HIGH STYLE : Table Topper

IN THE BEGINNING there was the flat surface. Then came legs to support the surface, and it was called a table. And one day, New York-based designer Paul Haigh decided to create the Thin Edge of the Wedge II table “to explore what happens, conceptually, when the legs push through the table top.”

The Thin Edge table won an award in the prestigious 1989 ID Annual Design Review and is now produced by a fledgling Toronto firm, Ottoman Empire. Haigh avoided using expensive injection molds or tools and dyes to form the legs. Instead, each leg is made by simply folding a length of aluminum (a process that strengthens the legs structurally) to produce the table’s namesake “wedge.”

Haigh treats the aluminum top as a “natural” material. “The machine-ground finish cleans up the surface,” he says. “Aluminum doesn’t need a protective coating of nickel or chrome, as steel does.” Though the grinding process barely scratches the aluminum’s surface, it yields a rich, deep, light-refracting finish like the underside of a CD.

Despite the raw materials, the Thin Edge II table--one of a series of three pieces--is quite refined looking. The table, which comes in varying sizes and shapes (prices range from about $3,500 to $4,500), explores the “cheapskate architecture” aesthetic identified with Frank Gehry. In the right hands, as Gehry fans know, inexpensive, off-the-shelf industrial materials such as corrugated fiberglass, chain-link fence and raw metal can look elegant and luxurious.

The Thin Edge is available at (Di - zin’), 8302 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 651-4400.