Marte van Haaster

Beech and pine are companion species; they flourish in each other’s vicinity. Designer Marte van Haaster unites them in a modular shelf cabinet made of trees that met a natural end. The cabinet is commissioned by Schloss Hollenegg for Design, a designer residency in Austria where Van Haaster was invited to work on a proposal. The sustainable forestry employed on the castle grounds resonated with her own practice that seeks to stimulate a more circular use of resources: humans and trees can be companion species too. At EKWC, she made the ceramic supports that fit like puzzle pieces with the shelves and each other in a delicate balance. For the glazes she worked with beech and pine ashes – gathered from her mother’s hearth and the Kannenofen at IKKG in Höhr-Grenzhausen – to emulate the green tiles on the masonry heater in the castle room where the cabinet will be installed.