Atelier Pendhapa x Métaphores Present the “AKAR” Collection with The Invisible Collection
Updated: Apr 28, 2023
Atelier Pendhapa is pleased to launch their new furniture collection AKAR in collaboration with Métaphores, an innovator in weaving and fabrics for interior design, and a sister company of Hermès, belonging to its textile division.
Atelier Pendhapa, the London and Singapore-based architecture and furniture design studio created nine different pieces of collectible furniture, each showcasing a different horsehair Le Crin fabric, the specialty centenarian technique of hand-woven horsehair developed today by Métaphores.
Atelier Pendhapa worked closely together with Métaphores to select a range of fabric showcasing the wide variety of techniques used in horsehair. Their teams came together to produce exclusively hand-made pieces of furniture. The weaving of the horse-hair was made in Challes in France’s Sarthe region, heir to the Le Crin patent filed in 1787 and vested with the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant label.
Meanwhile, the carving of solid mahogany and teak woods were created at Atelier Pendhapa’s studio in Indonesia. Only one workshop in the world continues to weave horsehair by hand with rare know-how. It takes infinite patience, as well as precise and sure gestures acquired over long months of apprenticeship, to create singular weaves strand by strand. The technique demands such attention to detail that only a few meters are woven each day.
The essence of the collaboration was for Atelier Pendhapa to best showcase the fabric’s unique characteristics.
Horsehair is a natural byproduct of local breeding activities existing in certain areas, mainly in Asia. Breeding of wild horses is often seen in remote countries where nomad population use them for instance as a means of transportation or for agriculture purposes. This is typical of Mongolia, a country populated with three million wild horses which produces the vast majority of quality horsehair. The fibers of le crin originally come from Mongolia where the cold climate is a real asset as it conveys resilience to the horsehair which is naturally coarse, strong and lustrous. Although the fabric has been extensively used for centuries in France, Metaphores reinvents the patterns and weavings of horsehair with a contemporary design. Combined with linen, wool, sisal or metallic threads, horsehair allows for the creation of motifs, light effects and sometimes audacious nuances.
With the collection AKAR, which refers to the word “roots” in Indonesian, Atelier Pendhapa pushed the boundaries of what can be made from solid wood today in using the material in its most organic form. The design of the solid wood elements challenges gravity, as it undulates around the fabric. The wood frames are reminiscent of pieces of intricate jewelry, while the horsehair fabric cushions appear like mounted gemstones.
The AKAR collection is available online through The Invisible Collection globally.
“Pushing the technical boundaries of solid wood making, we looked at ways to form the material as a thread woven together with the horsehair” – Antonin Hautefort & Ignatio Tenggara, Founders, Atelier Pendhapa
More on Atelier Pendhapa
Atelier Pendhapa is an architecture, furniture and research design practice that seeks innovative form rooted in timelessness. Based between Singapore, Jakarta, London and Paris, Atelier Pendhapa is engaged in projects across Europe and South-East Asia since 2019. Founded by Antonin Hautefort and Ignatio Tenggara, Pendhapa seeks a holistic approach to the practice of architecture with the ambition to dissolve the boundaries between site, product and architecture.
More on Métaphores
Métaphores, the finest of French signatures, brings together the centenarian know-how of Verel de Belval for silk furnishings and Le Crin for hand-woven horsehair, as well as the mastery of textile materials with remarkable sensory and visual creativity. Métaphores fabrics are born of a subtle alchemy between materials, history and gesture, supported by its rigorous choice of partners and careful selection of raw materials. This overarching sustainable development approach lowers the environmental impact of the collections. An innovator in weaving and fabrics edition for interior design, Métaphores is a celebrated brand, inspiring and contemporary, belonging to Hermès’ textile division.
Connect with Atelier Pendhapa
Website: https://www.atelierpendhapa.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atelier.pendhapa/
By ML Staff. Images courtesy of Atelier Pendhapa