SONIAN Edition

Founded in 2020, Sonian is a contemporary design studio based in Brussels that has set itself the goal of relocating furniture production by sourcing its raw materials from the Belgian Forest of Soignes, where local beech wood grows naturally and is managed sustainably.  For its 19th edition, “ Private ”Choice presents a table created in collaboration with PermaFungi, a pioneering circular economy company and mushroom grower also based in the Belgian capital.

Together, they have created a table that carries on traditional craftsmanship techniques (planing, hand-sanding) while offering an innovative response to the challenge of developing ethical and responsible alternatives for contemporary design. Resting on a T-shaped base made of Soignes wood, the table features a functional, standard-sized tabletop made entirely of fungal leather.

A true alternative to animal leather, this regenerative material is produced by cultivating a sheet-like fungal organism on the surface of a solid or liquid substrate. This substrate contains nutrients as well as wood shavings, thereby allowing for the recycling of workshop waste. The mycelium then gradually forms a dense, intertwined network of thread-like structures called “hyphae,” colonizing the mold and gradually creating a surface with a marbled appearance and tones ranging from brown to gold.

Beyond its ingenious design, this table also embodies a renewed vision of the relationship between humans and nature. Indeed, it is the entire forest cycle that finds its way—in a completely new way—into the heart of the domestic space, with the object revealing at a single glance the formation and decomposition of matter, as well as the diversity of living beings that make these processes possible.