FIBRE- CEMENT FURNITURE ELEGANCE. RESISTANCE. INDIVIDUALITY

FIBRE-CEMENT FURNITURE

ELEGANCE. RESISTANCE. INDIVIDUALITY

Concrete is the dominant material of the built environment and our engagement with it in the city and our everyday life is constant. While traditionally associated with industrial buildings, parking lots and roadways, concrete is gradually finding its way into our homes.

The idea of converting hard, raw and cold materials into fluid and elegant shapes has always captivated artists, architects and designers. As in the Carrara marble sculptures of Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Michelangelo human forms were meticulously carved from heavy blocks of stone, there is no difference in the practice of architecture and design at the present.

Contemporary cutting-edge designers use concrete to create a variety of objects that range from indoor to outdoor furnishing and even lighting. To achieve this, designers often replace the gravel and sand used in conventional concrete mixes with high-tech materials, such as fibreglass or steel-reinforcing micro fibres.

“In a lot of design, concrete is still used in a blocky way. But it is a fluid material from which we can now make any sort of three-dimensional shape,” says Isaac Friedman-Heiman, New York-based product designer and creative director of Souda design studio.

Scallop dining table

The scallop dining table has an industrial yet chic design with an ivory finish, ribbed column base, a round top and scalloped edges, handmade of a stone composite and natural cement fibres. It seats up to four or stands solo in a large entry.

Loop Chair

Explorations with concrete were initiated by Willy Guhl in 1954, a former Swiss furniture designer, who began developing objects with the mix. One of his well-known creations, the ‘Loop Chair’ has become a trade success, characterised by its simplicity and utility with its organic, fluid form and very fine point of contact to the ground.

Darbuka coffee table

Fibre-cement furniture harmoniously combine the diligence of craftsmanship with the slenderness of industry. Cut to length, hammered, smoothed and spread, the raw material is manually crafted and shaped with great detail and sensitivity to create highly expressive and durable masterpieces - each of which constitutes a one-off in its own idiosyncratic right bearing the personal touch of the designer.

Darbuka coffee table design is inspired by the shape of North African drums and handcrafted with the use of cement, granite and marble powder to create a natural stone effect that resounds with global style for indoor and outdoor use.

Dune lounge chair

The plasticity and qualitive characteristics of cement not only include a strongly pronounced innovative spirit but were also decisive for the emergence of the dune lounge chair. An award-winning, highly modular outdoor system, it is designed as one piece with four parts that can be effortlessly rearranged or expanded depending on the ergonomic needs of the users.

Hex side table

Hex side table is a structurally solid build of cement, sand and fiberglass mix forming a small but large in stature piece of furniture. Its design by Brett Beldock was inspired by the columns and arches of the Brutalist architectural movement.