RAILS

RAILS is a unique concept that bridges the gap between functional design and art. The idea was born in 2015, when Gwendoline Porte began working on a fictive redesign of Fulham Broadway Station’s ticket hall during her studies at UAL, London. The idea of ‘journeying’ became both literal and metaphorical as she noted how the ergonomic shape of a railway track could be transposed to fulfil both a functional and ae-sthetic role in a variety of settings and formulations. The hybrid sculpture-furniture piece that she began to conceptualise became a symbol of life’s journey, encompassing the hopes, dreams and ambitions that each of us will invariably foster.

As her ideas crystallised, Porte focused her attention on how to create a new kind of seat. The motif for that design gradually developed into a capsule collection that now includes tiles and lighting. Her aim was to try an entirely different approach to furniture design - one that highlighted the concept of life’s fluidity; something that appealed to the nomadic nature of humanity while creating a sense of inter-connected-ness. What emerged is a series of pieces that allows its collector-users to move, transform, create and recycle ad libitum.