Design Miami/Basel 2016″ each of the objects in this furniture collection by Kiki van Eijk is modelled on branches found in the forests surrounding the Dutch designer’s Eindhoven home.
The Civilized Primitive pieces range from an A-frame daybed of intersecting sticks to a tall and gnarled candlestick holder.
They are all cast in bronze based on moulds taken from branches that have been sanded smooth on three sides and left textured on the last. This method gave rise to the “civilised” and “primitive” word choice in the collection’s title.
Civilized Primitive’s largest pieces are a desk with a conical light hanging overhead, and a single A-frame bed with a black and pink textile covering.
There are three lamps: one curved floor lamp, one desk light that is adjustable through a joint in its intersecting branches, and one swing-like flat lamp that hangs from the ceiling.
The smaller items include a tripodal candle holder, a table mirror extending from a stone base, and a clock held up by a Y-shaped twig.
The designer was prompted to create the pieces – described as “whimsical and substantive” in aesthetic – after thinking about how people survive in the wild.
“These two collections represent my latest inspirations – how humans interact with the natural world and how designers have a responsibility to bring this relationship to design,” said van Eijk.
The designer went into the forests around her home to forage for materials that she brought back for her team to experiment with.
As part of Design Miami/Basel‘s Design at Large programme, the Civilized Primitives collection is being displayed in an outdoor Bedouin-style tent, created using the large-scale printing processes of Dutch company Exposize.
Van Eijk’s Physical Interaction light sculptures, which are turned on through unusual interactions like blowing on a mobile or lighting a flint, are also on show inside.
