REDEFINING FURNITURE by Aric Chen Why does a table have to be a single flat surface on four legs, anyway? Take those designed by Brooklyn-based Douglas Fanning- whose one-man firm is called DYAD- for example. One is a gravity defying creation that breaks at the middle with no support underneath. Another sports a molded "1963 Ferrari red" fiberglass top with depressed corners. A third does not have a tabletop at all: Instead, a Lucite compartment is suspended from two crossing legs. Like most up-and-coming architects or furniture designers, Fanning wants to break with tradition. And though he started out working on stores for the likes of Gucci, Donna Karan, and MAC, he's not just talking about fashionable restyling. But despite their see-it-to-believe-it surprises, these table-redefining objects have roots in something more traditional: Each is handmade. Explains Fanning, who grew up near an Amish community in rural Maryland: "The ideas and concepts are important, but so is the craftsmanship."