Drawer 440 is a minimalist furniture piece designed by Berlin-based designer Jakub Kubica. This handmade modular storage system is crafted in an atelier near Berlin from durable aluminum, with each piece hand-sanded and polished with natural beeswax creating a fingerprint-resistant finish with unique imperfections that testify to its artisanal origins. Designed as a modular system, the piece can be used individually as a bedside table or combined with multiple modules to create consoles, shelving walls, or room dividers.

Jakub Kubica is a Berlin-based multidisciplinary artist born in Slovakia who specializes in using natural materials such as stone combined with sterile metals. One of the key intersections in Kubica’s work is the blend between art and design, particularly evident in his furniture pieces. This dual practice demonstrates how contemporary makers can operate across traditional disciplinary boundaries where functional furniture objects carry artistic ambitions and conceptual content beyond purely utilitarian considerations.

Kubica’s artistic practice is marked by an overarching theme of rediscovery, which draws parallels with the fieldwork of an archaeologist and leads Kubica towards new perspectives on the ever-expansive present. Through his art, Kubica explores the fragility of our environment and the potential loss of it with a series called “Please do not hesitate to contact me,” which was exhibited during Berlin Art Week at Wilhelm Halle as one of the 2021 Berlin Masters finalists. This environmental focus informs material choices and making processes where artisanal production methods and natural finishes like beeswax suggest alternatives to industrial manufacturing’s environmental impacts.