Nendo reconfigures office furniture elements into hybrid designs for Kokuyo
Japanese studio Nendo has spliced together traditional office furniture pieces to create simple combined desks and storage units (+ slideshow).
![Nendo office furniture for Kokuyo](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Nendo-office-furniture-for-Kokuyo_dezeen_sq.jpg)
Nendo designed the set of matte black iron furniture by taking the basic elements used in the workplace and merging them into new configurations.
![Nendo office furniture for Kokuyo](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Nendo-office-furniture-for-Kokuyo_dezeen_468_2.jpg)
"We broke the office down into its smallest components – desks, chairs and shelving – then put it back together again, creating new relationships between the component items to explore the possibilities of future office space," said the studio.
![Nendo office furniture for Kokuyo](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Nendo-office-furniture-for-Kokuyo_dezeen_468_3.jpg)
Examples include a desk with multiple perpendicular edges and rectangular holes in the middle, so many users can work on the same surface.
![Nendo office furniture for Kokuyo](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Nendo-office-furniture-for-Kokuyo_dezeen_468_5.jpg)
A large thin storage unit is divided into two sections by a central partition. A small work surface is integrated as an continuation of a shelf on one side, while more horizontal elements pass over the sitter's head.
![Nendo office furniture for Kokuyo](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Nendo-office-furniture-for-Kokuyo_dezeen_468_6.jpg)
As in all the pieces, the desk area is denoted by thin vertical supports.
![Nendo office furniture for Kokuyo](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Nendo-office-furniture-for-Kokuyo_dezeen_468_8.jpg)
In a smaller shelving stack, the planes extend out to form a podium and a desk in tiers. The users place their chairs on the raised platform and work off the floor.
![Nendo office furniture for Kokuyo](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Nendo-office-furniture-for-Kokuyo_dezeen_468_7.jpg)
A set of steps extruded from another tall shelving stack allow access to the higher spaces and also create a contained work environment beneath the treads.
![Nendo office furniture for Kokuyo](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Nendo-office-furniture-for-Kokuyo_dezeen_468_12.jpg)
Finally, a waiting area is created by fixing a series of office chairs within a low flat shelf that again extends at a right angle from a storage unit.
Dezeen Book of Interviews: Nendo founder Oki Sato features in our new book, which is on sale now
![Nendo office furniture for Kokuyo](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Nendo-office-furniture-for-Kokuyo_dezeen_468_13.jpg)
The studio created the series of objects for office furniture brand Kokuyo, for which it previously designed units that can be screwed together with a coin rather than tools.
![Nendo office furniture for Kokuyo](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Nendo-office-furniture-for-Kokuyo_dezeen_468_14.jpg)
"While our demands on office space become only more and more diverse, office furniture has not changed along with these demands and remains oddly standardised," said Nendo.
![Nendo office furniture for Kokuyo](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Nendo-office-furniture-for-Kokuyo_dezeen_468_10.jpg)
"In contrast, our installation tried to capture the spirit of Kokuyo Furniture by returning to the fundamental principles of the office and asking what, ultimately, an office is."
![Nendo office furniture for Kokuyo](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Nendo-office-furniture-for-Kokuyo_dezeen_468_15.jpg)
The brand's Inspine chair is used in the photography and will feature along with the furniture for an installation titled "shelf + desk + chair = office", which will be displayed in Hall 7 of the Orgatec trade event in Cologne from 21 to 25 October.
![Nendo office furniture for Kokuyo](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Nendo-office-furniture-for-Kokuyo_dezeen_468_18.jpg)
Photography is by Hiroshi Iwasaki.