Against the grain: introducing Foundrywood founder Mats Christéen
Mats Christéen has gone from professional hockey player, to model to rising furniture design star

Mats Christéen’s journey into furniture design is as remarkable as they come. Drafted into the world of professional hockey as a teen, he moved into high fashion modelling before the design world beckoned in 2013. That was the year he started Foundrywood.
Marrying the natural beauty of organic and reclaimed materials with the pure and modern lines of Scandinavian design, Christéen has staked his business on the type of rustic industrialism that harks back to his roots and embraces his new home in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. He oversees all of the creative design and still crafts a limited number of pieces for The Mats Christéen collection under the Foundrywood brand.
His aesthetic ranges from thick salvaged beams bookended between two metal blocks – a bench needing only its most archetypal elements – to the visual and intellectual puzzle of the 'Jenga' dining table, made up of intersecting white pine beams.
Between this balance of delicacy and power, a raw edge persists – literally, in the case of the unfinished side of the 'Fractal' coffee table.
Swede-turned-Brooklynite Mats Christéen started Foundrywood in 2013
The 'Jenga' dining table tops puzzle-like pine beams with a clear glass table top
'Fractal' coffee table
Before Foundrywood, Mats was a professional hockey player and model. Building with raw materials was a part of his Swedish childhood
'Water Tower' bench
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Foundrywood website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Step inside this Upper East Side jewel box apartment
This radiant Lexington Avenue home is a harbinger of good things for the Upper East Side, and the latest focus of The Inside Story, our series spotlighting intriguing and innovative interior design
By Anna Solomon Published
-
A new hilltop California home is rooted in the landscape and celebrates views of nature
WOJR's California home House of Horns is a meticulously planned modern villa that seeps into its surrounding landscape through a series of sculptural courtyards
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Is a tiny tattoo the best holiday souvenir? Kimpton Hotels think so
In partnership with Tiny Zaps, Kimpton Hotels is bringing city-inspired tattoo pop-ups to five U.S. locations
By Sofia de la Cruz Published