A clear project in mind and a particular wood to complete it: American maple, a species very present on US soil, but less common in Europe. Swallow’s tail Furniture, a Polish furniture design and manufacturing studio founded in 2014 by Magdalena Hubka and Piotr Grzybowski, two designers graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, has put this wood at the center of their work and of the new line of furniture, the “Taoz” table and the “Pegaz” chair with a minimalist design and simple lines that can be used both in homes and in gardens and which, thanks to the brilliance and white of the maple, become excellent furnishing accessories for every use.
A choice, that of the material, arrived after taking into consideration various types of wood, including solid European oak. “Maple was certainly not the trendiest material in Poland, but we were fascinated not only by the color so bright and different from all the others, but also by the very characteristic noble veins it presents. We wanted to give a touch of originality and this material was perfect for us”, says Magdalena Hubka. “Working with it, the maple turned out to be a high quality species, with a fine grain, medium hardness, with a tight texture that makes it easy to work with and extremely soft and resistant. This wood does not break at the edges, as it can happen with other types of hard wood”, points out Piotr Grzybowski, fully satisfied with the yield of the material.
The American hard maple is a species typical of regions with a cold climate which, although it can grow in mixed broad-leaved forests throughout the territory, tends to favor the northern states and corresponds to seven percent (out of a total of 926 million cubic meters) of the total mass of hardwoods present in the United States. In the US, hard maple has a net growth of over nine million cubic meters per year. And, especially in Maine, the American state where the use of this wood is most evident, it is used as a source of biofuel and for the extraction of cellulose. Its resistance and color made it easier for the Polish studio to choose: “It simply surprised us, we hope it will be used more and more”, conclude Grzybowski and Hubka.
American hardwood export council (Ahec) is very active in promoting American wood also in Europe, a distinctive brand that has been supporting the export and creativity of designers for over twenty years. Ahec, whose European headquarters is in London, has been a protagonist in recent years by always trying to put the development of projects and the promotion of wood in correlation with environmental sustainability, favoring risk assessments that measured the environmental impact of various aspects, from the use of non-renewable sources to the global warming potential resulting from deforestation. A constantly growing reality that is achieving excellent results in the Old Continent.
