tor palm: south africa project

as part of their final project from the carl malmsten furniture studies in stockholm, sweden
tor and mattias of tor palm, wanted to utilize their woodworking skills and collaborate with
craftsmen to create a collection of furniture pieces.

this idea lead them to co-operate with craftspeople in south africa, giving them the opportunity
to highlight their skills and cultural traditions, contributing to creating more work for the
local people. they established contact with furntech - south africa's centre of excellence for the
furniture industry - who willingly accepted to work with the swedish duo. furntech focuses on
skills development in furniture manufacturing, looking to improve the quality of the south african
wood and furniture industry, offering accredited training programmes as well as support / incubation
for small and micro enterprises.



'sideboard'


tor palm also established contact with a ceramics studio called potters workshop 
and found different metal workers who were willing to cooperate on the project.

the swedish duo spent four weeks in cape town, south africa, working together with the
various organizations and individuals they were in contact with, developing a number of
prototypes which they wanted to carry a strong feeling of south african culture. the result is:
a knock-down stool and sideboard, along with a selection of hand-decorated ceramic lamps.
they combined materials and worked with colors and techniques similar to those in
south african handicraft.



detail


'sideboard' is a painted drawer with a massive wooden front. milled grooves allow for easy
mounting of the storage unit's steel base.



'sideboard'



the 'sideboard' broken down



'stool'


'stool' is a turned seat with milled grooves underneath making it easy to mount its metal legs.
no need for screws or fittings.



'stool'



underside view



the components



'floor lamp'


this adjustable lamp has an adjustable hand-decorated ceramic shade with massive wooden rear.
turned post and voot with milled groove for 'cordstitching'.



'floor lamp'



up close view of the ceramic shade



'ceiling lamp'


hand-decorated ceramic lamp shades with colorful, turned pearls which accommodate
the electrical cord.



'ceiling lamp'



in the workshops:


in the potter's workshop



glazing the ceramic pieces


glazing the ceramic pieces



in the potter's workshop



pieces ready to go into the kiln



tor and mattias with some of the potter's workshop team



moulds for the lampshades



in the woodshop



lathing  / turning the stool seat



metal worker adjusting stool legs





discussion of the products