cortland bookshelf 3

Laisse Béton, the inaugural Atelier d'Amis collection, was designed by French New Yorkers Sébastien Léon and Valérie Pasquiou after observing the never-ending turmoil of New York City's streets, constantly torn apart by constructions sites. "There is a certain beauty and unity in the architectural skeleton of construction," observes Sébastien Léon " which offers a stacked X-ray of structural elements, floor after floor." For Valérie Pasquiou, "concrete is the raw material of New York by excellence, which I felt should be glorified by bringing it to the world of fine furniture".

The design duo chose to reinterpret rebars into legs, grids into tables, pinion elevators into armoires and cleverly infused the vocabulary of construction throughout their collection. Material-wise, Atelier d'Amis selected ultra-thin and resistant concrete-finish ceramic plates with brass plated tubular steel, marrying the worlds of industrial, contemporary and high-end furniture.