If you’re looking for some cool, classic Slow Design furniture, have a look at NYC-based Uhuru, a design and furniture company dedicated to sustainability and creating timeless designs.
The company builds each piece by hand in their Red Hook Brooklyn studio and has a strong Slow Life aesthetic: “We strongly agree with the shaker assertion that ‘beauty rests on utility’. We strive to make furniture and products that are beautiful in their simplicity with an acute awareness of materials, and craft. Many of the items we create utilize materials that have been reclaimed, recycled, repurposed, reused or otherwise rejected from their original function.”
The company (pronounced ooh-HOO-roo) was founded in 2004 by Rhode Island School of Design Graduates Jason Horvath and Bill Hilgendorf, who wanted to merge avant-garde design with a commitment to environmental sustainability.
Indeed, Uhuru has joined a vanguard of influential furniture companies from Milan to Tokyo focused on pushing the boundaries of contemporary sustainable design. The company’s furniture has been internationally recognized for its innovation, is in the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Museum, and has been exhibited at the Milwaukee Museum of Art. Uhuru has collaborated with recognized designers and architects worldwide, as well as artists such as Maya Lin for the Cooper Hewitt and Dan Colen at the Gagosian Gallery.
Both Horvath and Hilgendorf believe that each piece conceived, designed, and produced should add to some greater good for the world. This is evident in their creative reuse and repurpose in the creation of fine furniture. Though Uhuru continues to grow, their focus remains on building furniture of exceptional quality, one piece at a time.
