KOSMOS Architects crafts playful seriousness through the multipurpose 'DICE'

Switzerland-based KOSMOS Architects, predominantly engaged in designing buildings and spaces, is driven by a desire to explore beyond conventional typologies. Its attempt to reinvent not just the exterior but also the inner spaces led it to venture into the object and furniture design. The architects were held back by the constraints of traditional product design and drew inspiration from the natural forms' intrinsic adaptability, such as tree stumps and stones, which permit various applications and inventive adaptations. Inspired by a desire to subvert conventions, they created DICE—an imaginative design that sought to go beyond the limitations of furniture with a single use, providing users with a space for creative experimentation and multipurpose utility.

DICE represents an idiosyncratic furniture object that amalgamates the characteristics of four distinct basic furniture typologies: a stool design, a coffee table, a leg bench and a lighting design but at the same time is none of them. “Inspired by the simplicity of the dice, we created a versatile piece that easily adapts to different human needs. When tipped to different sides, the DICE can serve as a stool, coffee table or footstool. DICE can be attached to a rope or similar hanging material and suspended from the ceiling for lighting or placed as a floor lamp. The asymmetrical design combines the qualities of four different basic furniture typologies.

Throw the dice and this project will take a new shape depending on how the user rotates it: it becomes a stool, a table, a lamp and leg support,” the product designers share.

Offering a defined purpose and encouraging interpretation from its user, DICE is a piece of furniture that blurs the lines between a sculpture and pragmatic furniture. Its atypical design defies convention, yet its functionality remains highly practical. Through a reworking of the seat/table typology, DICE manages to feel both refreshingly innovative and comfortably familiar. The overall effect is that of ‘playful seriousness’, where the minimal design of the object simultaneously delights and impresses with its multifaceted character.

The wooden furniture piece is meticulously crafted and shaped by a robotic arm utilising advanced 3D design. Leveraging KUKA robotics technology, the robotic arm intricately carved the multifunctional furniture from rich oak, a process followed by skilled craftsmanship to ground and oil the resulting piece. The DICE's lamp design is housed in a hollow interior that is strategically located in one of the corners. It is wireless and rechargeable, with triangle illumination that is encased in frosted glass for improved security. The furniture designers kept the wood's traditional hue, enabling the furniture to double as sculptural art. In addition, Kosmos Architects created a silver carry-on bag, especially for DICE that mirrors the shape of the furniture and facilitates its portability.

DICE is a harmonic blend of form and function, conceived as a reaction to the limits of conventional furniture typologies and realised as a multipurpose object fashioned by modern technology and expert craftsmanship. It is a versatile object that fits into many different functions and settings with ease, embodying the spirit of inventiveness and adaptation that is at the core of contemporary design philosophy.