Design Studio Another Human Is Making Acrylic Tables, Stools, and Decor for the Maximalist

By Emma Orlow

In New York City, there’s a cultish aura around Canal Plastics Center. Although it is essentially a mundane materials shop, the old-school store is a beloved and highly Instagrammed stop for design lovers. Why? Canal Plastics Center sells acrylic, and few materials seem to bring such collective joy as this one, with its glossy finish and rainbow spectrum of colors.

Yet across the country, at Los Angeles–based design studio Another Human, acrylic has somehow reached new heights of cool. There, the material is being transformed into funky statement furnishings that are anything but tacky.

The Uneasy Stool features a vinyl-wrapped foam cushion above a row of blue zigzags, making the seat look like it’s floating precariously above water.

The studio’s Transparent Vases are just as much the star as the flowers that fill them.

Table centerpieces should always be this extra.

“Because of the translucent quality and the fact that it’s generally secured with adhesive rather than using visible fasteners, acrylic can take on a very futuristic quality—certain planes can look like they’re floating or passing through one another in a way that I find really visually exciting,” says Another Human founder and interior designer Leah Ring. As if that didn’t make her vases, side tables, and other pieces intriguing enough, she often fills them with sand, rocks, flowers, or even shiny silver confetti.

The Vacation Table fittingly features a sandy filling: either black sand with chunks of obsidian . . .

. . . or star sand from Japan with pieces of quartz.

The beachy Squiggle + Drops Tray and Coasters is the perfect complement to one of those side tables, right?

This piece is called Party on Table for a reason—what better way to ensure eternal good nights than furniture forever filled with silver confetti?

Leah names the playful but practical creations of the late artist Nicola L and arguably the god of lucite, artist and furniture designer Charles Hollis Jones, as inspiration for her collection. (She also does residential design work—you might remember our room tour with her.) Most of the pieces are for sale on 1stdibs, but we recommend saving up before you head over there, because the temptation is real. In the meantime, we’ve been pondering this thought question: Are Another Human’s pieces functional objects or conceptual versions of museum display boxes and aquarium tanks? Fortunately, we came to the conclusion that you don’t need to choose.