Bronze Furniture Design · 2025
Orb Sideboard
by Yilmaz Dogan
- A' Design Award 2025 Bronze Winner in Furniture Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: QZENS Furniture
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 12,782
- Verification code 3888D189FB · Verify this award
About Orb Sideboard
The Orb sideboard blends Art Deco elegance with Byzantine architectural influences, drawing inspiration from the Ancient Roman Hippodrome in Istanbul. Its symmetrical form, aerodynamic curves, and circular side doors maximize space while maintaining a refined aesthetic. Crafted from hand shaped wood with lacquer finishes, veneered interiors, and precision cut surfaces, Orb integrates a custom hinge system for seamless functionality. Gold accents enhance its luxurious appeal, embodying historical influence within contemporary design.
Yilmaz Dogan's Orb Sideboard represents a significant achievement within contemporary furniture design, synthesizing refined geometric minimalism with luxurious material expression to produce a storage form that transcends utilitarian function and enters the realm of inhabitable sculpture. The work engages thoughtfully with the modernist legacy of reduction and formal clarity established by mid-twentieth-century Scandinavian and Bauhaus traditions, yet reinterprets these historical precedents through twenty-first-century fabrication capabilities and a sophisticated understanding of proportion, color relationship, and tactile refinement. The compositional strategy demonstrates notable intelligence in its deployment of the horizontal elongated volume, a format that establishes commanding presence across interior space while maintaining visual accessibility through its restrained height and the perceptual lightness achieved by the elevated base structure. The chromatic palette evidences sophisticated color theory application, pairing the pristine neutrality of white lacquer surfaces with the richness of deep cerulean blue accents to create complementary temperature contrast that enlivens the composition without disrupting its fundamental serenity. The blue functions simultaneously as structural element, surface embellishment, and visual anchor, wrapping the upper edge to define the cabinet's horizontal extension while forming the intersecting base supports that ground the piece both literally and visually. Passages of particular accomplishment include the circular recessed pull at center panel, where the negative void lined in signature blue creates a focal point of concentrated visual interest that rewards close examination, and the organic bulbous protrusion emerging from the rightmost panel, which introduces sculptural volumetric variation to an otherwise planar facade without compromising compositional unity. The slender vertical brass hardware elements provide crucial chromatic accent through their warm metallic tonality, punctuating the cool blue-white dialogue with sparks of golden warmth that catch ambient light and create visual rhythm across the cabinet's length. The technical execution throughout demonstrates exceptional material mastery, with lacquered surfaces achieving the flawless uniformity and depth of finish associated with the highest levels of contemporary furniture fabrication, suggesting multiple application layers and meticulous surface preparation. Thematically, the work invites contemplation of the intersection between utility and aesthetic autonomy, asking viewers to consider how domestic objects can transcend their functional origins to become vehicles for formal exploration and material celebration. The piece participates in long-standing furniture design conversations regarding the appropriate relationship between ornamentation and form, ultimately proposing a synthesis where decorative elements such as the blue accent zones and brass details emerge organically from structural necessities rather than being applied as superfluous embellishment. The work's title, referencing the orb or sphere, may suggest the circular motifs present in the central pull and rounded panel protrusion, or perhaps more abstractly evoke the celestial perfection and geometric purity that the overall composition strives toward through its balance of rectilinear extension and curved edge resolution. One might observe how the cabinet's elevated stance and intersecting base structure create an almost hovering presence, as though the substantial white volume defies gravity through the elegant efficiency of its supporting elements, inviting viewers to consider the relationship between mass and lightness, substance and perception, in objects that mediate between architecture and portable furnishing.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Orb is a design that merges the timeless aesthetics of Art Deco with inspiration drawn from Byzantine architecture. With its symmetrical form, aerodynamic curves, and meticulous craftsmanship, it brings a sense of timeless elegance to modern interiors. Featuring a spacious interior, custom shelves for bottles of different heights, and uniquely designed circular side doors that open without occupying extra space, Orb offers both functionality and aesthetics.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Width: 222 cm, Height: 74 cm, Depth: 50 cm. It offers a spacious storage area with four doors. The circular side doors open with a unique mechanism that prevents space loss. The interior shelves are designed to accommodate bottles of different heights and various accessories.
- Tags
- Orb, Art Deco, Byzantine, Hippodrome, Luxury, Wood, Metal, Copper, Timeless, Elegance
- Production Technology
- Orb is crafted with high-quality lacquer finishes and custom metal details. Its body is made of of hand-crafted shaped wood and the interior has wood veneered, rail shelf units. Precision-cut surfaces achieved through cnc technology provide a smooth and sophisticated appearance. The circular door mechanism, supported by a unique hinge system, enhances functionality. Gold accents elevate the luxurious feel of the design.
- Design Challenge
- The biggest design challenge of Orb was integrating the circular side door mechanism without compromising functionality. This was resolved through a custom hinge system and interior cladding solutions. A dynamic opening mechanism was developed while preserving the design’s seamless form, achieving both aesthetics and practicality.
- Project Duration
- Designed in Istanbul, where it was inspired, and manufactured in Ankara, the Orb sideboard was completed in 2023.
- Operation Flow
- Orb provides a unique opening experience with its specially designed hinge system. The side doors open seamlessly with a gentle push, revealing an interior elegantly finished in Bosphorus Deep blue tone. The adjustable shelf system ensures both functionality and flexibility, offering a refined and practical storage solution.
- Research
- The design process of Orb began with an in-depth study of the structural elements of the Ancient Roman Hippodrome and Byzantine architecture. By analyzing circular and linear forms, a balance was created to adapt these influences into contemporary furniture design. The selected materials harmonize historical inspiration with modern functionality.
- Inspiration
- Orb is inspired by the Ancient Roman Hippodrome. Built in the 3rd century AD on the site of present day Istanbul, this architectural marvel was a major gathering place for society, hosting chariot races and major events. The large-scale circular and linear elements of the Hippodrome influenced Orb’s design language. Its balanced form reflects a historic heritage within contemporary interiors.
- Image Credits
- A. Murat ARIK
Erinç ULUSOY
Giray AYDOS
Colors of Orb Sideboard
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