Metropolis: Studio ThusThat

Published in the Spring 2025 issue of Metropolis.

Straddling a line somewhere between design and material science, Amsterdam-based designers Kevin Rouff and Paco Böeckelmann of Studio ThusThat found themselves in the limelight in 2019 when they fashioned bauxite—also known as “red mud,” a by-product of aluminum production—into stunning ceramic vessels. Their more recent project and its resulting collection, One Side Sawn (or Crust), also demonstrates how industrial by-products can be transformed into beautiful objects.

Defined by jagged-edged panels with imperfect textured surfaces, the One Side Sawn furniture series features pieces laser cut from an aluminum “crust,” material trimmed from cast aluminum blocks during production. “We wanted to show this gnarly, raw, and brute side to aluminum to remind people that this went through an immense amount of energy and processes,” says Rouff.

The studio carefully planned the cuts to ensure that every single part of the crust was used, resulting in 11 irregularly shaped furniture pieces—ranging from side tables and shelves to a sideboard and mirrors. The larger pieces were designed like flat-pack products, easy to assemble using screws, with some implementing a three-way contact-point system or a small support bracket to ensure stability. “The pieces have a bizarre aesthetic loaded with a lot of backstory and research—statement pieces that challenge what we expect of materials around us,” says Rouff.

Today, the studio continues exploring and revisiting other materials. Currently on the boards: new architectural products composed of slag and mirrors made from recycled silver poured onto glass.