Interview about Caterpillar Bar Unit, winner of the A' Furniture Design Award 2024
The caterpillar stands innocently in the room until you give it a spin to reveal its mischievous charm. It acts as a sculptural piece with a hidden bar. What’s your hidden treasure? The Caterpillar is meticulously handcrafted using white ash wood and is finished with an Italian water based matte coating that highlights its curves and quirky presence. The legs of the caterpillar act as knobs, which are used to revolve the bar. The bar segments are precisely engineered for flawless turning when given a spin. The caterpillar has provisions to stock 30 to 40 bottles, wine, and other glasses.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsI won’t lie, it was tough! Initially, we tried steam bending wood for the caterpillar modules, but it didn’t yield consistent results, so we pivoted to barrel-making techniques for better precision. The rotating mechanism was another challenge—finding the right hardware, ensuring smooth operation, and designing for easy maintenance took extensive research and testing. Balancing creativity, functionality, and durability made this piece a rewarding challenge.
My natural style is being playful with designs. Whenever I design the intent is to built product which generate curiosity/ intrigue and an element of play. I always want the user to have a sense of joy and fun when using th e product. I wanted to break the boundaries and design something which Fun yet super functional. That let to taking inspiration from nature
My natural design style leans toward being playful and creating products that spark curiosity and intrigue. I always aim to bring a sense of joy and fun to the user experience. With the Caterpillar Bar Unit, I wanted to break away from the predictable, boxy aesthetics of traditional bar furniture and create something that was not only functional but also brought a smile to people's faces. Drawing inspiration from nature's organic forms allowed me to design something that feels alive, playful, and full of character.
As a designer with an engineering background, balancing functionality with beautiful forms comes almost intuitively. For the Caterpillar Bar Unit, I started by measuring the tallest bottle that might be stored and used that as a baseline to determine the height of each module. The module sizes were carefully designed to be sleek yet spacious enough to hold 30-40 bottles. This approach allowed us to maintain the sculptural integrity of the design while ensuring it was practical and functional.
I always start by addressing the needs, problems, or desires that a user might have for a product serving a particular function. With the Caterpillar Bar Unit, the goal was to create something that fulfilled the functional requirements of a bar while doubling as a striking statement piece. Asking the right questions—what would make a bar unit more engaging, how to integrate storage without compromising its sculptural identity—naturally guided the design. From there, it was about finding creative ways to seamlessly implement functionality into the form.
The configuration of four distinct modules working in synchronized pairs was a result of a systematic design process. It began with determining the perfect height for a bar to ensure usability and comfort. Next, I calculated the optimal height for storing alcohol bottles, which led to dividing the unit into four modules. This balance was critical—adding more modules would have made it challenging for an average-height user to interact with the bar effectively. The configuration not only maximizes storage but also enhances the user experience by keeping everything easily accessible and intuitive.
It was quite intuitive, really. The Caterpillar Bar Unit needed legs, and the rotating modules required knobs. Combining the two functions felt like a natural solution, both clever and efficient. This integration not only maintains the sleek, cohesive design but also adds an element of surprise, blending form and function seamlessly.
The Caterpillar Bar Unit challenges traditional furniture design by blending playfulness with high functionality, and I believe it sets a precedent for more dynamic, user-centric pieces. Its success shows a growing demand for multifunctional furniture that’s not just practical but also sparks joy, and I hope it inspires designers to push boundaries and rethink how furniture can engage and delight users.
It was learning process as we were steam bending wood for the first time. We realised that thicker plank slices cannot be used for steam bending, it developed cracks. We are still doing a lot of explorations to get the steam bending right. we will be able to incorporate it in the best possible way, once we get the a perfect steam bending process.
The steam bending process was a valuable learning experience, especially since it was our first time working with it. We quickly realized that thicker plank slices couldn’t be used for steam bending as they developed cracks. This challenge led us to reassess our approach, and we’re still exploring ways to perfect the technique. Once we have the ideal steam bending process, we plan to incorporate it in the best possible way, but for now, it pushed us to think creatively and adapt the design while maintaining its integrity.
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