We last looked in on Kobe Design University's "Design Soil" student experiments in 2011, when we got a look at Akinori Tagashira's killer flatpack Corker stool:

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In the years since, KDU's students have continued to produce excellent conceptual work. Here are some of our faves:

Furniture for Things That Grow

Growth Coatrack

Ryosuke Akagi's Growth coatrack features height-adjustable protrusions. "Just like a height scale, a family can measure one's height with a movable hook, and hang clothes at each suitable position," Akagi writes. "Thus, this coat rack reflects the [members] of the family with their clothes hung [up]. The child's coat will move up to higher position as [s/he grows] older."

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Water Balance Vase

Risako Matsumoto's clever Water Balance lets you know when it's time to water a plant by relying on our natural ability to spot things that are out of level. Fill in the appropriate amount of water the first time, then slide the weight to the correct position to achieve balance. Once the water begins to evaporate, gravity does the rest.

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Experiments with Tension

Tensile Shelves

Hiroyuki Ikeuchi's Tensile shelves use thin plywood for the horizontals. Thin strips have been sliced into the shelves, and sagging is averted by fitting these strips into notches in the verticals in such a way as to cause them to be sprung, providing rigidity through tension.

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Warp Hanger Rack

Jun Akada's Warp is a simple array of thin steel leaf springs that are slightly too long to lay flat within their frame. When one is pressed in and the one beneath is pulled out, enough distance is created to cantilever a thin shelf.

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Creative Re-Use

Rollin' Rollin' Stool

Ever have an old, favorite wool sweater that's too worn-out to wear? Hiromi Manabe's spooling stool gives it a second life as a seat. Just unravel and wind, and the sweater will stay in your life a while longer.

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Outside In

As your shipping boxes pile up, here's a great way to upcycle them. We know cardboard is stiff when placed on its edge, which is why they use it to make hollow-core doors. Here Rie Asaka uses the principle to bolster tabletops that are surfaced only with thin veneers, yet maintain rigidity because they're stuffed full of old cardboard strips.

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Lighting and Sheets

Up Floor Light

Yuji Suzuki's Up Floor Light is a bulb covered by a floppy polypropylene sheet. As the user draws the cord down, a ring tightens around the bottom of the polypropylene; as this stiffening effect travels upwards, the sheet essentially snaps to attention. During its transition from flaccid to erect (I said it, sue me), it serves as a natural dimmer switch.

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Coni Table Lamp

Megumi Wada's Coni table lamp is about as minimal as you can get: It's just two circular sheets of vulcanized fiber or PVC and an LED. The circles each have a deliberate slit cut into them. Roll each into a cone, pin it fixed, stack one on the other, and you've got your lamp.

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Check out more Design Soil projects here.