Hungarian designer László Tompa has masterfully transformed geometric principles into functional art with his latest creation, the Illusion Box. This remarkable piece blurs the boundaries between sculptural design and practical storage, presenting what initially appears to be a seamless wooden sculpture but reveals hidden compartments concealed within its intricate geometric patterns.
The Illusion Box represents a significant evolution in Tompa's artistic journey. While he currently focuses on creating intricate wooden sculptures, his background originally centered on ceramics and tile design. The concept for these sculptural storage boxes emerged during his experiments with periodic wall tiles, which were constructed from triangular and square-based meshes. Seeking to translate these three-dimensional geometric explorations into more tactile, volumetric forms, Tompa made the strategic decision to shift his focus to wood as his primary medium.
Wood offered Tompa both the precision he required for his mathematical designs and the warmth that makes his pieces approachable as functional objects. This material choice opened up entirely new possibilities for his artistic exploration, allowing him to create pieces that serve dual purposes as both visual art and practical storage solutions.
Tompa's exploration begins with the sphericon, a fascinating solid geometric object composed of two identical surfaces that are joined seamlessly together. Through years of dedicated experimentation and refinement, Tompa made a groundbreaking discovery: it was possible to create multi-element bodies that retained the same continuous geometry as the original sphericon form. These evolved shapes, which mirror themselves perfectly when rotated 180 degrees, became the fundamental foundation for his entire sculptural language.
The construction of each Illusion Box demonstrates extraordinary craftsmanship and precision. Crafted entirely from cherry wood, each box is built from exactly 36 individually turned elements that interlock with one another in perfect harmony. This intricate assembly transforms mathematical order into a real-life optical illusion while simultaneously concealing hidden storage space within its sculptural grid pattern.
The manufacturing process itself is a testament to both traditional craftsmanship and modern precision. Each curved segment begins as a 2D template that is first CNC-cut for accuracy. These templates are then shaped into bespoke wooden revolutions using a copy lathe, a traditional turning tool that allows for both precision and exact repetition across all 36 elements. Once each individual piece is formed, it must be hand-fitted and permanently fixed to create a seamless composition where no single joint disrupts the continuous flow of the overall design.
The finished Illusion Box gives absolutely no visual indication of its hidden functionality to casual observers. Only when the piece is completely disassembled can viewers fully appreciate the magnitude of precision and exceptional craftsmanship required to create such a complex yet cohesive design. This element of surprise and discovery adds an interactive dimension to the piece that extends beyond its visual appeal.
The Illusion Box perfectly encapsulates Tompa's ongoing fascination with geometry, visual perception, and the sophisticated dialogue between positive and negative space. In his skilled hands, form becomes simultaneously puzzle and functional object, creating a revelation that is only made apparent when the piece literally comes apart at its carefully engineered seams. This duality between concealment and revelation reflects broader themes in contemporary design about the relationship between form and function.
