Work Smarter: 12 Modern Desks Reinvent the Standard Office Surface

Hub Modular Desk Unit

The Hub modular desk unit by Italian furnituremaker Fantoni and designer Matteo Ragni Studio is easy to reconfigure so you can add or remove shelving and privacy panels, connect multiple desks or create a private workstation. Taking inspiration from four poster beds, the Hub is cube-shaped to sit four people, and you can clip movable screens onto the posts to act as dividers.

Table Air Automatically Adjusts its Height For You

Hold your hand above the weird little grate in the surface of this LED-ringed desk and it’ll automatically adjust itself to the perfect height. That makes it extra easy for the ‘Table Air’ to go from sitting to standing mode in seconds, or work with a new chair. A smartphone app allows you to schedule certain heights for certain periods of time around multiple users, or customize the LED ambient lighting.

Light Light Desk by Torafu Architects Folds Up Like a Chair

Why shouldn’t a desk be able to fold up and pack away just as easily as a chair? The Light Light Desk by Torafu Architects clearly takes its inspiration from folding chairs, even in its form, looking a bit like it was made to seat a giant. The lightweight aluminum framework allows the legs to fold on top of each other and the tabletop to swing down for easy mobility.

StandTable by UNStudio

Do we even need desks? That’s the question asked by the StandTable by UNStudio, positioned as a replacement for standard work surfaces. The podium features three different heights of work surfaces to make it comfortable for a variety of people, encouraging informal meetings, as well as built-in USB ports.