Do you know why you would bite a yellow banana instead of a green one?
Because the times you tasted green bananas it was terrible, and now you rely on past experiences to make predictions
But what makes you excited then, if all you see is exactly what you expect it to be? Studio Marfa tricks us, messing with a basic assumption in every person’s mind: “If it looks like wood, it’s wood”. The Breton shelf is quite the opposite of what it looks like: it’s made of concrete.
Drawn from the unassuming presence of wooden panels within concrete constructions, BRETON seizes the elegance of this organic impact.
The texture evokes a tactile journey, where the semblance of a wooden plank belies its true nature as concrete—cool and weighty, yet delicately intricate on the exterior. In juxtaposition to this substantial substance, the slender brass fixtures lend support while projecting an airy, almost suspended aesthetic.
The best part is looking at people interacting with it and still struggling to believe their senses were tricked after revealing the “secret”. In fact, the flat surface perfectly replicates a wood board and the frontal part of the piece looks exactly like real bark, uneven and rough.
Touching the surface and feeling its coldness, alongside the intense grey colour, helps to connect the dots and accept the reality of facts: concrete can also be used as a very classy material when working with some furniture or home decor pieces.
The thin brass mountings contribute to create a very elegant appeal: the shelf almost seems to levitate, despite its solid weight.
So thank you Janis & Florestan from Studio Marfa, for tricking people’s perception. You force them to shrink their brain and think harder. And they probably don’t know this, but in a routine-based life that’s exactly what they are looking for.
