Slash Objects
Slash Objects is the award-winning design studio founded by Arielle Assouline-Lichten from the belief that design has the power to change the world through the choices we make. The studio is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of conventional design and creating beautiful pieces that challenge people’s assumptions.
While working as an architect on a new project in Soho, New York, Arielle encountered recycled tyre rubber, which are traditionally used in the construction of durable surfaces. Intrigued by their blend of aesthetic appeal, sustainability, and functionality, this chance discovery sparked her creativity. This serendipitous encounter with recycled rubber ultimately inspired her inaugural homeware collection. Slash Objects’ earlier homeware collection focused on smaller décor items such as mats, rugs, coasters, and bins.
The studio has since shifted its focus to larger furniture pieces, including armchairs, benches, and mirrors. Both collections incorporate recycled tyre rubber to varying degrees, serving as prime examples of how high-end products can utilise long-lasting materials.
We believe that design can change the world through the choices we make. I want to test the limits of what has been done before and to create beautiful pieces that make people question their assumptions.
For Arielle, designers hold significant influence over how products and materials are perceived in everyday life. It is integral to her process and the brand’s ethos to consider the environmental and human impact of their creations. She leverages design as a catalyst to transform materials into adaptable resources, reshaping perceptions through innovative forms and contextual presentations. Initially, Arielle conducted extensive tests to evaluate the material’s durability under heat and wear. She integrated the products into her daily routine to assess their resilience, resulting in a material that proved exceptionally durable and robust, which led her to explore bold, innovative forms and assembly techniques. Arielle emphasizes the material’s flexibility and strength, advocating for experimentation to unlock its full potential and understand its limitations due to its elastic nature.
Transitioning from architecture and graphic design to furniture creation, Arielle’s debut homewares collection emerged from a deep curiosity about furniture design and materials. Her creative process involves exploring the potential of materials and envisioning their transformative possibilities. Using her signature “quick and messy” method to sketch initial concepts by hand, Arielle refines ideas over weeks or months before moving to 3D modelling for precision and functional integration. Physical prototypes validate concepts, ensuring proportions and scale to align with functionality before final production. Slash Objects has garnered widespread acclaim for their recycled rubber concept, resonating positively with both consumers and media. Repeat clients are attracted to the products’ functionality and distinctive aesthetics. In 2023, Slash Objects shifted their focus to larger projects, including unique furniture and design projects made using discarded materials such as marble and stone. Several pieces of furniture continue to incorporate recycled tyre rubber to varying degrees. The Adri Chair and the Coexist Standing Mirror are two products in Slash Objects’ new range where recycled tyre rubber is used as part of the design. Each piece is designed with longevity in mind, intended to endure for generations to come.
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Slash Objects’ work is deeply rooted in a fascination with materials and their integration, exploring how they function within spatial contexts while highlighting the need for sustainable practices in a world with finite resources. Recycled tyre rubber from start played a central role in Slash Objects’ product line, with the aim of transforming it into a durable material that had not been widely explored in homeware design. This early focus was on line with the company’s mission to push boundaries and create aesthetically compelling pieces that challenge conventional perceptions. The majority of Slash Objects’ first homeware collection was crafted from recycled rubber, with approximately 40% featuring recycled tyre rubber (SBR) supplemented by post-consumer EPDM rubber. With over 380 million tyres discarded annually in the US alone, the scale of tyre waste drove Slash Objects to innovate products that harness the versatile properties of rubber. This focus has allowed Slash Objects to envision new lifecycles for rubber and other materials, redirecting them from landfills to productive use and redefining material through innovative design.
In early May 2023, Arielle Assouline-Lichten presented her collection, Unbroken, which explores themes of ephemerality, transience, and the beauty of imperfection. Her work transforms fractured marble and onyx into furniture and lighting, celebrating the interplay between chaos and order. ”In Unbroken (Exhibition, May 2023), I transform fractured marble and onyx into furniture and lighting that play on the dichotomy between chaos and order. Using found pieces of stone slabs, I have devised a system that adapts to irregularity, enabling each piece to be a product of its own constraints. In refusing to erase broken edges, the work maintains a trace of its past, and reminds the viewer that materials transcend time and experiences. Unbroken showcases the beauty of imperfection and highlights the importance of longevity in a world where everything is treated as disposable.”