Designer/manufacturer Edwin Blue has a pragmatist’s view of sustainability. But that doesn’t mean they hedge on the interpretation of what constitutes green. The company specializes in salvaged Sinker Cypress, but they also recognize that some consumers prefer the look and durability of tropical hardwoods. Just so, consumers are apt to find either variety of wood in the company’s inaugural Rise Collection.

Rise Collection. Designed and Manufactured by Edwin Blue.

Edwin Blue’s Rise Collection Synthesizes Old World Expertise and a Modern Green Ethos

The Rise Collection is comprised of tables, benches, seating, stools, and ottomans—all of which feature gorgeously honed and perfectly symmetrical slats of wood, with frames in resplendent, polished stainless steel. The look is somewhat evocative of Scandinavian Mid-Century Modern, yet there’s enough homegrown Americana in there to give Rise a singular, palpable identity.

As part and parcel of the Edwin Blue philosophy, the use of salvaged Sinker Cypress provides the distinctive aesthetic—the varied tints of burnished browns and rusty reds that makes Rise seem quintessentially Southeastern. And, indeed, this is the location of origin for much of the material, as the Cypress used by Edwin Blue has been salvaged from the bottoms of rivers in Louisiana, where it was lost during logging operations around the turn of the century.

The tropical hardwood, for its part, is a little known wood called Machiche. With origins in densely forested regions of Guatemala, Edwin Blue’s Machiche comes from sustainably managed, FSC-certified harvesting operations that invigorate the local economy.

Via InteriorDesign.

About the Manufacturer: Based in Kansas City, MO—the veritable heartland of America—Edwin Blue designs and builds furniture of wood and steel which they characterize as “Handmade Modern.” The company’s Rise Collection of seating, tables, chaise lounges, and stools features sustainably harvested Machiche tropical hardwood and 100+-year-old salvaged Sinker Cypress. After spending nearly a century accumulating sediment at the bottom of rivers in Louisiana, the latter material shows exceptional resistance to rot, decay, and insect infestation, not to mention a unique and appealing color variance.