Looking at the traditional-to-slightly-boring children's furniture designs on the German wood furniture firm Zwergraum, I would never have imagined they'd come up with something as awesome as the Cubi-Q.
With four boxes, two table-like pieces, cutouts, and optional wheels, the Cubi-Q is an entire roomful of play furniture, all contained in a 50cm birch ply cube.
It's the coolest bit of plywood make-your-own-fun I've seen since Stephan Gip's Fun On Wheels, the build-your-own-car-or-whatever masterpiece of 1962.
Zwergraum designers Birte and Florian Degenhardt created the Cubi-Q for their daughter [or as Google Translate calls her, their "subsidiary."] Their philosophy might sound refreshingly familiar: "Less is more. Less toys, less color, fewer materials, less decorations."
Unfortunately, especially for USD customers, it is not less money. A basic Cubi-Q costs EUR399, and wheels are EUR45/set. There are a few other accessories, too, which you might as well get, because hey, your credit card company will probably declare bankruptcy before you do, right?
Cubi-Q das Möbel zum Spielen [cubi-q.de via minor details]
Previously: "Fun on Wheels" by Stephan Gip: furniture in disguise
Pretty cool design. You might like another Germany company's furniture, which reminds me of Kristian Vedel's Child's Chair: Gablenz I don't know if they ship to America, but we bought some of their stacking toys from Garnet Hill several Christmases ago.
Hey daddytypes, that is cool.
I'm a fourth year design student working on a grad project involving children's interactive storage furniture (much in tune with the one above).
Seeing as you have a great collection of reviews on children's products here, I was wonder if I could invite you to share a little of your opinions/views/experiences/expectations on children's storage furniture in my project blog:
http://bob-mygradproject.blogspot.com/
I have a questionnaire happening, but find the questions might be to vague, but If you like It would be much appreciated if you can participate.
Thanks so much,
been a big fan of your weblog.
Sandy
I just saw the Cubi-q for the first time less than 2 weeks ago and decided I *had* to have it. It arrived 2 days ago, and it is indeed as wonderful as I'd imagined. Great craftsmanship, very sturdy, ingeniously designed. We've only got one 13 month old now (she loves it, btw), but are planning for more and I'm excited to see all the ways in which my little ones play with it for years and years to come. It is already clear that it is well worth the investment :-)