A Kino chair shelf design showing a cantilevered seat with a reading shelf slid partly out from underneath.

Pablo Castillo’s Kino Chair Slides a Reading Shelf Under a Cantilevered Seat

2026-11-15

Kino gives its sitter a shelf that most chairs never offer. The kino chair shelf slides beneath the cantilevered seat, and the whole chair is printed as a single part. Barcelona-based designer Pablo Castillo created it for Decibel, a New Jersey company that makes 3D-printed furniture and installations.

Viewed from the side, Kino reads as a set of blades rather than four separate legs. Broad supports carry the structure. The seat projects forward, and the lower shelf spans the gap beneath it, leaving an open slot between the two horizontal planes. A curved back rises above the arrangement. The silhouette still reads as a chair.

Form follows the print

Castillo set out to make a recognizable chair. He also wanted the design to respond to how 3D printing builds an object, one thin layer at a time. The result depends on the material itself. “I wanted the substantial thickness of the plastic and the way it builds a product layer by layer to translate into features that give the chair its character,” he told Dezeen.

That line of thinking pushed him past standard dimensions and ergonomic rules of thumb in chair design. He said the cantilevered seat, the under-seat storage and the T-junctions “naturally emerged” from the process.

Side view of a cantilevered chair with a reading shelf tucked beneath the seat.

The shelf does not hang from the seat or sit in a separate tray. Nothing is bolted on afterward. It grows from the same continuous piece that shapes the rest of the chair. In industry terms, this approach is called a monobloc, a design made from one unbroken element.

A paperback fits on the ledge without taking the seat. The surface also holds small objects when nobody is sitting down. Reaching beneath a seat is a different movement from placing something beside you, so this ledge works best as a secondary perch rather than a side table.

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Close view of the reading shelf sliding out from under the chair's cantilevered seat.

Decibel’s robot deposits melted material along a programmed path and adds one layer at a time. On Kino, fine parallel ridges remain visible across the broad surfaces. The texture reveals the manufacturing method without adding ornament.

Kino chair shelf materials and ordering

Dezeen reports that Kino is printed from PLA, the most common bioplastic, reinforced with cellulose plant fibres. The fibres add strength and make this cantilevered chair possible. Decibel’s Editions page names the indoor option Cellulose PLA and lists recycled PETG, a thermoplastic polyester, for outdoor use. Moss and Sand are the listed colors, priced at $950.

Chair with its reading shelf pulled fully out, showing the book storage surface.

Buyers should confirm the formulation for the intended location. An indoor version and an outdoor version are not interchangeable simply because they share a shape.

Editions and production

Kino belongs to Decibel’s Editions collection. Other designers in the line include Charles Birshaw, Karim Rashid and Deniz Aktay. Dezeen has shortlisted Kino for seating design of the year in the upcoming Dezeen Awards.

Decibel launched the collection in 2025 with an exhibition at Alcova in Milan. During the show, it live-printed chairs in the former SNIA factory in Varedo. Production runs on a Caracol robotic 3D printer, a route to geometries that a mould-based process would struggle to achieve.

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Cantilevered chair shown in a room setting with a reading shelf pushed back in.

Before specifying Kino, request the seat height, dimensioned drawings and load ratings from Decibel. Those figures matter more than the outline when you fit the chair to a dining table. The idea behind the design is simple. The ledge keeps working as storage even when nobody sits in it.

H/T yankodesign.com

Frequently asked questions

Who designed the Kino chair and which company produces it?

Pablo Castillo, a Barcelona-based designer, created the Kino chair for Decibel, a New Jersey company that makes 3D-printed furniture and installations. Decibel produces it as part of its Editions collection.

What material is the Kino chair made from?

Kino is printed from PLA, the most common bioplastic, reinforced with cellulose plant fibres that add strength. Decibel offers an indoor Cellulose PLA version and an outdoor version made from recycled PETG, a thermoplastic polyester.

Is the shelf on Kino bolted on or printed in one piece?

The shelf is not bolted on afterward. It grows from the same continuous piece that forms the rest of the chair, an approach the article calls a monobloc.

Can the under-seat shelf on the Kino chair hold objects like books?

A paperback fits on the ledge without taking the seat, and the surface can hold small objects when nobody is sitting. The article notes that reaching beneath a seat differs from placing something beside you, so the ledge works best as a secondary perch rather than a side table.