The name of the game at this year's BKLYN DESIGNS furniture expo, which took place in DUMBO over the weekend, was undoubtedly "economy." Not in reference to our financial woes, however--many of the pieces on view were in the if-you-have-to-ask price bracket. Instead the 45 Brooklyn-based designers at the fair were motivated by an impulse toward conservation, both ecological and intellectual. For those who missed it, here are a few of the most innovative pieces--all designed with an economy of space, material, and time in mind.

One of the most immediately striking works was Takeshi Miyakawa's Rite of Passage, an installation piece built to double as a display case for the right buyer's knickknacks. According to the designer's assistant, "every shelf is proportional to what it can hold." Is that a Zen koan or what?

Another stand-out piece was Ecosystems' BADA table, which conforms to the most spatially limited apartment by alternatively serving as a desk for your home office, a dining room table, and swinging love seat for two--all constructed from 20-year-old recovered Walnut. (See it closed below.)

A very elegant trailer home for the 21st century, Garrison Architects' cozy model of a sustainable modular cottage was presented as a giant set of Legos. Assembled in factories across the country, these prefabricated units are shipped to their destinations ready for assembly and habitation.

The perfect round table for the greenest of companies’ boardroom would have to be Eric Manigian’s Enso. The Buddhist symbol for enlightenment, “Enso” refers to a single circular brushstroke--or in this case a single stroke of spalted Maple.

Further Reading:
Julie Scelfo previews the fair in the New York Times
Earnest Beck gives a lukewarm take on Design Observer
See the winners of Inhabitat's "editor's choice awards" from the fair

Take a tour of the fair via Design*Sponge: