The complete MAG set, with table, chair, and cabinet, is held together with only simple mechanisms and magnets.
Designer Benjamin Vermeulen was unhappy with the mass produced, poorly manufactured, and overly-complicated flat-pack furniture available in stores. So he designed and engineered his own to present at Dutch Design Week this past October.
The Magnetic Assisted Geometry (MAG) Furniture set was made in line with Vermeulen’s own personal design philosophy: “To make simple designs that people instantly understand how to use.”
The set includes a table, chair, and modular cabinet which are held together only by strong magnets. No screws, fasteners, glues or tapes are used during this assembly and absolutely no tools are required. All pieces in the MAG series are constructed of steel and solid wood. No cheap laminates or particle board.
The MAG furniture can be shipped flat and can also be knocked down for storage or transport without sacrificing it’s structural integrity.
While Vermeulen’s MAG furniture is not yet ready for large-scale production, it does offer a refreshing change of pace from the uninspired sea of flat-pack furniture floating in stores currently. To learn more about Ben Vermeulen’s MAG furniture and view his other designs, visit http://www.benjaminvermeulen.com.
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The complete MAG set, with table, chair, and cabinet, is held together with only simple mechanisms and magnets.
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The MAG chair is made up of two cross-joined wood segments with an interlocking metal seat and back rest.
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The complete chair shows how simply the piece is assembled.
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The table legs are attached via steel sleees built into the legs. The legs slide over matching studs on the table top which house magnets.
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The completed table gets it's rigidity from the folds in the sheet metal table top and the solid wood legs.
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The MAG cabinet has numerous pieces, but the entire two-tier unit requires no fasteners and nothing but your hands to build.
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This cabinet has steel doors, but glass and wood options will be avaibable as well and will be able to be switched out in seconds.
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Creator and Designer Ben Vermeulen demonstrates his design, construction, and assembly at Dutch Design Week this past October.
Comments
Wow. But forget about keeping magnetic storage devices near these things unless you don't want to retain your data.
Interesting concept! But the furniture looks terribly sterile.
leave it to Fine Woodworking to be impressed by something "artistic" and foreign......No tools needed is almost as good hand cut whatever..............
my earring, nose ring and tongue stud are holding me stuck to the table... help!
While the concept may be unique I think he has some work to do on design appeal.
Don't strong magnets have a negative impact on things like pacemakers?
What do all the magnetic fields created do to phone signals?
@TopspinD,
Strong magnets do affect pacemakers, but you'd have to get the magnet very close to the pacemaker (within a few inches) for there to be any problems. See http://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=pacemaker-safety.
Unless you're still using floppy disks, VCR tapes, or CRT displays, modern electronic devices are pretty much immune to the magnetic fields from small permanent magnets, even very strong neodymium samarium-cobalt ones. Your credit cards may be at risk, however.
-Steve
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