Dezeen · Creativity & design

Rafael Prieto crafts furniture from New York building fragments

Designer Rafael Prieto has created a furniture collection using salvaged pieces from a Tribeca building's facade for his exhibition "The Future of the Past" at Emma Scully Gallery in New York City.

Prieto incorporated sixteen ornamental fragments from an early twentieth-century building's renovation into his designs. He held the salvaged pieces for a year, contemplating their history and connection to New York before incorporating them into the collection.

The collection features four tables that integrate actual architectural fragments, such as a cornice piece. Other items, like a red chair, feature designs inspired by motifs abstracted from the discarded building elements.

Prieto combined the historical stone fragments with contemporary materials like lacquered birch wood and burl veneer, using colors such as deep purple, black, and red. This juxtaposition highlights the contrast between historic and modern elements.

Examples include a table with legs made from an architectural corbel and birch wood, and a chair with geometric arm supports derived from the building fragments.

The exhibition is displayed at Emma Scully Gallery, complemented by wallpaper featuring Prieto's photography. Prieto, originally from Mexico, also runs a marketing studio and founded a chocolate company.

The exhibition is on view from September 30 to December 12.

AI-samenvatting op basis van de bron.