Weisman Coffee Table

A Story

We go to the Weisman Art Museum whenever we are in the Twin Cities, and this coffee table is based on their museum benches. We love the design because it is clean but also a little unsettling, looking like delicate flat plates from most angles, although in fact sturdy because the underside is curved. (Gehry designed the building, but we haven't been able to figure out who designed the benches.)

The outside is figured cherry, where we took some pains to maintain the grain as a waterfall from the top down the sides. We went in a new direction and painted the underside with green mica lacquer. Let us know what you think!

A modern coffee table with flat sides that serve as legs, viewed from an angle.

An end view of the top and side of a modern coffee table, showing the grain pattern continuing down the sides from the top.

A modern coffee table with flat sides that serve as legs, viewed from an angle and shown in a living room near a couch.

A workshop view of a modern coffee table under construction, showing the skeleton truss structure inside. A quarter-scale model of the skeleton is also visible under the full-size table.

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