili Liu has created the Shrub Tables.
From the designer:
Chinese manufacturing is usually famous for large quantity, low quality and very limited new material and technology. So for Chinese designers, creating low quantity products with high quality in both design and manufacturing has always been a tougher task than it is in most other places. I have been trying to create high specification products with typical Chinese industrial materials and basic technics, through unusual design and engineering, and these tables are the first prototypes in this direction – which I believe could be another route for “Chinese design” aside from reinterpreting the traditional decorative elements.
The exposed sunken screws bolt together the table top with all the “branches” of table legs, forming dozens of stable triangles, which make the table top part of the frame to share the stress in the legs, thus material needed to make a table is minimized. the 2-metre dining table has a top with 6mm even thickness, from edge to centre, without any space technology or exotic material, just thin steel rods, aluminium sheet and a roadside workshop, and the randomnly spreaded fastening screws also become the decorative elements here. Cut, bent, welded and powder coated.





Some prototype production photos:






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hmmmm on 19 Nov 2009 at 4:13 am #
not sure the welding mask is such a good idea?
I prefer a tea towel and sunglasses with black marker.
must be a regional thing.
margo on 19 Nov 2009 at 6:09 am #
the dining table is great.
Tere on 19 Nov 2009 at 7:51 pm #
Scrolling down, I took considerable time taking in the welding mask.
Overall, the table is simple, yet very pretty.
tori on 20 Nov 2009 at 2:44 am #
It looks very elegant! I like it.
Mr X on 20 Nov 2009 at 3:11 am #
Great looking pieces, however I’m unsure of how hygenic the exposed screw fixings would be, or how irritating they could become when jotting down a quick note etc!
lui on 21 Nov 2009 at 10:54 pm #
beautiful work
the infinite structure of nature
Arjun Gehlot on 23 Nov 2009 at 3:18 am #
Would agree with Mr X The exposed screw pieces would get very irratating when writing notes and or if you spilt gravy in them whilst having dinner. Would be a nightmare cleaning them!
I feel that the idea of having sockets on the table surface is very interesting though. Multipurpose in essence – charge laptops, heat food, lamps etc would be interesting.