If you have ever felt the need to just hide under your desk once in a while, this multi-purpose desk might be something you wish you had.
Most of us probably have fond memories of the favorite games we played in our childhood. For some, those might be formal games or even sports, but even non-structured activities like “make-believe” and building forts have a significant impact during our formative years. Those “secret bases” have sometimes even brought us a sense of comfort and security that we may have lost in our adulthood. A designer is trying to bring back those feelings with an adult version of those secret forts, but one that can actually be useful when you’re actually adulting.
Designer: Juhee Park
OK, few adults will probably admit to having the urge to hide under their desks, even if some really want to. They might, however, be more amenable to a desk that transforms into a semblance of their cardboard forts and secret bases from decades past. Being adults, even the young at heart, this desk has to actually be usable, of course. Bonus points if it’s also somewhat sustainable and eco-friendly.
Made mostly from wood, the Com.odo almost looks like a kid’s play desk blown up into adult size. It also looks like an unfinished carpentry project, complete with white markings that indicate directions. Those are directions, indeed, and their sometimes indecipherable instructions clue you into the different ways you can transform this functional furniture into a fun fort.
The drawer, for example, swings outward to provide more space under the desk in case you do want to squeeze yourself inside. The centerpiece, however, is the chair that you can topple over and push the seat backward to turn it into a makeshift floor lounge chair. If cramped floor seats lined with faux fur are your thing, this kind of convertible chair might be right up your alley.
Com.odo is definitely an intriguing concept that feels both ingenious and ridiculous in equal degrees. On the one hand, it doesn’t look too comfortable, and the complexity of its many different parts might discourage people from actually taking advantage of those. On the other hand, it definitely looks fun, at least in discovering those various options, and does convey a feeling of a secret base that only you know how to operate. In that sense, this transforming, modular desk accomplishes what it set out to do, to encourage the young at heart to discover fun even in the most mundane things.
