You’re one action far from completing your brand-new flat-packed furniture, only to recognize that one last screw is missing. A destructive, yet very genuine, scenario. While flat-packed furnishings provides numerous benefits over standard crating, there are still some pain points to fix, and missing out on hardware is definitely one of them. Go Into the DADO System by AKO, or Allen Kaufmann Objects. No hardware, no glue, no fastening– the system is meant to slot together with friction, precision, and skill alone.
Shown in its best light at Berlin Style Week 2026, AKO’s very first complete collection cleverly combines the strength and lightness of solid wood with the detail-oriented construction logic designers expect. Established within ALLEN KAUFMANN ARCHITEKTEN considering that 2014, AKO brings architectural thinking down to the scale of furniture and objects: things one can own, put together by hand, take apart, repair, move, and keep.
No hardware implies no screw holes to conceal, no seams to hide, no uncomfortable underside informing a different story from the polished surface area above. Whatever is just where it ought to be– no more, no less.
The pieces can technically be used in any instructions: absolutely nothing to conceal. As basic as it is sophisticated, strong shapes emerge– a graphic grid, the architect’s aircraft. Thinner boards intersect with the larger frame to strengthen the structure, running diagonally along the shelves and propping up the horizontal planes as they bisect the legs. A load-bearing aspect that likewise functions as subtle decoration, this structural rhythm produces visual interest along the underside of the shelves while keeping the tops completely unencumbered, all set to shop, display screen, and serve.
The DADO series is joined by AKO’s Dovetail pieces, which utilize interlocking dovetail geometry to transform a standard joint into a structural, spatial, and visual concept. A stool joins the collection too, with 5 skillfully crafted pieces coming together to form a compact geometric seat. The assembly feels intuitive, with each cut silently defining where the next piece might go. As designers, it is our duty and opportunity to make the things we produce as understandable as possible.
Getting in the warm area, one is instantly consulted with a row of chairs, adorned with pastel cushions in varying colors. The body of each chair develops a square, its sides extending to form the back, the seat, and the points of contact with the flooring. Well balanced, unobtrusive, yet elevated, the viewpoint of AKO is simply as much about what is not there as what is. No brackets. No clips. No one-off tool you will keep for 6 years and never find when you need it. No little land fill of unneeded parts showing up inside package.
Demonstrating a commitment to the truthful usage of material, AKO takes this beyond item style and into a more philosophical method. The work asks whether furniture can be materially clearer, structurally more truthful, much easier to understand, and more deserving of keeping. Wood, after all, is eco-friendly and low-toxicity, but it is likewise challenging. It moves. It has grain, stress, and peculiarities– almost like a finger print. Rather than flattening out those qualities, AKO deals with them through accuracy joinery, repeatable geometry, and building and construction that stays noticeable.
Justin Allen, co-founder of ALLEN KAUFMANN OBJECTS, shares the”why”behind DADO:”One product. Conventional joinery with innovation. Flat packed. Made to last, and made to move with you. Flexible, like our lives. Flexible like wood.”
To get more information about the DADO system by Allen Kaufmann Objects,
visit allenkaufmann.de or akobjects.com. Photography thanks to Allen Kaufmann Objects.< img src="https://design-milk.com/images/2024/07/Aria-Lee-Design-Milk-Headshot-1-100x100.jpg" width="100" height="100" alt =""/ > Growing up in New York City has offered Aria a distinct perspective into art + style, continuously striving for new tasks to get immersed in. An avid baker, crocheter, and pasta maker, handwork and individual touch is central to what she enjoys about the constructed environment. Beyond the city, she enjoys treking, biking, and learning more about area.