Modular Imagination

In 2020 - a year prior to his untimely death in November of 2021 - the American fashion designer and entrepreneur began to explore with Cassina the implications of modularity, a pivotal theme in contemporary design. Building on the idea that active, playful participation in the arrangement of space by those who live with the furnishings, should correspond to their own needs and habits, Abloh crafted the Modular Imagination project: a base unit, geometric and stand-alone, available in two sizes, for building worlds that are always new and suited to both private and public settings. The deceptively rigid, matte black appearance conceals an unexpected softness that makes the Modular Imagination a seat, as well as a table-top surface. A special connector allows the two pieces to overlap so the orange feet can lock into the top of the underlying block, yielding multiple optional uses – as an ottoman, a bench or a table. While sharing the fundamental values that produced icons of design like