Dark matter: Antwerp’s Klein Agency conjures handsome industrial wares
!['Klein Home Collection 01'](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/TC3qsq8iyfjS5HVTtNHRic-415-80.jpg)
Los Angelino-Slovenian couple Jon and Maša Kleinhample founded design studio Klein Agency in Antwerp early last year. Talking about their debut furniture range, 'Klein Home Collection 01', the heavily pregnant Maša says, with no lack of irony, ‘It’s our first baby and we wanted to bring it to life.’ The furniture combines the tactility of locally sourced leather and oak with black steel frames, industrially tooled and assembled in nearby Essen.
The result is a functional aesthetic applied to chairs, tables, magazine racks and even a home bar that chimes handsomely with their studio-home in the shadow of the MAS museum. The process blends computer-enhanced techniques and handcrafted finishing, while the beautifully proportioned radii come from the geometrical dexterity of former architect Jon. ‘I am a bit of a precision nut,’ he says.
In fact, his hand routing of each wooden piece gives such a perfect fit to the frame that the use of glue is minimal. To give an even more seamless appearance next to the steel frame, Maša uses the shou sugi ban torching technique, a Japanese method of preservation, to gradually darken the oak.
As originally featured in the April 2016 issue of Wallpaper* (W*206)
The furniture combines the tactility of locally sourced leather and oak with black steel frames, industrially tooled and assembled in nearby Essen. Pictured: 'Tall Rocker' in torched oak and oil sealed natural oak
The beautifully proportioned radii come from the geometrical dexterity of former architect Jon Kleinhample. Pictured: detail from 'Tall Rocker' in torched oak
The process blends computer-enhanced techniques and handcrafted finishing. Pictured: 'Magazine rack'
Introducing their debut furniture range, the heavily pregnant Maša Kleinhample says, ‘It’s our first baby and we wanted to bring it to life.’ Pictured left: Jon Kleinhample during the process. Right: Maša and Jon Kleinhample with their magazine rack
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Klein Agency website
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
-
Take off: Mathieu Lehanneur's Olympic Cauldron rises into the Parisian night sky
The Paris 2024 Olympics’ opening ceremony was closed with a soaring cauldron spectacle that will go down in history
By Hugo Macdonald Published
-
Phaidon’s new Graphic Classics is a lavish greatest hits of graphic design
Graphic Classics is a compendium of seven centuries of visual culture, from the everyday and ephemeral to visionary works that reshaped our world
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Birley Chocolate hits the sweet ’n’ chic spot in London’s Chelsea
The new Birley Chocolate shop, a sibling to Birley Bakery, is a confection of colour as delicious as its finely crafted goods
By Melina Keays Published