Hidescapes: What if leather waste could hide a new form of art?
Payam Askari transforms leather scraps into sculptural surfaces, giving new life to the material through creative reuse with the help of SK!N.
“Waste is not a problem to hide, but a resource to explore.”This reflection from Payam Askari is the driving force behind Hidescapes, a project developed with SK!N, that challenges our concept of waste and sustainability by turning leather remnants into true works of art. When we think of waste, we often see it as something to discard, but Askari has realized that within what seems “useless” material, there is unexpected potential. Thus, leather waste from tanneries is transformed into sculptural surfaces, telling a story of reuse and innovation.
The project was born after a visit to tanneries, where the designer observed how leather was selected, treated, and sometimes discarded as “deadstock.” These scraps, which were previously considered unusable, became the core of the project. “The collection is a direct response to that observation: treating discarded hides not as waste, but as a generative material and starting point for form and surface,” says the designer.
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Scars, folds, and imperfections in the leather become integral parts of the design, no longer seen as defects, but as opportunities to explore. “Treating scraps as material authorship and a source of formal possibility, rather than problems to hide,” says Askari, completely overturning the common vision of reuse.
The designer has an established approach to working with waste materials. In the earlier project Remains developed in collaboration with OmniaWorks, marble offcuts were reworked into unique pieces using resin and aluminum. A similar logic applies here, where discarded elements are treated as both a resource and a material with distinct visual qualities. The project points to a more considered use of materials, focusing on how existing matter can be extended rather than replaced. The result is a collection that invites reflection on the intrinsic value of scraps, which are transformed by the designer’s innovative approach into elegance and functionality.
The surfaces of the project are not simply a patchwork of leather, but true abstract landscapes. Leather fragments, united in a composition that evokes layers, valleys, and ridges, turn the surface into a topography. This technique stems from observing leather at tanneries, where overlapping layers create lines and edges that evoke the natural landscape. Scars, grain, and folds in the leather become structural elements in the design. The surface itself becomes a textured field that is never static but constantly evolving.
Some pieces, like the Drapeform Sofa and the SoftPillar Light, go beyond simple functionality. These are sculptures that engage with the body and emotions. The sofa, with its soft sculptural folds, and the light, with its translucent leather that seems to breathe, are the result of an idea that merges sculpture with design.
“I wanted to extend the idea of patchwork into three-dimensional formats,” says Askari. Thus, these pieces become artistic expressions that challenge the traditional concept of design. Leather, a visceral and tactile material, is used to create objects that are both functional and captivating, inviting the viewer to engage with them from a new perspective.
The design of Hidescapes invites the audience to explore the leather through physical interaction. The Drapeform Sofa is designed to be touched, felt, and experienced, while the Horizon Screens, viewed from afar, appear as simple visual patchworks but reveal themselves as surprising up close, inviting a deeper exploration of the material. The SoftPillar Light challenges expectations, encouraging viewers to approach it and discover a world of imperfections and details.
Each object is a sensory discovery, where the imperfections of the surface become an integral part of a story that unfolds as the object is experienced. There is never a “simple” interaction but a continuous dialogue between the material and those who explore it.
But Payam Askari is not stopping with the success of the project. “There is still much to explore,” he says enthusiastically. His future projects include extending this material language to new architectural applications and innovative geometries, exploring more scalable and integrated solutions. The possibilities are endless: modular panels, new lighting systems, and ongoing research on material translucency.
Payam Askari is ready to expand Hidescapes by collaborating with other industrial sectors, such as glassmaking and metal foundries, to apply the principles of reuse and circularity to different materials. By transforming what we consider waste into something extraordinary, Askari has created a collection that explores leather as a new material, bringing it to a dimension of art, sculpture, and sensory experience.
