Bench of Nails: Recycled Metal Art + Furniture Design
A bed of nails conjures mental images of extreme asceticism, potential pain and times past. This bench of nails inverts that association with a smooth, curved and rippled surface for comfortable seating and an extremely contemporary look that shifts and changes from each angle of view.
The underlying wood is cut, smoothed and scorched to fade it to the background while the nails on top are ground down to reveal their inner silver shine and stand out visually against the dark wooden surface below.
Although technically intended as works of art and not necessarily functional furniture, it seems logical that designers could extend this approach to all kinds of ordinary household designs. With the nails spaced closely enough and sufficiently smoothed there is no reason not to make everyday furniture like this.