Corkigami by Carlos Ortega

Manufacturer ‣ Carlos OrtegaDesign
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Dimensions ‣ 42/80cm 65cm
Origin ‣ Carlos Ortega - Espanha

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As we started to imagine a seat made entirely out of cork, everyone said it was impossible: then we realized we had a challenge to work on. Cork is sustainable, natural, lightweight, quite strong, flexible, warm.. All these attributes make cork a unique material. Corkigami aims to take these properties to the limit, and also refers to the process of making 3D objects from 2D materials. We choose cork as sheet material to make this shell construction simply using this technique.

Strength relies on both flexibility of the shell structure and a special process of lamination using quality cork. This is how we gain the strength for the seat. After lamination, we cut the shape out of the flat material to be able to bend it. Then, we glue it again on a simple curved former.

The shell rests on a solid oak stool, resulting a very attractive design. To protect the cork, we apply water-based varnish suitable for hardwearing surfaces such as cork floors, it is very flexible and makes the chair durable.