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Crushed Coffee Table

Steel's compressed form carved in translucent stone

Date

December 1, 2025

Belgium-based designer Ben Storms created Crushed Coffee Table for Objects with Narratives as part of his LIQUID SOLIDS series. The table is carved from a single block of green onyx.

Storms starts with steel. He welds metal sheets together, then applies extreme pressure until the structure buckles and compresses into a distorted form. A three-dimensional scan captures every crease and fold of this crushed steel. That digital model becomes the template for carving the stone.

Green onyx carries patterns formed by water moving through rock over millennia. The stone's natural translucence and crystalline structure show these striations clearly. Storms polishes some surfaces while leaving others rough, emphasizing the contrast between the stone's actual solidity and its fluid appearance.

The work translates metal's response to force into permanent stone. What steel does under pressure, onyx holds in place.

Designer/Studio

Ben Storms

Belgian designer Ben Storms combines traditional stonemasonry with digital fabrication to create furniture that challenges material expectations, making marble weightless and steel soft.

Photo Credits

Alexander Popelier