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The Utzon(s) collection by Eco Outdoor
A first-of-its-kind collaboration between Eco Outdoor and the Utzon family brings to life an outdoor furniture collection inspired by architect Jørn Utzon’s beloved Mallorcan-born sofa.
Mika Utzon Popov can remember seeing his grandfather’s teak sofa sitting in pride of place in the family’s residence on the Spanish island of Mallorca, the seat serving as a platform for watching life unfold between a frame of four commanding beech trees overlooking the landscape. His grandfather – Sydney Opera House architect Jørn Utzon – designed the custom piece for the family home using readily available teak, creating a structure that was simple, timeless and sophisticated.
Decades later, that same sofa inspired Eco Outdoor to collaborate with Utzon Popov and his artist mother, Lin Utzon. “We’ve been able to take this little seed from this little bench in this enormous space and turn it into this whole wonderful project,” says Utzon Popov.
Bringing a private Jørn Utzon furniture design to market for the first time, Eco Outdoor embraced the piece as the inspiration for a reimagined sofa, lounge chair, gallery bench, daybed, dining table, dining bench and high and low stool. Crafted from fine-sanded sustainable teak and teak laminations using a combination of high-tech and handmade processes, the pieces combine Jørn’s original vision, Lin’s subsequent modifications and Eco Outdoor’s meticulous refinements to create a timeless outdoor furniture collection defined by its materiality and visual simplicity. “The lines of the piece itself are really intriguing,” says Matt Lorrain, Eco Outdoor’s head of furniture. “At a glance, it seems so simple but upon documenting and then drawing the piece, the complexity becomes apparent.”
Bullnose detailing, trussed legs and offset plank placement served as the design language for the original; larger section planks curve on leading edges and are square cut on internal intersections in Eco Outdoor’s modern revision. The cushioned pieces feature Italian hopsack-weave outdoor fabric in a shade reminiscent of light sand, with the large basket-weave shape creating a sense of airiness and levity within the broader silhouette. Exposed stainless-steel hardware and fittings on the dining table and benches draw a minimalist aesthetic and artistic methodology in equal measure.
“For me, the pleasure in this job was the process of the three of us working together so tightly and intimately,” says Utzon Popov. “It was a really lovely journey back into the story of the furniture and the story of bringing back the essence of my grandfather’s thinking and then my mother’s ability to adapt those things into a different context and a different time.”
