i saw this on designboom, and loved the process involved. mdfo is a range of mdf experiments by israeli designer oron ohayon, using mdf and hot water. from the article:

he produced 3 pieces of furniture that are made from MDF, wrapped with a flexible coating that swells with the board. the table legs were inserted into the table board corners then dipped in hot water. both the chest and shelves were produced using the same technique.

what i like best, as i have said, is the process. using the properties of mdf, and what happens to it when exposed to water. usually it is a problem; i remember when one of my tables got drenched it lost it’s smooth straightness, but this makes use of that in a controlled way.

it also reminds me of when i was on a wooden rowing boat last week, which began to fill with water at first. i told my housemate that we were going to sink, but he said to just wait. sure enough, 10 minutes later, the boat stopped flooding, as the wood had expanded in the water. very clever stuff.

link to designboom article