the.com/coffee table
The flat altar where remotes, feet, and forgotten coffee rings worship gravity together.
means A low, flat-topped table designed to sit in front of a sofa, holding drinks, books, and assorted living-room clutter within easy reach.
from A compound of "coffee" and "table," the word "coffee" itself traveling from Arabic "qahwa" through Turkish "kahve" into European languages. The furniture term is fairly modern — these low tables rose alongside the social ritual of taking coffee in the parlor, and "coffee table" came to name the spot where the cup naturally landed. The famous "coffee-table book" — big, glossy, more displayed than read — borrows the name straight from its habitual resting place.
- name origin
- Named after low Ottoman tea tables, rebranded by Victorians
- book genre
- Coffee table books exist mainly to be displayed unread
- shin enemy
- Leading cause of dark-room toe casualties
- height science
- Designed level with sofa seat for lazy reach
noguchi table — isamu noguchi's 1944 design for herman miller, iconic modernist piece with curved wood base and glass top
eames molded plywood table — charles and ray eames' 1946 design, asymmetrical plywood construction that became a mid-century modern staple
le corbusier lc10 table — 1927 design featuring tubular steel frame and glass top, part of corbusier's machine aesthetic furniture line