Hotel Suppliers reporter, Manon Martini, sits down for a brief conversation with Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Turquoise Concept, Efe Buyukyildirim, to discuss everything from custom made hotel coffee tables to the duality of nature and man.
Manon: Can you tell us about your practice and how your business began?
Efe: After witnessing three hundred thousand ancient trees get cut down by gold mining companies in Aegean, Turkey, we decided to give the wood logs a second chance. We started mixing them with ultra clear epoxy to make the unique masterpieces that led to establish our business.
M: Where do you initially draw inspiration from when designing your custom furniture?
E: We are working with only custom orders; however, we try to create some out-of-the-box products just for fun. While processing them, we are inspired by nature and sacred geometry.
M: What specifically makes your pieces one-of-a-kind?
E: Our artisanship, professional application processes are differentiating us from the market average. The glass grade applications in clear products are the most challenging ones. We create neck-breaking products. On a more practical level, it is impossible to find the exact-same wood logs, due to their unique structures. Ultimately- all our products are one-of-a-kind.
M: Talk us through your creative process- how do you bring to life a new idea or concept?
E: Because we are working with custom orders, we aim to give life to customers’ dreams. Before starting the production processes, we try to understand the customer needs to create the foundation of the project. Then, we develop it further with our experiences and productive feedback.
M: Your pieces are more than just furniture- they are works of art. What story do they distil for you?
E: We have a motto, “Challenge us, tell us your dream design, let us make it alive”.
M: What is your favourite piece that you have designed?
E: We have a table that we have been working on since June 2022. It will be a world premiere for us. I do not want to spoil it but will be a dining table with 280 cm x 130 cm dimensions and it is planned to be weighted around 500 Kgs. Watch this space!
M: There is a real sense of duality within your hotel coffee tables- the modern and the classic, old and new, natural and manmade. What do these combinations mean to you?
E: Isn’t life a combination of natural and manmade? This combination is where you can find all the bonds between the modern and the classic, the old and the new. We believe the perfect balance between them can be found in our products. It means the life, for us.
Click here to view Turquoise Concept’s profile and learn more about their hotel coffee tables.
