UC171
steel hot forging scale and cracked ash slab
100x60x70 cm
Year built
2026
Function
Aux Table
Status
Available
UC171 gives a new purpose to a material Iñigo Calleja had known for years. Forging scale, a by-product of hot forging, becomes the defining feature of the table, paired with a single slab of ash that had been set aside for another project. Both materials find their place in a piece that brings together his previous industrial life and his current design practice.
The forging scale is the flaky oxide that detaches from a steel billet when it leaves the induction furnace at almost 1,300°C and comes into contact with air. It flakes off under the forging hammers and falls to the factory floor. Like sawdust in carpentry, it is a by-product of the process, but it cannot be sold as scrap because it is unsuitable for remelting into new steel.
After ten years as an executive engineer in a hot-forging company supplying components to the automotive industry, Iñigo maintained his relationship with the forge and its people. Having previously experimented with forging scale in smaller pieces, he asked them to send him a crate of the material. UC171 became the first gallery-scale piece in which he explored its potential.
The base is a carved wooden silhouette with four supports, coated in forging scale that extends to the edge of the tabletop. Its organic, asymmetrical form and rough, scaly surface contrast with the exceptionally thin top, made from a single, complete slab of ash.
The ash had originally been reserved for another project but set aside because of its cracks. For UC171, one of these cracks was filled with steel powder supplied by the forge alongside the forging scale itself. The base retains its rough, irregular appearance: tactile and visually striking, but neither sharp nor cutting.
