Uniqwa Collections
UNIQUE DESIGNER FURNITURE WITH A STRONG FOCUS ON RAW AND NATURAL MATERIALS.
IMAGE COURTESY UNIQWA COLLECTIONS
With a strong African flavour, Uniqwa Collections is, as the name describes, uniqueness with a difference.
ideas that often feature as van Heerden talks about his business.
Established in Queensland in 2009 by South African born Charl van Heerden, Uniqwa is all about simplicity and art combined with function; the pieces are organic, earthy and naturally modern.
Charl took a slightly circuitous route to get to this point with his business, and it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Trial and error, good timing and bad timing, surviving the Brisbane 2011 Floods mixed with sheer determination, belief, serendipity and a love of furniture have seen Uniqwa thrive over the past years.
Much of Charl’s inspiration originates from Africa, the stunning natural luxurious resorts and the tribal influences. “I am, and always have been, inspired by the culture that I grew up in. It is such a creative place where people use materials often overlooked to create the most amazing pieces of art. I have learned that there is the potential for beauty in everything around us, but it is the way we use it, the way we see it and the way we apply it that makes it beautiful.”
As a young man growing up in Cape Town, South Africa, Charl had intended to divide his time between work and his passion for furniture. It hadn’t occurred to him how he could develop a career around something he considered to be a hobby. So, he embarked on a business degree in commerce and marketing only to change tack after discovering that he could merge work and play with furniture design and manufacturing.
Central to the business philosophy is the aim to provide unique contemporary designs that are influenced by nature and ethnic cultures. Sustainability, the unique quality of handmade furniture and accessories and the combination of textures to create a tactile, earthy environment are
Charl left South Africa for Australia and enrolled in a Diploma of Furniture Design and Technology at RMIT in Melbourne. As he learnt more about modern furniture production, he became reminded about the beauty of handmade pieces, natural materials, a sustainability ethos and ethnic cultures. The idea
40 |
d e s i g n / EDIT Magazine | Joburg Edition 2021
