The great Italian architect Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) is said to have inspired our love of columns, and now he has also inspired a new collection of tables by Claesson Koivisto Rune for Artifort. Palladio is a minimalist collection of tables. Each is made up of cylindrical legs and a circular or rectangular tabletop, which the designers duly describe as a “table in its most essential form.” But although the Palladio tables may look simple, their design is convincingly deceptive. “Less is more, but less is also more difficult,” the designers say. The Swedish design studio, led by Mårten Claesson, Eero Koivisto and Ola Rune, took inspiration from the Renaissance architect Palladio who was famous for featuring columns in his buildings. He looked to the structures and remains of Ancient Rome and reinterpreted them for his own time, as British designers later did also, reinterpreting Palladio’s work to create the classic British style Palladianism in the early to mid eighteenth century. Claesson Koivisto Rune also took inspiration from twentieth-century sculptor Donald Judd and particularly his work Untitled 1963. With a long cylindrical form recessed halfway into a square volume, it informed how the column-like legs are embedded in the side of the five-centimetre thick tabletop. The Palladio table’s main design feature then became how to create a virtually invisible but incredibly strong joint between the legs and table. The designers used what they call a “double-pin” fitting built into the side of the tabletop. Bracing the steel leg from the inside, it leaves the exterior surfaces clean and means there is no need for additional sidebars or crossbeams. It also allows the table to be easily disassembled and transported. “Because the connection is strong an almost endless variation of sizes and proportions of a table is possible,” the designers explain. The Palladio tables are elegant, minimalist and timeless. They are available in a variety shapes and sizes, with primary colour and natural wood surfaces and metal cylindrical legs. Visit our showroom in Alexandria to take a closer look or view Artifort’s Palladio collection online at www.kezu.com.au.