The award-winning design emerged from a single question: can a desk’s support become its identity?
The ARES Executive Desk System, developed with Sezgin Aksu, received the Winner award in the “Excellent Product Design — Office Furniture” category at the German Design Award 2027, organized by the German Design Council.
The German Design Award recognizes projects in product design, communication design and architecture, judged by an international jury. Entries are evaluated on the product itself: its construction, materials, functionality and usability.
Credits
| Award | German Design Award 2027 — Winner |
| Category | Excellent Product Design — Office Furniture |
| Organizer | German Design Council |
| Product | ARES Executive Desk System |
| Design | Sezgin Aksu — STUDIOAKSUMILANO, Milan |
| Manufacturing | Addo Office Furniture, Istanbul |
| Market launch | 2023 |
The support isn’t concealed; it becomes the identity
ARES began with a single question: can a desk’s support become its identity? Rather than concealing the support, the design gave it the leading role. The diagonal leg, the tabletop that appears to float, and the side unit that turns beneath it were conceived as a single composition.
The two halves of the leg are identical: they come from a single mold, with the second rotated 180° into place. The bridge between the two diagonals forms a self-supporting triangular system without the need for an additional frame. Its silhouette reads differently from each side of the desk — here, engineering logic becomes the product’s identity.
Three leg types and three side units create nine different configurations.
Concealed and revealed: the person across the desk is also a design parameter
Everything functional on ARES’s work surface is concealed; only what matters remains visible. A custom-extruded aluminum profile defines the tabletop’s geometry and supports the structure; the painted glass fitted inside it provides a calm, lightweight work surface. Wireless charging, USB and power outlets are integrated into the surface; pens and devices are kept in a concealed accessory compartment beneath the glass.
Order isn’t the only reason behind this decision. Personal belongings stay within the user’s reach while remaining outside the view of the person sitting across the desk. In other words, the design considers not only the person using the desk, but also the person sitting across from it.
This is exactly where Addo’s approach to executive spaces comes from. The traditional corporate world offers two options here: classic luxury that creates inaccessibility, or an ordinary modern desk with no corporate presence. The first establishes authority through distance; the second makes the leader’s responsibility invisible. Addo aims for a third arrangement — one that preserves the representation of leadership while supporting accessibility and collaboration.
The same room can say both “this is a place where decisions are made” and “come over, let’s think it through together.”
The desk fits the room, not the other way around
The side table is attached beneath the desktop with its own rotating mechanism. Because it can turn freely, the desk can be positioned to suit the shape of the room, the available space, and the user’s way of working. Instead of one fixed layout, the relationship between the desk and side table can be reconfigured again and again. When the office changes, the desk changes with it — without needing new furniture.
This is the physical expression of how Addo works. At Addo, design develops on two levels: Addo develops the instrument, and the architect shapes the space. The architect decides which component goes where and how to arrange the space as a whole. ARES’s rotating side table builds this boundary into the product’s own mechanism: the desk doesn’t impose a layout on the space; it adapts to it.
The same flexibility extends to materials. The desktop can be glass, wood veneer, or ceramic; the aluminum edge joints can be finished in leather or wood veneer. This lets architects make changes through the desk itself without altering the space — not only through the choice of side table, but also through decisions about the surface and edges.
The same structural logic supports three leg types and three side tables. One product family meets the needs of very different rooms, budgets, and ways of working.
Materials: together, but not mixed
In ARES, glass, aluminum, and wood veneer are distinct, clearly defined components, not blended into composite constructions. This makes the structure serviceable over time — and directly reflects the one rule behind Addo’s approach to materials.
No surface imitates another material. Each material is what it is.
Value lies not on the surface, but in the detail where two materials meet. And the goal is not merely visual: the fatigue of a workday spent in front of a screen is as much sensory as it is visual. Offering tactile variety and sensory comfort on surfaces touched throughout the day is one of Addo’s design intentions — the brand calls this spatial well-being.
Adapt, don’t replace
ARES lasts longer not only because of its durable materials, but also because of its structure and adaptability. Four decisions made from the outset of the design make this possible:
- One mold, two halves. Both halves of the leg come from the same mold. One mold instead of two means less tooling, less material waste, and just one spare part.
- Distinct material families. Components remain separate and clearly defined, avoiding composite constructions. The structure can be easily serviced over time.
- Adapt, don’t replace. The rotating side table and interchangeable leg and side table options let the same desk adapt to a new room or a new way of working, without needing to replace it.
- Timeless language. Restrained geometry and durable materials prevent trend-driven obsolescence. Aluminum can be fully recycled without losing its quality.
Why ARES?
ARES takes its name from the Greek god of war. The designer explains the choice this way: a desk for leaders who develop ideas and strategies, defend them, and challenge others when necessary.
“A contemporary interpretation of the powerful warrior of the past.”
Sezgin Aksu — on ARES
What the award means for Addo: recognition of the instrument layer
Addo's area of decision-making is the instrument: the desk's geometry, the credenza's modularity, where the materials meet, and how the mechanism works. These decisions are made before there is even a project. Creating the space as a whole is the architect's work, and Addo does not claim that decision as its own.
The German Design Award evaluates precisely this first layer. ARES receiving the award means that the work in Addo's area of decision-making has been assessed by an independent jury.
The claim lies in the instrument; humility, in the space.
How the design was developed
ARES is the result of work carried out with Sezgin Aksu. Aksu studied at the Stuttgart State Academy of Fine Arts, Les Ateliers Paris, Politecnico di Milano, and in Seville. He worked with Michele De Lucchi for ten years, was a founding partner of AKSU/SUARDI for nearly twenty years, and founded STUDIOAKSUMILANO in Milan in 2026. He teaches at Domus Academy and serves as creative director for various companies.
Addo develops its collection through long-term collaborations of this kind — with Tanju Özelgin, Sezgin Aksu, and Atilla Kuzu. This is not a one-off signature deal, but an ongoing development partnership. The collection is developed before demand arises, not in response to it.
Like every product in the collection, ARES can be viewed in person before being specified for a project. Architects can request samples, colors, details, and presentations, allowing a design decision to be verified before it reaches the construction site.
Technical specifications
| Desktop | Painted glass set into a custom-extruded aluminum frame |
| Desktop options | Glass, wood veneer, or ceramic |
| Edge joints | Aluminum; with leather or wood veneer |
| Main materials | Painted glass, extruded aluminum, wood veneer, polished aluminum, and steel |
| Leg options | L1 diagonal leg, polished aluminum · L2 X-leg, chrome-plated flat steel · L3 panel leg, lacquered or leather-covered |
| Credenza | S1 180 × 100 × 62 cm · S2 100 × 100 × 62 cm · S3 50 × 50 × 62 cm |
| Credenza structure | Wood veneer body, anthracite interior, grooved sliding wooden door, open shelf |
| Mechanism | Swivel connection between the desktop and credenza, flexible positioning |
| Technology | Wireless charging, USB connection, power outlet access, hidden organizer compartment |
| Configuration | 3 leg types × 3 credenzas = 9 combinations |
| Market launch | 2023 |
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