At Your Service: Turning the Tables
March 1, 2008
Born in the late Victorian era, the coffee table has evolved from a utilitarian place to merely hold hot cups into a place to prominently display art and art books. Turning the table on that notion, furniture maker Moura Starr has made the table itself an eye-catching piece of art, using a combination of cutting-edge technology and green building principles.
The bicoastal company—a collaboration between Brazilian designers Graca Kazan and Luis Mario Moura and American distributor Shelley B. Starr—crafts the tables at its eco-friendly factory in Brazil. Only locally harvested wood, like Acai and Cabrueva, from trees certified to have completed their life cycles is used. The company boasts that its production practices are so efficient, up to 300 pieces of furniture can be created from a single tree.
To strengthen and preserve the tables, an exclusive process
is used to bond the wood to carbon steel. In fact, the techniques used to make
the Totem and Olimpo tables are even patented. Because of the unique wood pieces
and the individualized strengthening each requires, the tables are
one-of-a-kind. Prices range from $4,000
to $30,000.
Since its inception in 1994, Moura Starr has been known for sleek, sinuous furniture. Examples can be found in some of most luxurious hotels, including the Four Seasons and New York’s Essex House.
Moura Starr, 212.219.1110, 310.854.9100, www.mourastarr.com
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