These Symbio Benches, by Dutch design team Joris Laarman Lab, were made in collaboration with nature.
They have patterns cut into them that hold a special cement, which encourages plant growth. When placed outdoors, mosses and lichens – ‘organisms that exist in a radically different time scale than modern life’s hastiness,’ as Laarman puts it – slowly populate the pieces, completing a pattern that crosses over all three benches.
The stone used for the project is from Chatsworth’s own quarry and was hand-carved by a local mason.
The lawn surrounding the pieces has been continuously hand-mown for centuries and consequently has an abundant and diverse ecosystem that has adapted to this treatment.
These benches give another, tiny, ecosystem the space to grow.
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Painted Hall
Maker Bench (Hexagon) prototype, 2018
oak, walnut
Maker Bench (Hexagon) 2018
oak, walnut
Joris Laarman (b.1979), The Netherlands
Grotto
Cryo III, 2022
Steel, wood polystyrene, polyurea, aluminium foil, resin, suede, onyx
Concretion (edition 3/8), 2021
Aluminium
Chris Schanck (b. 1975), USA
The Chapel
Pew Bench/Moon (edition 2 of 8), 2016
Spoon Chair / Moon (edition 1 of 8), 2016
Spoon Chair / Moon (prototype), 2016
all sand-cast bronze, silver nitrate
Lode II (edition 1 of 8), 2021
Trove I, 2022
Trove II, 2022
Plot II (Prototype), 2022
all hand-carved Purbeck marble
Faye Toogood (b.1977), UK
The Oak Room
Hoard of Oak Hill, 2022
hand-carved oak
Hoard I, 2022
hand-carved bog oak
Hoard II, 2022
hand-carved bog oak
Faye Toogood (b. 1977), UK
Chapel Corridor
Rhythms Vase, 2014
white stoneware clay, with stained highlights
Ingxondorha (Volatile Rocky Terrain), 2022
Umthombo (Spring), 2022
Umgodi (A Mine), 2022
Amaza (Waves), 2022
Isiziba (A Pool), 2022
glazed, hand-coiled stoneware
Cornish Waterfall, 2019
stoneware
Andile Dyalvane (b. 1978)
Great Chamber
Vase no. 7, 2006
glass and rope
Vase no. 16, 2006
glass and patinated aluminium wire
Xiangzheng, 1999
glass polished and oxidised aluminium wire
Vase no. 4, 2006
glass and rope
Lingam, 1999
Lingam, 1999
Lingam, 1999
glass
Ettore Sottsass (1917–2007), Italy
Green Satin Drawing Room
Water Filter, Stalagmite, 2012
Water Filter, Stalactite, 2012
Water Filter, Funnel, 2012
Water Filter, Funnel 2012
Water Filter, Tongue 2012
all carbonised oak, mouth-blown glass, copper
Water Filter, Spoon, 2012
carbonised oak, mouth-blown glass
Glass bottle, 2012
carbonised oak log, mouth-blown glass
FormaFantasma (founded 2009), Italy
State Drawing Room
6 x 8 chair, 2021
western red cedar
6 x 8 chair, 2021
western red cedar
Max Lamb (b. 1980) UK
State Music Room
Salvage Series Chatsworth Chair, 2021
various plastics, leather cord, plywood
Jay Sae Jung Oh (b. 1982), South Korea & USA
State Bedchamber
Black Furry Armchair (Prototype), 2022
dyed agave fibres, upholstered linen polyester blend, plywood
White Agave Cabinet, 2021
birch plywood, sisal, steel mesh, kiln-dried Canadian maple
Fernando Laposs (b.1988), Mexico
State Closet
Turbine II Wine Cooler, 2013
Silver Palm Vase, 2020
Midrib Harmony Vase, 2020
Bowl, 2022
Cup, 2018
Cup, 2020
Journey Vase, 2001
all hammer-raised Britannia silver 958
Ndidi Ekubia (b. 1973), UK
Old Master Drawings Cabinet
Design development process drawings by artists including Giulio Romano (c. 1499–1546) and William Kent (1685–1748).
Devonshire Collections
South Sketch Gallery
Enignum Brackets, 2022
ash
Joseph Walsh (b. 1979), Ireland
Sabine Room
Enignum VIII Bed, 2015
ash
Joseph Walsh (b. 1979), Ireland
North sketch
Dressing table
Writing table
David Roentgen (1743-1807), Devonshire Collections
Library
Bamboo Lamp Series, 2021
moss bamboo, waxed linen thread, pewter, spring steel, brass, borosilicate glass, components
Michael Anastassiades (b. 1967), UK
The Vestibule
Dark Vernus 1, 2021
blued steel and glass
Untitled #7, 2023
sound piece
Ini Archibong (b.1983), USA & Switzerland
Sculpture Gallery
Amnesia or platelet apparition?(edition 3 of 8), 2021
marble, powder-coated steel
Optimistic uncertainties. solicit integration (Material Articulation), Prototype, 2021
Fior di Pesca marble
Anxiety Birthed Corrosion (edition 1 of 8), 2021
marble, painted steel
Jut, impale, emerge (edition of 8), 2021
marble, powder-coated steel
Samuel Ross (b. 1991), UK
Rose Garden
Seduction, Pair 06 (edition 4 of 8), 2019
Iranian red travertine
Najla El Zein (b. 1983), Iran
The Ring Pond
Illusion-Reality-Truth (edition 1 of 8), 2015
Temptation (edition 3 of 8) 2014
A New Seeing (edition 1 of 8) 2015
all bronze
Wendell Castle (1932 - 2018), USA
