I think this is kind of a stretch, but Munich-based industrial design firm RelvaoKellerman says "the box is the third archetype object in our culture history, following the table and the chair." Their rationale is that "People always created containers for their things to be stored: Our predecessors travelled with a basket, in the medieval period people used artful chests to express their social status, sailors had their sailor boxes and the 68 generation used old orange boxes as shelves*."

My quibble notwithstanding, the firm has designed these handsome stackable Cork Boxes for German furniture design brand Auerberg. They're suitable for indoor or outdoor use.

They're made from "natural toasted cork agglomerate," which is created when cork granules are heated under high pressure. The heat activates the natural resin within cork, turning the resin into a binding agent; no chemicals or adhesives are needed.

The boxes are apparently headed for production, and will retail for €148 (USD $173) apiece. However, at press time they hadn't appeared on Auerberg's website.

*Note: In Europe, the "68 generation" refers to a wave of student and worker protestors, originating in France, who questioned and rejected the rise of consumer culture. I'm nutshelling it here, but using discarded agricultural boxes as furniture was a more politically meaningful version of U.S. college students using milk crates.