Xanadu is a minimalist table by the Montpellier-based designer, James Haywood. Crafted from debris and an alternative concrete made from blast furnace slag, a byproduct of the steel-making process, Haywood’s design is both an exploration of organic, other-worldly forms and an experimental venture into new, innovative materials. 

Haywood’s background in aerospace engineering fueled his fantastical and progressive approach to designing this materials-focused creation. An amalgamation of organic shapes and linear elements, untethered from any specific earthly inspiration, the Xanadu table takes on an ethereal, extraterrestrial, fungi-like shape, while its minimal and brutalist material palette grounds the design. 

Created amidst the backdrop of our planet’s precarious state, the Xanadu table, and Haywood’s designs as a whole, look towards the future, and beyond the terrestrial realm. With this work in particular, where he used upcycled reinforced concrete and remnants recovered from construction sites, Haywood not only creates captivating furniture for the home but also spotlights sustainable alternatives to the harmful materials currently dominating our world.