Studio Thusthat – Objects With Narratives

Studio ThusThat

Studio ThusThat

Led by KevinRouff and Paco Böckelmann, ThusThat bridges collectible design with material science to create pieces that are strong, simple, and direct in form, keeping the complexity packed within the materiality itself. Their work with wastes of the mining and metallurgy industries have received widespread recognition, exhibition, and international awards, with pieces in the permanent collection of the London DesignMuseum and Design Museum Gent. They received the Wallpaper* design of the year for 2021 for material use, and were shortlisted for Dezeen’s “Emerging studio of the year”.

Studio ThusThat

As graduates of the Royal College of Art (MA) and Imperial College London (MSc), our work with overlooked materials involves moving between scientific research, industrial practices, and making. We hope that this approach results in a body of design work that is intellectually engaging, aesthetically rich, and ultimately communicates to a wider audiences. ThusThat aims to unearth the material backstories of our everyday surroundings. Our work primarily focuses on the use of uncommon materials such as industrial wastes, to suggest alternative possibilities.

Right now we are exploring industrial wastes from mining and metallurgy.

Studio ThusThat

Studio ThusThat

This Is Copper Collection

Copper is ubiquitous to our modern world, yet it is largely invisible. It is the first metal used by humankind, and it is crucial for a renewable future: a wind turbine alone can contain up to five tonnes of copper, and ten tonnes of the metal are needed per kilometre of high-speed railway.

But what exactly is copper? The metal we know is only part of a much wider material story. Mining overburden, tailings, metal concentrates, rare metals like gold and silver, sulfuric acid, sulphate solution, slag, and more.

All of this is copper, or in other words is a direct result of processing, using, and recycling copper. This project exposes and proposes potential uses for some of these overlooked byproducts as the search for evermore copper continues.

Awards

**Wallpaper* ‘Design of the Year’ for material use, 2021**

Dezeen’s ‘Emerging Studio of the Year’ shortlist, and ‘Sustainable Design of the Year’ longlist 2021

Fast.Co Innovation by Design Award, 2019

Permanent Collection

Design Museum Gent,

BelgiumLondon Design

MuseumFRAC Dunkerque

Exhibitions

Feb 2024 - Design Sediments, HuidenClub, Rotterdam

Jan 2024 - One Side Sawn, solo, Tools Galerie, Paris

Aug 2023 - The Farm Shop, Fels Gallery, London

July 2023 - Cheongju Craft Biennale, South Korea

May 2023 - Villa Alba Museum, Melbourne Design Week, Australia

Feb 2023 - Postcards of Rotterdam, Netherlands

Dec 2022 - Bratislava Design Week, Slovakia

Nov 2022 - The Planetarian, Beijing Design Week, China

SEPT 2022 - The Futurists, Mint Gallery, London

MAY 23 2020 - JAN 2022 - Critical Zones – Observatories for Earthly Politics, Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe

APR - NOV 2021 - Colors, etc., Lille Tripostale, Lille

OCT 2021 - Dutch Design Week, Sectie-C, Eindhoven

SEPT 2021 - Against the Grain, Copeland Gallery, London

FEB 2021 - Materia Gris – New Materials for the Post-Fossil Era, CentroCentro, Madrid

SEPT 2020 - HIDW – Design’s Construct of Pluriversality, Xiong'an, China

MAR 2020 - Kleureyck – Van Eyck's Colours in Design, Design Museum Gent

MAR 2020 - Collaboration for Olafur Eliasson’s material lab at “Sometimes the River is the Bridge”, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo

FEB 2020 - Design Transfigured/Waste Reimagined, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art

NOV 2019 - This Is Copper, Solo Exhibition, Metallo, Belgium

OCT 2019 - Design Transfigured/Waste Reimagined, Georgetown University

OCT 2019 - Veemgebouw, Dutch Design Week

SEPT 2019 - DesignFresh & MaterialDriven, London Design Festival

JUN 2019 - The Model Room, Anagra, Tokyo

APR2019 - Slag Valorization Symposium, Mechelen

MAY2019 - Designing Perspectives, Venice Biennale

Talks & Lectures

Feb 2020 - Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Arts

Feb 2020 - Arizona State University, Center for Philosophical Technologies

Oct 2020 - Crafts Magazine For London Craft Week

Oct 2020 - C2 Montreal, Keynote Speaker

Mar 2021 - Virginia Tech University, School of Architecture + Design, workshop and seminar

Mar 2021 - Dutch Invirtuals Academy

Mar 2021 - University of Groningen, Faculty of Science and Engineering

Mar 2021 - Harvard University, Ceramics Program

May 2021 - HfG Karlsruhe University of Arts & Design, Karlsruhe

Jun 2021 - Sandberg Institute / Rietveld Academy, Disarming Design, Amsterdam

Dec 2021 - VAC Zattere / Non-Extractive Architecture, Venice

Dec 2021 - KABK / Royal Academy of Art, the Hague

Jan 2022 - HfG Karlsruhe University of Arts & Design workshop, Karlsruhe

Mar 2022 - Dutch Invirtuals Academy

Aug 2022 - Goethe Institute, Jordan

Sept 2022 - Farb Design Forum, Berlin

Sept 2022 - Le Signe Centre Nationale du Graphisme, Chaumont, France

Oct 2022 - World Craft Council, Crafting a Greener Path for Europe

Oct 2022 - Feb 2023 - Guest Professors, HfG Karlsruhe, Seminar on material design

Studio ThusThat's Objects

Blossom Chandelier, Round

Blossom Chandelier, Round

Blossom Chandelier, Round €15,600.00

Blossom Chandelier, Long

Blossom Chandelier, Long

Blossom Chandelier, Long €17,000.00

Crust Wall Mirror L

Crust Wall Mirror L

Crust Wall Mirror L €3,000.00

Crust Wall Mirror XL

Crust Wall Mirror XL

Crust Wall Mirror XL €3,500.00

Crust Wall Shelf

Crust Wall Shelf

Crust Wall Shelf €1,400.00

Crust Side Table

Crust Side Table

Crust Side Table €1,800.00

Crust Sideboard

Crust Sideboard

Crust Sideboard €5,950.00

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