“A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” – Herbert Simon — Monday December 14th — —

“What art does — maybe what it does most completely — is tell us, make us feel that what we think we know, we don’t. There are whole worlds around us that we’ve never glimpsed.” Greil Marcus — Monday December 14th — —

The idea is to die young as late as possible. — Ashley Montagu — Monday December 14th — —

klein home collection 01

At the end of last month, Antwerp-based design studio klein launched an impressive new project. Named the klein home collection 01, the studio embarked on an exploration of precision through the process of laser cutting plate steel, combined with the imperfections of natural materials wood and leather. Captured between two industrially tooled plates of steel, natural materials are elevated and expressed for their beauty and warmth of touch. Elegant and robust in its profile, the collection utilizes a single material dimension for its solid parts, allowing the oak wood to seamlessly fit in line with the geometry of the laser cut plate steel. Imbued with both a technical precision achieved through translating a digital 3D model into a computer driven laser and the handworked simplicity in its wood and leather manipulation, the impressive collection positions itself delicately between a high tech and handworked aesthetic.

The klein home collection 01 is stripped of complicated, processed materials. It rather finds its simplicity in the beauty of interweaving natural materials and plate steel profiles. Each piece undergoes a final handworked assembly and thorough inspection before leaving the studio for its new owner.

The essence of all designs are only three components: steel, oak and leather. The steel which is used comes from industrially tooled plates, assembled into shape by local Belgian artisans – forming clean frames that capture warm natural materials. The oak wood is presented in two different variations: natural and torched. The collection advances the longevity and beauty of oak wood by applying an ancient Japanese preservation technique of torching the wood – shou sufi ban. Finaly, the naturally dyed leather replaces or interacts with oak wood in several pieces of the collection (lounge chair with ottoman, the rocker low, home bar). It is sourced in Belgium and worked by a local artisan, leather enters the collection in a range of warm tones and further softens the profile lines of the laser cut plate steel.

Klein agency is a design-build, architecture and furniture design studio founded by Jon and Maša Kleinhample. Creatively rethinking the way in which people dwell, klein agency focuses on simple solutions to living well. Klein agency curates beautiful spaces, design interiors, well-crafted products, furniture, branding strategies, and simple gatherings. With a background in architecture and a working product design sister studio – LMRBJK, the agency is built on experience, an understanding of design processes and a desire to give spaces, products and brands new unexpected identities, rich in materials and attentive to details.

The Los Angelino-Slovenian couple made their way from Berlin to Antwerp several years ago, and in their headquarters on het Eilandje, launched klein agency. After a year of curating beautiful spaces, building interiors and hosting their renown private dinner club sessions, the klein couple now presented their very first home collection.

The klein home collection 01 is available in selected stores around Europe. 

For more information see here