The industrial landscape of Hong Kong informed the design of this concrete and steel side table by Italian designer Andrea Ponti. The Kanban table’s circular top has a slightly raised edged and sits on a slender rod of bent steel. The entire piece is attached to the base by a metal band, which encircles the top of its tapered concrete base. “The concept of the table was reinvented starting from the essential components of base and top and an innovative use of materials, shape, colour and layout,” said Andrea Ponti, who founded his studio in 2012. The designer aimed to “capture Hong Kong” in the furniture, and convey its architectural character and identity as a crossroads between east and west. The inclusion of steel and concrete is intended to reference the city’s historic industrial buildings, particularly its multi-storey factories that have been converted into offices. The shape of the table was based on the neon street signs that hang on steel bars over streets in the Kowloon district. “The contrasting colours of neutral concrete and charcoal steel give the table a minimalist pictorial quality: they create a chiaroscuro – an effect of contrasting light and shade,” added Ponti. “The original layout of the flat horizontal top floating above the vertical cylinder base creates an unexpected shift in volumes and an exquisite contrast between density and airiness.”