6 design products that may disappear soon

Diana Budds

Though automation and mass manufacturing have brought us a world of low-priced goods, they are increasingly displacing objects made more expensively through traditional craft techniques. Let the buyer beware: The products that follow may be the last of their kind.
Lanterns from a Lonely Taiwanese Manufacturer
Based in Amsterdam, Pei-Ching Hsiao started Taiwan-Lantern in 2013 after learning about what is reputedly the last traditional lantern maker in her home country: a workshop in the forests of Nantou, Taiwan. Established in 1947, the seven-person factory does everything by hand, from splitting bamboo to fashioning frames.

Hsiao and Jean-Marc Daniëls, a designer with whom she founded her company, partnered with the lantern makers to produce objects with modern silhouettes and colors, including a table lamp with a walnut-and-porcelain base and a pendant with a marbled shade. Their mission? To sustain the factory and bring renewed appreciation to traditional Taiwanese artisanship.
Leaning in to Middle Eastern Marquetry
Nada Debs, a designer based in Beirut and Dubai, UAE, focuses on one Middle Eastern decorative arts technique at a time and uses it judiciously on simply silhouetted pieces. Inlaid patterns of wood veneer, especially those that traditionally adorn backgammon boards, are her recent passion.

Mastering the technique, known as marquetry, requires an intuitive sense of geometry. “It’s a peaceful, meditative act”, Debs said. “It’s very spiritual”. She works with Nabil Haswani, one of the few remaining marquetry artisans in Lebanon, to create the intricate ribbons applied to cabinets, vessels and tables.
“The one thing AI cannot replace is our hands”, she said.
Fragile Handwoven Textiles
The Philippines has a rich textile tradition, but industrialisation, climate change and fast fashion are conspiring to end them. Now, young Filipino designers and entrepreneurs are rediscovering and creating new markets for these fabrics.

Anya Lim is the co-founder of Anthill Fabrics, a network of 900 artisans from more than a dozen weaving communities throughout the country. “I didn’t want the beautiful weaves I grew up with to just end up in coffee table books or displayed in museums”, Lim said.
Recently, Anthill collaborated with a new company, Tela, on fashion-inspired textiles for the home. The line includes earth-toned stripes and checks in cotton durable enough for upholstery and whisper-thin sheers woven from pineapple fibers suitable for window treatments and lampshades.

Last Stop on the Silk Road
Afghan Glassware
Glassblowing is a 2,000-year tradition in Herat, a city in western Afghanistan that was once a major Silk Road trading hub. However, war, cheap imports and a decline in demand have hollowed out the industry.
Ghulam Sakhi, whose family has practiced the craft for three centuries, is one of the last skilled glassblowers who has managed to persevere. In 2016, Sakhi developed a line of vibrant sculptural candlesticks, tumblers, carafes and vases with a British-Afghani retailer, Ishkar.
Now the collection by Sakhi and his team of Herat glassblowers — which includes tumblers ($18), candlesticks ($58) and carafes ($65), among other objects — is manufactured by Obakki, a social-impact company that uses design as an economic development tool.

Swedish Rattan
In a cellar studio in Stockholm’s Old Town, craftspeople at Larsson Korgmakare, the last artisanal rattan atelier in Sweden, expertly weave, wrap and knot furniture, as has been done for over 120 years.
“Their work is shaped not by an abundance of tools, but by an intimate understanding of a few essential forces — heat, steam and the patient act of bending”, said Maria Veerasamy, the CEO of Swedish furniture company Svenskt Tenn, which sources all its rattan pieces from Larsson Korgmakare. The workshop is now under the stewardship of Erica Larsson, the founder’s great-granddaughter.
“My earliest memories are sensory — the sound of tools in motion and the scent of the rattan”, Larsson said. “Today my daughter Klara is part of the atelier as well. I hope that one day she may wish to carry this work forward”.
Tunisian Crafts
After Yasmine Sfar and her husband, Mehdi Kebaier, took over Tinja, the Tunisian home goods business her father founded in 2005, they began to experiment with palm wood carving, sea rush weaving, terra cotta pottery and naturally oxidised metalwork — all ancient materials and techniques that are disappearing with the loss of young practitioners. Their Ganymede cabinet, which is made of sea rush and metal, inaugurates Altin, the couple’s new collectible design brand.
“The two projects are a progression and complementary to our original goal: urgently finding a place for these endangered traditions in our contemporary world”, Sfar said. — The New York Times

Diana Budds