Undressed collection by Georgina Davies reveals "unexpected warmth and richness" of MDF
Australian designer Georgina Davies has used MDF to create a series of linear furnishings that challenges expectations of the basic building material.
MDF (medium-density fibreboard) is typically covered up or obscured when used in furniture construction, but Davies wanted to show how the engineered wood is capable of evoking "quiet luxury" if given a more elevated treatment.
The Undressed collection is made up of three items – a nightstand, console table and slender bookshelf. All were treated with black-stained edges and finished using a process known as French polishing, in which multiple layers of shellac are applied to a furnishing to achieve a high-gloss surface that's intense in colour.
Historically, the technique was used on expensive timbers such as mahogany. But in applying it to MDF, Davies was able to give the material an almost golden lustre.
"After researching and experimenting with various sealing and coating methods, I was drawn to the unexpected warmth and richness that completely transformed it," she told Dezeen.
The rigid silhouette of the furnishings was designed to nod to the clean, geometric forms of the Bauhaus school.
Davies was particularly inspired by K VII, a painting by artist and Bauhaus professor László Moholy-Nagy, which depicts intersecting squares, rectangles and lines.
"The shapes in K VII by Moholy-Nagy were a reference point for how I wanted the pieces to be read from different profiles; the designs began in my mind as geometric explorations, rather than fully formed objects," Davies said.
"The console also draws on art deco influences, so I wouldn't place the collection firmly within a single movement. It's more a blend of things I'm drawn to."
Others in the industry are also beginning to explore the potential of medium-density fibreboard. Earlier this year, Dutch designer Arno Hoogland transformed MDF into wall panels and furnishings featuring hypnotic, three-dimensional patterns created by a CNC mill.
"MDF is not the most elegant material – no one is proud of using it," he told Dezeen in an interview at the time. "But I wanted to show that MDF can be beautiful."
The photography is by Leif Prenzlau.
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