This series, COLLECTIBLE In-Depth, unveils the backstage of contemporary creation. Tackling various topics from personal designer processes to the position of collectible design on the global design market, COLLECTIBLE In-Depth offers different views to suit all tastes. Today we speak with Benjamin Moncarey & Stephan Kampelmann from Sonian.

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C: Where do you take your inspiration from?

Benjamin Moncarey & Stephan Kampelmann: Our work is rooted in the Sonian Forest, a UNESCO world heritage site. When we work with wood that has grown over centuries, there is a physical connection between our design practice and the aesthetic universe of the period when the forest was planted. The inspirations can be vernacular furniture objects or major pieces of art. For example, we feel connected to the visual language of the Chasses de Maximilien [a series of 16th century tapestries shown in the Louvre depicting hunting scenes in the Sonian Forest]: they show elegant renaissance clothes and beautiful colour compositions against the backdrop of the very same forest from which we source our wood. But our designs are also clearly forward-looking, which is why we are constantly drawn to retro-futuristic themes which, like the long lifecycle of trees, span human experiences from different time periods.

C: What is your favorite material?  

BM & SK: We are very privileged to have access to a very unique material: the Sonian Forest features some of the tallest beech trees in the world, with beautiful colour variations and grain patterns. Most of the trees we work with have been planted in the 18th century with the objective to produce wood for the 20th and 21st century. Wood opens up worlds and offers unlimited possibilities. At Collectible Design 2024, we have shown pieces created with mycelium, the root systems of mushrooms, that have grown in a substrate of sawdust and woodworking waste from our workshop. For this project we have used a species of mushroom that occurs naturally in the Sonian Forest.

C: What have you been up to recently? What are the next projects/exhibitions you wish to highlight?

BM & SK: Our design practice started out with a focus on furniture crafts. Over the course of the last year, we have started to apply our intimate understanding of wood to other fields of design. The moment we went beyond furniture and saw all the other things we can design and create with our wood was a moment of liberation. It is still too early to unveil what we are working on, but prepare yourself to see unexpected things from Sonian at Collectible Design Fair in New York in September 2024!