Ubico Studio can be found in an alley in the south of Tel Aviv, in Florentine. An alley which carries the scent of wood shavings and glue. No, I didn’t come back high.
Why is Ubico Studio mysterious, you may be asking yourselves? Well, it’s the name, you see. Ori Ben-Zvi, the founder, was willing to answer all my questions, but one: What is the meaning of “Ubico”? “It’s a personal secret” said Ori, making it that much more mysterious.
Ellia Nattel, a recent graduate from H.I.T (Holon Institute of Technology) works together with Ori. Also a lecturer at H.I.T., Ori teaches a class on Environment and Society as part of the Industrial Design Faculty. Ubico studio’s work deals with the romance of recycled furniture and it is handmade as opposed to readymade. Take, for example this shelf unit:
It’s made of drawers, right?
Wrong!
The illusion Ubico’s work gives off is that it’s made from ready made materials when in fact they take inspiration from ready made materials and rebuild the item from scratch with reclaimed wood. I think Ori said that the above shelf unit is made of wood once used for lintels if, I am not mistaken. This technique is what enables Ubico to create series of furniture as opposed to one-off pieces made of found drawers, never to be repeated.
How about these cute cabinets?
Made of drawers?
You know the trick already, right, they are constructed from reclaimed wood, made to look like they are made from discarded drawers.
The items are of very high quality and craftsmanship and built to last for a long time in their second incarnation. For example these cutting boards made of reclaimed hardwood and come in beech, maple, African walnut, cherry or oak.
There are also these office filing cabinets with a new frame of either wood or reclaimed MDF. Which can be stacked one on top of the other.
You can purchase any of these items from the website designed by Ellia Nattel. Photos by Shahar Tamir.
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