tofuwatch.com

Could it be? Yes, bean curd (yet again) prompts human to tinker, innovate, build

 

To understand what Andreas Saxer has created, it is necessary to study this photograph of a tofu shelf for a few minutes.

The slabs of tofu rest horizontally on pieces of wood. Boards create just enough space for desk-like slots in which to place more of the good stuff.

Simple. Utilitarian. They get the job done. What’s the big deal?

In fact, if you asked the people who work in that kitchen, my sense is that they might say – in a matter-of-fact way – that yes, the function of these boxes meet the form.

Time to make more slabs, right?

But that tofu box served as the impetus to spur sparks and creativity in Saxer’s mind to think somewhat bigger - at least judging from what he built.

 

 

That’s right: Tofu-inspired shelves.

Saxer is a designer from Switzerland. Judging from his Web site, it looks like they are a prototype.

But these tofu-inspired shelves are – I think it’s safe to say – probably the first of their kind at least in recent memory.

Keep in mind, though, that Asia has thousands of years of history. China, alone, has between 3,000 to 5,000 years of history.

So, I’d rather avoid saying the first tofu-inspired shelves ever recorded by humans because there’s a chance some type of design or classical scholar will pull a book or document out to disprove that statement.

Saxer created these sleek shelves as part of his MADE IN ASIA 2009 project and has dubbed them a ”stackable sideboard.”

Interestingly enough, in other designs inspired by Asia, a wooden gateway there prompted him to make a wardrobe rack – which resembles a pair of large chopsticks.

I find his designs to be clean and interesting. I would have never taken the idea of tofu shelves and created shelves for humans. I’m glad he thought anew.

His design does point to another underlying theme that has surfaced with observing tofu: Many humans have really taken to it, either in name or shape, in extraordinary ways.

Humans have made an actual robot (created by a graduate student at MIT) named TOFU, toy robots that resemble the packages and dubbed a whale and shark after the squishy substance.

People have used the image and name when making clothing. One company is selling a tofu cashmere clothing line for later this year.

A women’s clothing company has adopted the name and uses the address of tofu-tofu.com.

There’s also a carved figure of a cow – made from tofu.

Anyway, I’m glad I stumbled across Saxer’s work. It’s nice.

I do know that I’m not that neat. So, even if I owned his tofu-inspired shelves, they’d be pretty messy.

Remember, I used to work in a newspaper office.

That can be similar to a professor’s or teacher’s office where papers are strewn about, pens are sitting in the open and books are scattered under mounds of other work dating back months or years.

I should give a nod to DeZona, an online design magazine which featured Saxer’s work and the shelves.

DeZona is worth visiting regularly because the staff collects noteworthy design information, links and photographs from other companies and places introductions on their own Web site.

As with this house from Suppose Design Office in Japan: