Perhaps one of the most simple and smart details I’ve ever seen on furniture, Bjarke Ballisager’s Together and Apart Table uses a sawtooth cutout pattern to turn the unassuming wooden block into a table that can adjust its height on the fly! “The primary unit consists of two wedges that interlock at a saw-toothed surface, allowing them to fit together at any of many different levels”, says Ballisager, a New York-based designer and architect.

The two wedges, made out of solid white oak, can be interlocked in a variety of ways, allowing the product to function as a stool, laptop stand, or even a bedside table, thanks to its ability to match the height you need. The sawtooth design detail cleverly borrows from mechanisms like the rack and pinion, often seen in elevators, or even in the car’s steering system. What Together and Apart does is simplify them in a way that allows you to easily appreciate the mechanism’s workings while also marveling at how robust the locking is! Besides, given the sawtooth shape’s angular detail, it works in both landscape as well as portrait, allowing you to have a table that spans a variety of heights… just using two cleverly designed blocks of wood!

Designer: Bjarke Ballisager