Designing with flowers: Marcin Rusak’s tribute to spring
Like a spring garden compacted into a piece of furniture, Marcin Rusak’s ‘Flora’ cabinet features colourful dried flowers peeking from a milky surface
![Detail of the Flora cabinet by Marcin Rusak with dried flowers embedded in a white resin surface](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NDonVjLQpJFHTVeTKEemLZ-415-80.jpg)
Marcin Rusak has designed a new cabinet featuring a colourful floral composition peeking from under a milky surface. Rusak’s furniture designs have traditionally been characterised by the use of flowers (a result of his upbringing near his family’s flower-growing business), and while one recent endeavour was a brand focusing on metal furniture design, it is his unique approach to flowers that continues to define his output.
This new cabinet was commissioned by a private client through New York’s Twenty First Gallery, and features Rusak’s signature concept for the Flora series – flowers in resin – in a new, brighter version. The designer and the client curated the selection of flowers included in the piece, and the result feels like a spring garden with peonies, mimosa, hydrangea, agapanthus and more, in dreamy pastel tones of pink, yellow and green.
Rusak’s previous works in the Flora collection – which includes tables, lighting and storage furniture, with varied compositions and species of flowers – largely feature dark resin. ‘The original material is reminiscent of a dark pond, where the flowers sit just below the surface,’ he says.
‘For the new material, the inspiration came from nature itself and the beauty of frozen lakes that encapsulate flora during the winter time,’ continues Rusak. ‘It took us two years to develop a new formula for a misty white Flora material. We wanted to keep the visual effect that we achieved with black Flora.’
Rusak’s recent foray into metalwork is also referenced in this piece, its shape defined by waxed aluminium planes that form a framework. The white resin, meanwhile, is set to feature among Rusak’s future floral furniture designs.
INFORMATION
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
Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy, and now lives in London. Since 2014, she has been the Design Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees design content for the print and online editions, as well as special editorial projects. Through her role at Wallpaper*, she has written extensively about all areas of design. Rosa has been speaker and moderator for various design talks and conferences including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, The Italian Cultural Institute (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has been on judging panels for the Chart Architecture Award, the Dutch Design Awards and the DesignGuild Marks. She has written for numerous English and Italian language publications, and worked as a content and communication consultant for fashion and design brands.
-
Commune’s sustainable personal care products look ‘quite unlike anything else’
Commune’s Somerset-made products stand out in the sustainable skincare crowd. Madeleine Rothery speaks with the brand’s co-founders Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux
By Madeleine Rothery Published
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published