Not As You Know It

Leather is a beautiful, natural material but it has some disadvantages. Jorge Penadés, a Spanish Interior Architect, initiated this project starting from these downsides, instead of focusing on what and how it is usually put to use.

Leather goes through different kinds of tanning processes, but even so, its qualities depend directly on the part of the animal where it came from. The more the body part moved, the lower it is in quality. So no matter how the leather was treated, there is always a large amount of inferior material, topped with plenty of leftovers, offcuts and other discarded materials.

Penadés looked for a new production method that has the possibility to transform the waste – that was deemed worthless – into a useful, innovative material.  The result is Structural Skin, a project that celebrates the inherent qualities of used skins, giving it a new role. Leather is a strong material, with added visual qualities that he plays off in these designs. He emphasizes the capacities of the material, going beyond the two-dimensional uses we are used to see. Leather is given a new role, one that had not been considered previously.