汤姆·迪克斯on, the renowned British designer and founder of his 15-year old eponymous design firm, recently unveiled a unique cork furniture collection. This natural material has, through the years, found use in diverse industries by virtue of its inherent properties. “A tactile material, which has been used for a millennia in nautical, construction, apparel and food applications, CORK is the ultimate traditional material fit for the future,” avers Dixon.
Statement Décor
The collection currently constitutes a dining table and two round tables. A shelving unit and a stool are in the works and will be launched next year as part of the same collection. The three products bring forth the natural charm of cork with its tactile quality retained, and make for modest yet prominent furniture pieces. The material expresses itself through bulky forms while rounded edges seek to soften the profiles. The tops of the tables rest on seemingly stout cylindrical supports. Dixon goes in for simple forms, allowing the materiality of cork to shine through and be the underlying focus. “When I was growing up, we had cork floors and they had this amazing warmth and tactility. It's also sound absorbent, fireproof, water resistant and lighter than water, which is why it floats, so it's easy to transport. In terms of a dream material, you couldn't really get a lot better,” says Dixon.
Creations from Waste
The raw material is sourced from the outer bark of the Quercus suber (Cork Oak), an evergreen tree. The process of obtaining it is sustainable, one that doesn't require the tree to be chopped. The pieces in this collection have been created using the pre-consumer cork waste material leftover from the production of bottle stops. The waste was granulated and compressed into composite blocks, Dixon informs us. The firm worked with Amorim, a Portugal-based cork production company, to realise this collection.“There is pretty much no waste in the process, even the dust from the production is used to power the furnaces in the factories. Cork as a material is experiencing a resurgence in design and architecture due to the fact that it's recyclable and carbon negative, as it can be harvested without harming the tree that it grows on,” concludes Dixon.
