Like other tables, you can use the Monkey Table to set down any item, from food to books to the new desk lamp you just picked up from the flea market. Unlike them, though, it looks like a monkey holding up a tray and serving you whatever’s on it like your very own primate butler.
Designed by Jaime Hayón for BD Barcelona Design, the monkey’s tray serves as the furniture’s tabletop, making the whole thing look like a waiter monkey bringing you the stuff you ordered a few minutes back. Whether it’s a pile of reading materials, a 12-pack of beer, or a laptop you’re working on, this thing turns erstwhile innocent objects into a prop in some cartoonish scene.
The Monkey Table takes the form of a monkey from the waist up, with his right hand raised above his head, holding the tabletop platter. Each table is made with concrete resin, using a mold that the manufacturer produced based on the designer’s drawings, leaving it suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. The furniture’s flat base and the concrete material’s weight ensure the whole thing will remain firm when set down on a flat surface, with the monkey’s cartoon face guaranteeing anyone who glances its way is going to bust out into a chuckle.
BD Barcelona Design is debuting the Monkey Table at this week’s Milan Design Week 2015.