Natural Connections for Madrid Design Festival 2023

WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Uxio da Vila

The Natural Connections exhibition connects material and people in a playful, conscious and nature-focused way.

Last year Always Welcome and the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) joined forces to release Future Heirlooms; a first-of-its- kind collection created by seven South African designers. This year, as part of the Madrid Design Festival, the AHEC has invited leading Spanish designers Inma Bermúdez and Moritz Krefter (Studio Inma Bermúdez), Jorge Penadés and Alvaro Catalán de Ocón to create three pieces of furniture for public spaces, designed to help people encounter and rediscover nature.

The design studios worked with maple, cherry, and red oak (all sustainable American hardwoods) to create innovative installations.

Inma Bermúdez and Moritz Krefter, the design duo behind Studio Inma Bermúdez, created La Manada Perdida, a set of furniture pieces that represent a group of animals that seem to be lost. Made of red oak, maple and cherry, the bench-like designs of La Manada Perdida go beyond practical furniture and incorporate aspects of imagination, leaving the user to decide how they want to engage with them.

The tubular structure of Jorge Penadés’ Wrap explores a new application of wood based on the cardboard tube production system. For the project, Jorge developed a unique structural system using two pieces of cherry veneer, glued and rolled in opposite directions. The result is a surprisingly resistant and versatile tube which helped the designer create a multifunctional bleacher and low display shelf.

For his project, Álvaro Catalán de Ocón was inspired by the way light it filtered through the traditional wooden blinds of Mediterranean towns. Titled Nube, Álvaro used small balls and cylinders made of red oak, cherry and maple wood to form a sort of electrified mesh that filters the light and causes an interesting play of light and shadow that surrounds the viewer.

Natural Connections will be on display at Matadero Madrid until 7 March as part of the Madrid Design Festival 2023 programme. Future Heirlooms is currently on show at Always Welcome Heritage House in Cape Town until the end of February.