Born in Málaga (Spain), Jorge Penadés originally studied Interior Design in Barcelona, before graduating with a Master´s degree in experimental design and conceptual thinking.
Through a growing interest in the intangible aspects of the discipline, he set up an independent Madrid-based office for experimental ideas called Oficina Jorge Penadés (OJP). The office explores areas that transcend conventional design. OJP audits unorthodox ideas in order to generate non-standard outcomes, providing alternative opportunities towards a more responsible context.
One such project of Jorge is Structural Skin which is a range of furniture products made out of the innovative use of discarded scraps of leather.
This project did not start from an interest in the advantages of a material, but rather from its disadvantages. Leather is a beautiful material but very cumbersome in terms of its manufacturing process due to its origin and irregular shape. Experts indicate that just 13% of a hide is top quality and only 43% is considered usable.
This fact means that companies involved in the production of leather goods produce a large amount of discarded material, leftovers and offcuts.
After extensive experiments on the material, Jorge Penadés devised a novel method of using all this waste derived from the leather industry and transformed it into something chic and useful. Structural Skin is made by adding low environmental impact resin to the scraps of leather and compacting them in a press to make slim bars.
These bars are surprisingly strong and are transformed by Jorge into pieces of useful furniture like dumb valets and small tables.
There is no end to the possibilities of use of this never before imagined material. In fact Jorge Penadés feels that all big leather factories should use these pieces of furniture made from their own scrap leather in their very own stores.
By doing this they will not only have some very charming and attractive furniture for their outlets but will also keep a substantial amount of resource from heading to the dump yards.
Contact
email: info@jorgepenades.com
