"Nature is frozen for a second" in Marcin Rusak's flower-infused furniture
Polish creative Marcin Rusak is showing his latest botanical pieces at Milan design week, which include biodegradable sconce lights wrapped in leaves and an intricate relief tracing the history of the cut flower industry.
Warsaw-based Rusak presented his creations as part of an exhibition in Milan called Forum Florum, the Latin phrase for a flower market.
The designer is known for suspending organic matter in resin furniture, a process that is on display in the exhibition, which aims to position flowers and plants as "living archives".
"Everything we do is related to botany," Rusak told Dezeen. "Either as research, or material investigations, or of course, furniture and objects."
Among the pieces is Flower Journey, a large-scale relief illustrated with 87 scenes depicting global stories mapping the history of the cut flower industry.
Conceived to reference mediaeval cathedrals and ornamental art nouveau thresholds, the "portal" was partially cast in bronze and partially 3D-printed.
The scenes represent historical events including the Tulip mania phenomenon that gripped the Netherlands in the 17th century and the $8.5 billion loss in global flower trade as a result of the Covid pandemic.
"There's so many untold stories about something that we buy at the market or in a flower shop and put in our vase," said Rusak.
The exhibition also includes a duo of amorphous, 3D-printed sconce lights made from off-cuts from Rusak's production process.
One was crafted out of bioplastic, while the other was enveloped in large leaves and covered in a thin layer of resin.
Rusak said that he expects the leaves to gradually "transform and age in your home".
"We have a few existing pieces that are living alongside their owners," he explained. "They've just very subtly shifted in colour."
The designer also presented furniture that showcases his studio's new technique, called flower-infused glass, which sandwiches organic matter between sheets of laminated glass.
One of the pieces made using this technique is a pale-blue wall-mounted cabinet that opens out to reveal reflective shelves.
Rusak and his team arranged pink and yellow flowers between the sheets of glass before putting the materials into a hot oven, which sucks the moisture out of the plants to create a distinctly painterly effect.
"The irises are almost like X-rays of plants, which I really enjoy," said Rusak.
A large-scale, amber-hued room divider created using the same technique was positioned opposite the cabinet, characterised by large plants surrounded by animal-print-like bubbles captured in the glass.
"This crystallisation is moisture that boils in the oven and tries to escape, but can't because the glass is sealed," said Rusak.
The designer is also presenting a treasure chest-style standalone cabinet in the exhibition, which was constructed by 30 people over six months.
Gleaming resin doors encase a tangle of botany, resulting in a piece of furniture that looks much like a renaissance painting.
A separate, darkened room at the exhibition features large glass panels highlighting Rusak's material experiments.
One panel appears plain black without a light source. Rusak projected a single spotlight onto its surface, revealing a circular arrangement of plants that gives the impression of a petri dish.
"What I like about the process is that it's quite organic," said Rusak. "Accidents happen in the crystallisation process that we can't really control."
Other pieces of furniture are on display in this space, including a black console table shrouded in metal-sprayed flowers, plants and acorns.
To create it, first, Rusak attached the organic matter to jute, which he stretched over the solid brass, "extremely heavy" table structure. The plants were then dramatically blasted with bronze, freezing them in place.
The designer was informed by tephra, the airborne fragments ejected from a volcano eruption, which fall from the sky and petrify plants.
"Think of a bridge that is made out of steel on location," he added.
"You need to cover it with something that won't corrode. So they bring in these massive welders on steroids, and just shoot metal. We built a cabin in the studio and were shooting bronze onto petals and flowers and plants."
Rusak said that his studio sources the many dying plants and flowers that bring his pieces to life from a range of flower shops and growers who have surplus, unsold plants that would otherwise go to waste.
"What I really love about the pieces is that nature is frozen for a second," said Rusak. "You really start noticing the details of flowers that you wouldn't normally look at."
Milan design week concludes on 26 April. The city-wide festival is currently presenting a range of other exhibitions, from glassware by 6AM studio displayed in an abandoned pool house to fashion house Issey Miyake's paper furniture.
The photography is by DSL Studio.
Forum Florum by Marcin Rusak takes place from 20 to 26 April 2026 at SIAM 1838, Via Santa Marta 18, 20123 Milan, Italy. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.
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