Raw Edges

After graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2007, Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay set up Raw Edges, a design studio where their imaginations could take flight: furniture, installations & products began to develop with a strong accent on playfulness and childlike wonder.

The studio became a place where curiosity would be a prevalent factor in the creation of their designs, a place where they could embark on a continuous journey of discovery, turning the world upside down and inside out, cracking things open & studying their structure, always striving for surprise, wonder, humour.

Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay, Future Heritage 2015 Alumni

Colours, patternmaking & movement form a large part of the DNA at Raw Edges. The ideas of energy and provocative illusion are aimed at bringing out the kid in all of us who engage with it, an ongoing battle against boredom perhaps! Some ideas include pouring expandable foam into folded paper cavities, cooking timber in boiling dyes, & making paper moulds for the production of industrial ceramic tiles.

Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay met at Bezalel, Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, moving to London to study in the Design Products Department at the RCA, under Ron Arad. Under the guidance of their tutors Daniel Charney and Rober Feo, they began to experiment with creating new typologies, by thinking how everyday surroundings might be enriched by the products we use and the objects we own. In a show curated by Martino Gamper, held just after graduating, Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay presented Stack & Volume, which helped to establish the foundation of the studio.

Raw Edges regularly work on installations and products with global brands such as Louis Vuitton, Stella McCartney, Swarovski, Vitra and Kvadrat.

Endgrain By Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay

At Future Heritage

At Future Heritage Raw Edges presented ‘Endgrain Bench’ and ‘Endgrain Glass Jars.’ ‘Endgrain’ showcased the possibilities provided by the studio’s novel approach to dyeing wood, in which wood is stained all the way through, leaving it consistently saturated. The idea for the timber soaking came from xylem, a compound tissue in vascular plants and trees that helps provide support and that conducts water and nutrients upward from the roots. Raw Edges reasoned that if water could be transported through a wood’s grain, so could dye. By experimenting, they settled on two types of wood: Jelutong timber and Southern Yellow Pine to achieve the final aesthetic of the collection - both woods brought out the colour, and the Pine, the natural grain of the wood.

“The studio received considerable interest in ‘Endgrain,’ both from visitors and the press.” - Shay Alkalay

Current work

Just before the beginning of the pandemic Raw Edges were extremely busy finalizing a large scale installation that was supposed to take place in April during Salone: ‘Woz’EremA,’ is a “participatory” sculpture that is modelled on the visitors’ tracks: for NOROO, (a leading paint and coating Korean company,) the 2021 colour is inspired by the Greek myth of Narcissus. In the ‘Woz’Ere’ (Was Here) installation, visitors will modify the interactive wall made with Plasticine.

This participatory sculpture is immersive and constantly evolving, and will allow visitors to leave a trace of themselves and rediscover their awareness and creativity. Inspired by the Greek myth of Narcissus, the concept that encompasses the new 2021 design colour trend will be deprived of tragic connotations. This will be presented at Design Week by NOROO.

Earlier this year Raw Edges won the AW Designer of the Year and their ‘Herringbone Vessels’ for Vitra, received the Wallpaper* Design Award for Best Paint Job.

In 2019 amongst other projects, they designed ‘Backstitch’ for GAN, a collection of consecutive rugs, the first derived from the second, the third from the second; the stitch design a contemporary twist on traditional craftsmanship. They also designed ‘Crust’ a series of stools for Conde House and ‘Dolls,’ a series of modular chairs for Louis Vuitton.

Endgrain Process By Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay

If you would like to make an enquiry about Raw Edges and commissions, get in touch here or visit their website www.raw-edges.com