The bucolic terrain of Canada's Fogo Island and China's landscaped gardens provided the cues for the textural flourishes that Toronto studio Hi Thanks Bye has included in this simple steel furniture collection.
Collection 0 is the debut series from Hi Thanks Bye, which Chinese-Canadian design duo Stein Wang and Topher Kong established last year.
The duo wanted to celebrate their cross-cultural roots, so aimed to merge the "traditional Chinese garden aesthetics and the natural beauty of Canadian islands, such as Fogo".
"As an emerging studio, we set out to create a debut collection that combines elements of our heritage with those of our adoptive country," said the studio in a statement. "To that end, we drew on our unique mix of cultural and academic experience to interpret what furniture means to contemporary living across continents."
The result is a minimal collection comprising a dining chair, a side table, a rug, a bar stool, a floor lamp, and a room divider that doubles as a shelving unit.
Cold-rolled steel sheets and tubes painted in matte "deep forest green" form the structure for the six-piece series, while rough handmade textiles offer a contrasting texture. Hi Thanks Bye teamed up manufactures and artisans in China and Canada to blend the materials.
The effect is exemplified best by the tall, slender lamp, featuring a tubular frame with green material threads draped over the top to shade the light source behind. Textiles also provide a soft covering over the seat and circular back of the chair.
Tufts of material in different green hues make the rug look like mowed grass. Called Carpet 00, the piece was developed in collaboration with Toronto-based textile designer Avis Ho.
For the room divider, two curved sheets are punctured with openings to create shelves that are accessible on either side. The holes have rounded edges and are oriented either vertically or horizontally across the unit.
Also in the collection is the round side table, comprising a slanted steel tube as its main support, which is then bolstered by a second tube wrapping around it.
Three tilted tubular legs are encased by a thin piece of steel to make up the base of the stool, while the seat has one curved edge and a lip that bends down to make it more comfortable to sit on.
Wang and Kong are set to launch the collection in a new colour at the London Design Fair, which takes place from 20 to 23 September 2018 during the city's annual design festival – from 15 to 23 September 2018.
The name Hi Thanks Bye – a recent colloquial phrase used to end a conversation – follows a host of weird and wonderful monikers for design studios.
Dezeen rounded up 10 of the best bizarre titles, including Design, Bitches, !@#? and Swimming Pool Studio.