Stephen Burks and Alpi create "hybrid object" based on Congolese textiles

Design studio Stephen Burks Man Made has collaborated with Italian manufacturer Alpi to create The Lost Cloth Object, a "speculative ceremonial site" based on Congolese Kuba textile patterns at Design Miami 2025.

Based on visits to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the studio worked with Alpi to develop a piece that interpreted the patterns of Kuba textiles into a large sculpture with Alpi's surface elements arranged through marquetry over the piece.

It features a large circular backdrop on a pedestal with a stool-like form and a table-like surface, all created with thousands of pieces of wood.

Studio founder Stephen Burks told Dezeen that the object takes cues from both ceremonial and commercial Kuba cloth, interpreting the patterns, which date back to the historical Kuba Kingdom, in engineered wood.

"The piece is a speculative ceremonial site, where we imagine people may come together and commune around their rituals," he said.

"On the other hand, we're also honouring the tradition of making those patterns," Burks continued. He added that the collaboration with Alpi allowed for the materials to be reinterpreted, creating a "hybrid project" rather than simply mimicking the patterns.

"What we love about this project in particular is that it, in many ways, forges new paths for the traditions of Kuba to exist in other materials, which is a translation that we've never been involved with before," Burks said.

The "lost" in the name also references the ongoing project by Alpi represented in its Legacy Collection, created by the company's art director, Italian architect Piero Lissoni.

This uses engineering processes to create composite woods that resemble endangered woods, such as rosewood, ebony, teak and wenge.

Alpi's president Vittorio Alpi said that his outfit welcomed the challenge represented by the piece, as it required reproducing patterns usually created by repetitive, communal processes in Alpi's industrial mode.

"It's not just one person who makes [Kuba cloth], but there are several people who alternate," he told Dezeen.

"You have all kinds of similar patterns, which are somehow similar, but they are all different. That's for us, a challenge, because we are industrial, so we tend to do repetitive patterns," he continued.

"This explosion of shapes and dimensions is something very interesting and very challenging for us."

Burks said, however, that the project parallels Alpi's general process, which he considers experimental and iterative, especially in the company's conception of engineered rare woods for its surfacing.

Burks and Alpi used the object as a "conceptual starting point" from which they will develop surface projects that will later go to market, continuing Alpi's method of working with well-known designers historically, such as Italian designer Gio Ponti.

On top of the collaborative nature of the project, Burks said that the piece also ties to his studio's larger project of connecting the world of industrial design with traditions usually considered outside of it.

"Creating these kinds of hybrid projects is our way of saying to the design world that these are opportunities that exist to allow more diverse voices to be heard," he said.

However, Burks was clear that the studio's work is interested in making conceptual connections, but doesn't function as direct aid to Kuba creators.

"It's about trade, not aid," he said.

"We see them as commercial partners, as creative partners, and so we want to create opportunities where their craft can be extended into the future through design."

This latest project builds on other curatorial and documentarian work that Burks has undertaken with his studio partner Malika Leiper in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"I think these worlds feel very far apart, and what we're intending to do is bring them closer together," said Leiper.

The project was on show at Design Miami for its 20th anniversary as part of a section of curated pieces put together by Design Miami curatorial director Glenn Adamson.

Elsewhere during Miami's yearly art week, British designer and artist Es Devlin has created a monumental rotating library on the beach.

The photography is by Federico Cedrone.

The Lost Cloth Object is on show at Design Miami from 2 to 7 December in Miami Beach. For more exhibitions and gatherings in global design, visit Dezeen Events Guide. 

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