Six home objects pushing natural materials to their limit from Collect 2025

A storm felled-timber chair and a giant mushroom lamp are among our highlights from this year's Collect fair for contemporary craft and collectible design, opening today at Somerset House in London.

Organised by the UK's Craft Council, the 21st annual fair comes "at a time when contemporary craft has never been more sought after", according to Collect director Isobel Dennis.

Throughout the weekend, the event will showcase recent work from more than 400 artisans, artists and designers, hailing from across the British Isles and beyond.

A number of projects on show focused on finding new uses for local salvaged, storm-felled and disease-stricken timber, while others explored new, experimental applications for ceramic.

Below, we've collated six standout furniture, homeware and lighting designs from the event that are pushing the boundaries of what can be made from these natural materials.

Clova Chair by Angus Ross

Scottish designer Angus Ross has revived the country's centuries-old steam-bending tradition – originally used to make barrels and fishing boats – to create modern furniture using native oak from the mixed woodland he co-owns and manages in Highland Perthshire.

His Clova Chair has only four components, all fashioned from a storm-blown tree, to achieve maximum strength with minimum material waste.

Its front legs, armrests and back rail are all formed from one sweeping length of wood, hand-bent in a delicate process that required four different craftsmen working together at the same time.

Growth by Darren Appiagyei

Four years ago, Darren Appiagyei lost his mother to fibroids – tumours that grow in the womb of every two in three women and are particularly common in those of African and Caribbean descent.

Now, as part of his Collect Open commission, the London-based wood-turner has channelled his grief into a series of progressively larger vessels, named Growths and numbered from one to 10, that chronicle her battle with the condition over the course of 16 years.

The wood for each vessel was foraged in her home borough of Greenwich, hand-turned, carved up and burnt with a pyrography machine until Appiagyei felt he had "removed the natural beauty of the wood".

Hidden Life by Agnès Debizet

French ceramicist Agnès Debizet has long defied the boundaries of traditional pottery to create her massive clay furniture pieces. But Collect marks the first UK solo show of her four-decade-long career.

Informed by the subterranean world of roots and funghi, the pieces on show (top and above) include a floor lamp shaped like a giant mushroom, completely with winding roots, that stands taller than the average person.

Simulated by James Trundle and Isobel Napier

Furnituremaker James Trundle and textile designer Isobel Napier joined forces to create the Simulated table, using digital tools including 3D modelling and CNC routing to emulate the irregular contours of live-edged timber.

Based in southeast London, the duo sources characterful wood from local timber yards like Fallen and Felled, dedicated to rescuing trees from the incinerator.

Crockery Pink by Max Lamb

London designer Max Lamb has created an all-pink set of bone china tableware, slip-cast inside hand-carved plaster moulds that imbue the delicate material with its rough and ready texture.

"It's crockery, but pink," the designer said. "It's just a great colour, especially when made to look like rock. Like soft rock. Like sugary rock, like Blackpool rock."

Curio Cabinets by Alan Meredith

Rigid lines were machined into slabs of oak burr to offset its gnarly, swirly surface and form doors for a series of cabinets by Irish woodturner Alan Meredith.

Originally trained as an architect at University College Dublin, Meredith works with locally sourced wood from his workshop at The Oak – his ancestral farmlands in County Laois.

Collect 2025 takes place from 28 February to 2 March 2025 at Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA, UK. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.

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