Opiary Concrete Eero Table

Robert Remer’s unique, biophilic approach to design incorporates organic forms into modern garden furniture, ornaments and sculptures, inspired by the evolving relationship between nature and civilization. 

In 1992, Remer graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree in architecture. While at Yale, he studied sculpture under American sculptor and installation artist Alice Aycock, known for her important contributions to the land art movement of the 1970s.

In 1994, Remer began his studio practice before founding the Opiary design and production studio in 2010 in Brooklyn, New York. At Opiary, Remer focuses on integrating natural elements into every design, from his concrete Echelon planter and modern, minimalist Ukiyo Saucer fountain to his distinctive Caldera coffee table. 

Remer’s collection of hand-sculpted, nature-inspired furniture also includes the concrete Hoodoo standing lamp and the classic, yet contemporary, Queen Anne dining table. The innovative Eero center table features a tempered glass table top and open area to grow ornamental plants, flowers, or cooking herbs, or to house artificial plants. 

Remer’s designs at Opiary have garnered critical acclaim at several exhibitions and art fairs. In 2019, Opiary won Best in Show at the New York Metro Architectural Digest Show Awards and Best Exhibition Booth at Boutique Design New York. The organic Drillium club chair was named Best Piece of Furniture by the International Furnishings and Design Association (IFDA) at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in 2021.

Opiary has been featured in numerous prestigious publications, including Forbes, Interior Design, Architectural Digest, House Beautiful and Vogue.

On 1stDibs, discover a range of Robert Remer building and garden elements, decorative objects, tables and more.

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”

Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.

Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.

It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.

The right vintage, new or antique tables can help make any space in your home stand out.

Over the years, the variety of tables available to us, as well as our specific needs for said tables, has broadened. Today, with all manner of these must-have furnishings differing in shape, material and style, any dining room table can shine just as brightly as the guests who gather around it.

Remember, when shopping for a dining table, it must fit your dining area, and you need to account for space around the table too — think outside the box, as an oval dining table may work for tighter spaces. Alternatively, if you’ve got the room, a Regency-style dining table can elevate any formal occasion at mealtime.

Innovative furniture makers and designers have also redefined what a table can be. Whether it’s an unconventional Ping-Pong table, a brass side table to display your treasured collectibles or a Louis Vuitton steamer trunk to add an air of nostalgia to your loft, your table can say a lot about you.

The visionary work of French designer Xavier Lavergne, for example, includes tables that draw on the forms of celestial bodies as often as they do aquatic creatures or fossils. Elsewhere, Italian architect Gae Aulenti, who looked to Roman architecture in crafting her stately Jumbo coffee table, created clever glass-topped mobile coffee tables that move on bicycle tires or sculpted wood wheels for Fontana Arte. 

Coffee and cocktail tables can serve as a room’s centerpiece with attention-grabbing details and colors. Glass varieties will keep your hardwood flooring and dazzling area rugs on display, while a marble or stone coffee table in a modern interior can showcase your prized art books and decorative objects. A unique vintage desk or writing table can bring sophistication and even a bit of spice to your work life. 

No matter your desired form or function, a quality table for your living space is a sound investment. On 1stDibs, browse a collection of vintage, new and antique bedside tables, mid-century end tables and more .