Curated and designed by Studio Swine, Forest Tales brings together 22 specially selected designs from the American Hardwood Export Council’s (AHEC) recent projects, in a showcase of both global design talent and the beauty and versatility of American hardwood as a design material.
Studio Swine is a design studio based in London, UK, and Tokyo, Japan. Showing at Triennale Milano from 3-12 Jun 2022, Forest Tales is the culmination of AHEC’s creative work over the past two years. Studio Swine have curated pieces from four projects, which despite the diversity of their output, are united through material – each piece is made from one or more of three underused American hardwood varieties: maple, cherry and red oak.
“Forest Tales brings together a celebration of exceptional design from AHEC’s latest projects, a love for timber and a much needed call for balance,” said David Venables, director of AHEC Europe. “Balance in the way we use natural materials with particular emphasis on renewable ones, such as wood. The same balance on which today’s designers, as well as the entire sector, are called upon to reflect in order to address the greatest social and economic issue of our time, climate change, and the need to put an end to the current throwaway culture.
“COVID has shown that the world can react very quickly to a major global crisis, hopefully this experience will enable us to quickly make the necessary changes in the way we consume, build and live.”
Some of the projects include: “Alter Ego” by Ilenia Viscardi, a table made with American maple; “Concur” by Mac Collins, a lounge chair made with American cherry; “Humble Administrator’s Chair and Table” by Studio Swine, a table and chairs made with American red oak and cherry; and more.
Studio Swine commented: “We were delighted to be invited by AHEC to propose a display. It’s a great honour for us to be invited to design an exhibition space and only the second time we have done so. The opportunity to be honest was quite daunting, to create something in a venue with the history of Triennale, during Salone, we felt the looming shadow of the great stand designs by Castiglioni, Ray and Charles Eames, OMA, and others, and so it was crucial to do something bold and impactful which can do justice to the extraordinary works by all they established and emerging designers, while at the same time creating no waste.”
