Dvelas recovers used sails that have their own past history and give them a new life through design and art.
Based in Pamplona, in the Basque country of Spain, the company Dvelas Living Sails collects and recovers old ship sails from which their unique pieces are manufactured. We met Arraitz Koch, one of the founders and designers of Dvelas in Berlin to talk about the concept and idea behind Living Sails, during an exhibition at the Spanish Embassy.
Ship sails become deteriorated with time and use which makes them no longer functional for precise navigation. The materials however still have excellent quality, making them perfectly suitable for the company’s up-cycled textile architecture and contemporary furniture. The designers mix sail making, design, and architecture to revive the sails and create a new and different function for them. Koch explains: “Our aim is to recover used sails that already have their own past history, to give them a new life through design and art. All our designs are inspired by observing sailing techniques, nautical construction and the poetry of the sea itself, a conceptual component being essential in all of them, to merge all of this together.”
Each old sail provides material and gives new life to a limited series of pieces. Information such as the sail’s origin, its manufacturer, the boat it belonged to, and its home port is tagged on each them. The genuinely crafted pieces vary from chairs, loungers, poufs, and hangers made from recovered bronze karabiners on ropes of hemp, onto designs that are executed for special projects like scenography and ephemeral installations, creating shade and stage or studio backdrops. The designs are handcrafted, making it possible to respect and preserve the patina of the material during the manufacturing process. Dvelas creations are unique because each reused sail formerly was made for a different ship by a different sail maker and had it’s own life leaving distinct marks and traces.
Watch the video below and get to know more about Dvelas:
