Ofon is a collection of office furniture by Japanese design studio Nendo that can be simply screwed together just with a coin, requiring no other tools in the assembly process.
Designed for office furniture brand Kokuyo, it is intended to be used for small offices where modularity is important, and the employees are constantly modifying their workplaces, responding to situations. Its name, Ofon, comes from the users’ ability to attach and detach the different parts, giving them both ‘on’ and ‘off’ space.
for Kokuyo
Quick change is important for small offices. They need to be able to modify the office layout to respond to frequent moves, and to employee numbers expanding and contracting flexibly based on the organization’s growth and the scale of each new project. We wanted our office furniture to be easily expandable and multi-functional, too. We developed a ‘coin joint’ that can be screwed and unscrewed with a single coin, rather than requiring tools.
Assembling the furniture is almost as easy as pushing a button. The two parts of the joint lie flat when the furniture is not in use, then spring out with the touch of a finger to be screwed together with the coin. We used this joint to assemble box-type shelves. Shelves not in use can serve as legs for cabinet-type desks. The upholstered panels that function as cupboard doors also function as partitions between the desks; placed together, they can also partition the office space. The result: a highly functional design that allows workers to focus and relax within the same small space, and offers the physical flexibility required for easy changes to the office layout.
Since the design gives workers both ‘on’ and ‘off’ space and maximizes users’ ability to attach and detach the parts, ‘ofon’ was the perfect name for the collection.
Source: Dezeen | Nendo
