The Ripped Wood Collection is a minimalist furniture collection by the Eindhoven-based designer, Willem Van Hooff. Consisting of side tables, a cabinet, and a lounge chair, the series was created through the use of a special “ripping” process signature to Van Hooff and gives new life to otherwise forgotten materials.

Made with wood from fallen Catalpa trees in his home base of Eindhoven, Van Hooff gathered and utilized all parts of the dismembered tree — from the trunk to the branches — in the creation of the collection. Taking into consideration the Catalpa wood’s distinct grain patterns and bark lines, Van Hooff “ripped” or split the material with a chisel to give each piece its very own unique form, honoring the tree’s natural characteristics.

Beautifully raw and charming, the Ripped Wood collection and the unique “ripping” process used to create it inspired subsequent works by Van Hooff, who uses the process to breathe new life into various otherwise forgotten materials. Be it metal, ceramics, or different variations of wood, the one-of-a-kind and soulful furniture pieces in the Ripped Wood collection sparked a genesis in Van Hooff’s practice and are a testament to the inherent beauty of materials as well as the human processes used to highlight them.