Designers and architects typically use concrete to evoke a rugged gravitas, as opposed to lightness or elegance. But with the Whorl table, Neal Aronowitz Design of Portland, Oregon, has combined all of the above qualities in a gestural wave, freezing soft curves in a rock-hard material. To make the table, the fabricators roll a wet sheet of concrete canvas over a five-piece plywood mould, which they remove just before the material hardens. The result is a thin tabletop with a sinuous, undulating base, coated in pigmented cement and polished until smooth. Despite its heavy-duty material, Whorl weighs a mere 68 kilograms.

Project: Whorl Table

Designer: Neal Aronowitz, U.S.