Dezeen Magazine

Thom Fougere creates furniture collection to reflect Canada's "eclectic sensibility"

Stockholm 2016: Canadian designer Thom Fougere has created a collection of furniture and homeware based on his home country, including a set of fireplace accessories based on historic tools and tables made from limestone (+ slideshow).

Stockholm Furniture Fair collection by Thom Fougere
Thom Fougere's furniture collection includes a wooden bar cart

According to the designer, the pieces in his 2016 collection reference the Canadian landscape and the country's cultural influences, as well as using local materials such as stone quarried in Manitoba.

Stockholm Furniture Fair collection by Thom Fougere
Fougere's wooden bar cart has a removable leather-topped tray

"Canada is such a young country without the rich history present in Scandinavia or Japan, but it does have an eclectic sensibility," said Thom Fougere, who has also created stools for design retailer EQ3.

"I think there is a natural linkage between Scandinavia and Canada whether it's the climate, the geography or the culture," he added.

Stockholm Furniture Fair collection by Thom Fougere
Fougere's Saddle Chair has a double-backed seat, designed to encourage different ways of sitting

The Saddle Chair is a double-backed seat, designed to encourage various ways of sitting or reclining. The back and upholstered seat of the chair are covered in vegetable-tanned saddle leather, resting on a lightweight steel structure.

Over time the leather will develop a patina that reflects the owner's individual sitting habits.

Stockholm Furniture Fair collection by Thom Fougere
The collection also includes an oak bench with a rattan seat that can double up as a table

Other furniture on display includes a wooden bar cart, with a removable leather-topped tray, and an oak bench with a rattan seat that can also double up as a table.

Stockholm Furniture Fair collection by Thom Fougere
The Steel Wood Table include a horizontal space to store and show objects or magazines

Fougere has also designed a side table that features a narrow column-shaped tabletop, that includes a vertical space to store and show objects or magazines.

Stockholm Furniture Fair collection by Thom Fougere
The Tyndall Table is topped with an unfinished planed slab of stone

Canadian limestone features in his Tyndall Table, which is topped with a planed slab of stone that has been left unfinished, and will slowly change over time to reveal fragments of fossils.

"The accumulation of puddled water marks, a splash of wine and scribbles of past dreams will meld into the material's already varied past – creating a nostalgic condition," commented the designer.

Stockholm Furniture Fair collection by Thom Fougere
Another piece is Fougere's collection is the Wood Plate

The material – used in building projects around the country – is also found in Fougere's Tyndall Vessel collection, which includes a range of differently sized receptacles shaped to expose the limestone's grey veined pattern.

Fougere has also designed a set of fire tools for Canadian furniture store Mjölk, which will make their debut at this year's Stockholm Furniture Fair.

Stockholm Furniture Fair collection by Thom Fougere
Fougere has also designed a set of fire tools for Mjölk

The implements are based on historic tools and iron stoves, and feature walnut and leather handles with blackened brass elements.

The shovel has been designed for small fireplaces, and features a central indentation that helps the user easily dispose of charcoal or dust.

Stockholm Furniture Fair collection by Thom Fougere
Fougere's Tyndall Vessel collection includes a range of differently sized receptacles

"I was very interested in contemplating a Canadian vernacular, and using local materials and specifically Canadian cultural influences," he added. "I don't believe the world needs another chair or table unless it fills a void or presents something new."

Stockholm Furniture Fair collection by Thom Fougere

Stockholm Furniture Fair takes place from 9 to 13 February 2016. Other furniture to be shown at the fair includes bookshelves designed by Chris Martin, leather rugs by Claesson Koivisto Rune, and carpets by Tom Dixon.