Burnt cork Made in situ

Collection Burnt cork by Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance is the bearer of stories, those of the Portuguese lands scarred by the fires of the summer of 2017. 

The French designer deals with the identity of the territory: its raw material, its know-how and its craftsmen. Cork, the country's flagship material, is extracted every nine years from the bark of oak trees. Extracted from the charred forests in the Algarve, its partly consumed material bears witness to the tragedy. It is crushed then compressed to form a monolith ready to be sculpted. One block is required per room. The furniture plays with dualities and highlights tensions. The base with rigid lines opposes the fluid curves of the upper part. The granules, coarse in the lower part, are broken up for more refinement on the seat or the tray. The light and natural cork contrasts with the material partially blackened by the fire. 

In order to keep the tradition alive, the designer combines craftsmanship and technology to push the boundaries of innovation. The family business that creates the cork blocks by hand collaborates with the industrial company that sculpts the shapes using a CNC machine with seven axes. 

Through his project Made in situ, Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance tends to discover in depth the regions of Portugal through their crafts. He questions the relationship we have with our environment as a designer but also as a consumer.

Article written by Barbara Roussel.