Natural stone, which is unique in creating different atmospheres, is a material that is widely used in the field of design. In addition to giving designs sculptural appearances, it gives an identity, belonging, and sometimes a wandering spirit to the design with its geography, while also being integrated with different materials and exhibiting harmonious unity. The Jinye coffee table collection designed by Studio MVW reveals luxurious combination of marble and bronze, while the Drill Vasas vase series designed by Studio EO is an evaluation of waste marble collected from different quarries. Katharina Eisenköck, with Tension Mirror, makes a fragile element such as a mirror incredibly strong, while Sebastian Herkner with Salute imagines the moment when solid and balanced stone pillars are divided into two with a thin metal frisbee. The Stone Family, a modern desk series, comes to life with the modern touches of Tom Dixon. Taher Chemirik, who is also a jewelry designer, creates fine craftsmanship with brass tube feet in his Pathway design. With the Marmini series, Hannes Peer shows us natural stone as a seating element and explains how soft and comfortable it can be when desired, creating a contrast to the brutal appearance of marble.
Jinye
Studio MVW, run in partnership with French architect Virginie Moriette and Chinese interior designer Xiu Ming, provides consultancy in the field of design. Jinye coffee table designs, handled by Studio MVW with the idea of timeless works; While combining jade, marble, lacquer and bronze gracefully, it offers the user a chance for a quality experience in terms of material selection. The designers, who reflect the state of being intertwined with nature in an eye-catching way, say that they can discover new materials by chance, as well as appreciate commonly used materials and adapt them to suitable projects.
Drill Vases
Stockholm’s Studio EO marries handblown glass with fragments of discarded marble found in quarries to form its colorful Drill Vases. Described by the creator as “an exercise in improvisation”, the Drill Vases were born after Studio EO founder Erik Olovsson visited a quarry in the Carrara region in Italy. Here he found small, discarded fragments of marble and started to collect the stones, before reworking their exterior form with a hammer and chisel. These “unpredictable and chaotic” pieces of marble are then precision-drilled to form an opening from the base- the process from which the collection takes its name. A heavy, hand-blown glass cylinder is inserted into each of these drilled openings. The cylinder is made specially to fit the differently sized holes, by first being blown into wooden forms that are the same size as the drilled openings. While the designer chose to match the color of the glass element to the shade of the stone in some pieces, in others he has deliberately paired seemingly clashing colors.
Tension Mirror
The Tension Mirror explores the relationship between, naturally occurring resources and machine-made materials. The mirror cuts into an alabaster, merely held by a fine brass band. The three materials create a delicate interplay of tension, gravity, and varying surface textures. Alabaster is a stone ideal for carving; traditional stone carving tools have the delicacy of a surgeon’s tool set. Italian files, rasps, and rifflers were used to shape the stone base for the mirror. The Tension Mirror is a visual and tactile investigation into the machine-made and the handmade. The perfectly round mirror held by a thin brass band seemingly carves itself into the stone just before it might or might not be pulled down by gravity. Also available in larger versions or custom-made versions.
Salute
Salute is a table family created with a combination of marble and metal for high visual impact. With its clear lines and strong stance, it is thought of as a design that can be easily adapted by users in terms of both dimensions and colors. German designer Sebastian Herkner juxtaposes a massive marble column with a contemporary round table that appears to be attached. Available in a variety of marble tones and different metal finishes, this coffee table was inspired by a race knife thrower or the image of a frisbee stuck in a tree. The coffee table series, which was planned in 3 sizes to create various configurations, 4 different marble/travertine for the column and 5 different coatings for the table, brought a contemporary interpretation to the ornamental and decorative French furniture tradition, whose roots date back to the Art Deco period.
The Stone Family
The design series, which is a modern table series designed by Tom Dixon with a glossy black base and a stone top made of colored marble from Shandong and Fujian provinces of China, offers different uses with the same design language. The pattern of natural marble was formed by crustal movements formed by the lava eruption that developed over millions of years. The designer made this natural pattern visible by using it on the tabletop.
Pathway
Taher Chemirik’s ‘Pathway’ is a signature unique set of two tables, each combining polished copper-plated brass tubular legs and top and pinolite natural rare hard stone top. Each of the two paintings is handmade and has a different sculptural beauty. The designs are as sensual, refined and dramatic as they are intense. While the designer combines contemporary strength with the fine craftsmanship of decorative arts, he also uses the same finesse to apply his personal touch to large pieces by making use of being a jeweler. His love for nature and his very personal worldview inspire him to create sculptural and functional works that are both poetic and structured, flamboyant and balanced.
Marmini I-II
Hannes Peer Architecture is an architecture and design studio that specializes in luxury retail, hospitality, and residential spaces, founded in 2009 and based in Milan. Despite its minimalist architectural appearance, Marmını I-II has been one of the studio’s striking design works as a comfortable upholstered stool design. The stool, which consists of three different pieces that seem unable to stand together, and the Fior di Pesco marble, which wants to separate itself from the middle part of the upholstered soft filling, the cold look of the marble is like a fabric. It aimed for comfortable use by combining it with a material.
