Roxane Lahidji is a social designer and the founder of Marble Salts, an award winning line of objects and furniture made of salt. Originally from Paris, she designs and creates in her workshop at Zaventem Atelier, just outside of Brussels. Although her work has been exhibited in galleries in London, New York, Dubai and Moscow, Augusta is the first gallery in Brussels to present her creations.
Roxane Lahidji developed and designed her first salt pieces in 2017, as her graduation project at the Design Academy Eindhoven. She immediately received proposals for collaborations and exhibitions. The Design Museum of Ghent, the CID Grand Hornu and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Paris acquired Marbled Salts pieces for their permanent design collections.
“ There’s a poetic connection to the sand and the sea, to the transparency of the snow. The texture of salt mixed with water takes me back to childhood. It’s a very contemplative relationship. Everyone sees something different in it, and that’s what I love about working with this material. ”
— Roxane Lahidji
The founder of Marbled Salts, Roxane Lahidji, creates furniture, objects and lamps in an innovative material she has developed from sea salt. She is launching two new models at Augusta with designer Clémentine Le Guérec.
Her work incites amazement and curiosity : The furniture and objects designed by Roxane Lahidji have the appearance and weight of marble and stone but are created in salt. The selection of pieces on show at Augusta includes a table, a meditation stool and lamps, all signature pieces of her brand, as well as a new series of black and white vases and a centrepiece developed with Clémentine Le Guérec.
The Marble Salt objects are made from salt, water and natural binders. This mix is biodegradable, reusable and repairable. A few layers of resin protect the pieces and give them a « real stone » feeling. The salted mixture is worked by hand and can be sculpted or moulded, like concrete or plaster. A material that continues to surprise Roxane Lahidji, after six years of mastery. «The development of each new object requires testing and experimentation.» Clémentine Le Guérec particularly enjoys this research work : «We play with the density of the material, its thickness, the luminosity…The production process will never stop evolving.”