Joris Laarman

Sotheby's would like to thank Anita Star from the Joris Laarman Lab for her assistance with the cataloguing of this lot. 

This “Leaf” Table by Joris Laarman exemplifies the Dutch designer’s exceptional ability to create natural, organic forms using emerging technology. Born in the Netherlands and educated at the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2003, Laarman began his career with a focus on product design and architecture. In 2004, together with filmmaker and partner Anita Star, he founded the eponymous Joris Laarman Lab. The choice of the word “lab” reflects Laarman’s ethos as a designer. His work is the result of extensive experimentation with digital manufacturing and advancements in biotechnology; as such, each piece contributes to the evolution of cutting-edge craftsmanship for the 21^st century. 

The design of the present lot begins with its sleek steel frame. Determined by algorithms and fabricated with the help of computer-controlled etching and laser-cutting tools, the legs provide optimal stability and visually mimic the sinuous growth of a tree trunk. The base then branches into the circular tabletop, where it subdivides into progressively thinner veins as it would in the structure of a single leaf. This segmentation of the surface follows the mathematical beauty and precision of a Voronoi diagram, a pattern of partitions found across nature. Finally, the metal frame is cast in resin to complete the tree canopy tabletop of this innovative biomorphic design. 

Following its creation in 2010, the “Leaf” Table became a signature model in Laarman’s oeuvre of contemporary design. A presentation drawing for the table is in the collection of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York and the prototype is in the collection of the High Museum of Art in Georgia.