UC53
oversize chestnut planks
250x110x75 cm
Year built
2023
Function
Dining Table
Status
No longer available
UC53 is a table designed by Iñigo Calleja using two consecutive slabs of solid Galician chestnut, taken from a batch that a timber merchant had acquired as an opportunity but never managed to sell.
Iñigo has a particular interest in woods that have spent years overlooked or forgotten. Part of the appeal lies in giving these materials the place they always deserved, but there is also a practical reason: the drier the wood, the better it is to work with.
He often acquires these stocks and puts them aside, sometimes waiting years for the right project to come along. Rather than starting with a brief and looking for the material to fulfil it, he enjoys finding the material first and waiting for the project that feels made for it.
This particular table was commissioned as part of the complete renovation of a house with an outdoor courtyard, carefully furnished by its interior designers. The table was to occupy a sheltered transitional space between the living room and the courtyard. The changing patterns of light and shade in this intermediate space offered a natural starting point for the design.
The tabletop was clear from the outset: two consecutive slabs, placed side by side, with all their raw character left exposed. For the base, we imagined a playful contrast: sculpted legs reminiscent of a dancer's legs, emerging from the massive tabletop and creating their own silhouettes in the surrounding light.
The challenge was to calculate the supports needed to carry the considerable weight of the top without compromising the visual lightness of the design, while ensuring the table's long-term stability and durability. The result brings together the raw presence of the chestnut and the more playful, almost figurative character of the legs, with light and shadow becoming part of the composition.
