The Liaigre ‘Upcrafted' collection is a demonstration of the studio’s considered approach to design. ‘All the Liaigre Collection creations are designed to optimise scraps,’ explain the team at Liaigre studio. But with ‘Upcrafted’, they begin the design process by pre-empting production waste and – refreshingly – catering to it in order to produce more resourceful pieces. ‘[Working with] raw materials from drawings generates waste, so the starting point for the “Upcrafted” collection pieces is the raw material and not the sketch,’ they say.
The resulting collection comprises ‘The Vase’, ‘The Tray’, ‘The Bookend’ and ‘The Door Stopper’, each intended to display the potential of waste materials.
‘The Bookend’ from Liaigre’s ‘Upcrafted’ collection, made from repurposed wood and cast in bronze.
In ‘The Vase’, small circles of leather have been joined together at the edges by hand using vegetable glue. The resulting structure is a 3D mosaic of the material, with each vase having a unique variation of the same shape, depending on the particular placement of its elements. Each vase is made from around 400 petals of leather, with the edges of each piece tinted and waxed, adding a contrasting tone.
Highlighting the worn aspect of repurposed materials, ‘The Bookend’ is made from slabs of waste wood set in textured bronze. Each piece has a unique character due to the ageing and past treatment of the timber.
‘The Tray’ from Liaigre’s ‘Upcrafted’ collection, made from excess leather and brushed chrome or black patina handles.
The scrap metal used to cast and structure the bookends is similarly used in the doorstops; bronze pieces are set in asymmetrical lumps of stone. The doorstops vary depending on material availability, with current models in marble and onyx. The bronze element sits in the smoothly carved-out stone, rather like a cork in a bottle. The appealing organic forms again demonstrate the benefit of repurposing resources that would otherwise have gone to waste.
Fifty per cent of profits from the ‘Upcrafted’ collection are being donated to Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France. In supporting the charity – which funds work-study training in development, craft and engineering professions – the studio is contributing whole-heartedly to innovative revolutions in design.
‘The Door Stopper’ from Liaigre’s ’Upcrafted’ collection, made from excess stone and a bronze handle.
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