Architectural identity

The 25s32e line is a handcrafted scrap-wood furniture collection designed by members of the Mozambican design collective Piratas do Pau.

Part of the Project

From the Series

Dutch designer Ab Oosterwaal of Maputo-based ABdesign and Lisbon-based designer Aldo Tornaghi of KUVA studio are the design minds behind the Piratas do Pau workshop.

Based in Maputo’s slum area of Junta, the collective works with surrounding carpenters and craftsmen, dividing work and knowledge and creating a network where new materials and techniques are tested, learned and shared.

The 25s32e range draws on Maputo’s architectural language to define its design vocabulary and to generate, through a simple shift of scale, the five different geometric patterns that are a direct visual reference to the local urban environment.

The pattern language is then applied to bookshelves, cupboards, desks and coffee tables.

Pinewood from recycled pallets creates a dialogue with the morefine and uniform local hardwood, Umbila.

The 25s32e bookshelf was a part of the Africa is Now exhibition under the theme Africa is Urban.