Johannesburg, South Africa
Meterage: The act of measuring is a table designed by the award winning designer from South Africa, Thabisa Mjo of Mash T Design Studio.
Meterage: The act of measuring has been awarded a Prize Design for Modern Furniture + Lighting 2023 by Global Design News and The Chicago Athenaeum Museum for Architecture and Design.
It was initially realized for ‘Future Heirlooms’, a project presented by the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) in collaboration with designer collective Always Welcome, that highlighted the work of South African designers and exploring the future of sustainable design.
Thabisa looked to Umbhaco materials and garments — the traditional dress worn by the Xhosa people of South Africa — for her interpretation of the Future Heirlooms brief. Her table, which was hand carved by Phillip Hollander (the cofounder of the Houtlander studio), is entitled Meterage: The Act of Measuring.
In a literal sense the design approach considers measuring itself, asking how much fabric one needs to make the Umbhaco garment. But in another sense, and with an eye toward sustainable furniture production, asks what the measure is of an object itself as Phillip carves the wood to ‘reveal’ the Umbhaco hidden within the wood.
“In measuring which part is fitting to take or leave behind, it’s as though whatever is taken with you in the design process actually becomes the heirloom,” Mjo says.
“The reason I designed a table, subtly, explains why I chose Umbhaco as my heirloom. Tables are utilitarian, and they’re diverse; round, oblong, square, for working, for eating, for displaying etc. So, tables become objects we tend to gather around for fellowshipping and exchanging ideas with one another. Those ideas influence the stories we tell ourselves and each other and those stories inform what we consider worthy of being heirlooms in our lives, and in our homes.”
Project: Meterage: The act of measuring
Designer: Thabisa mjo, Phillip Hollander, Stephen Wilson, and Michael Smith, mash t design studio, Johannesburg, South Africa
Manufacturer: Houtlander, Johannesburg, South Africa
