In January 2025, wildfires spread across Los Angeles, majorly impacting Altadena and the Palisades. With almost 30 people losing their lives and more than 16,000 structures burned, the wildfire was the most destructive in the history of LA. One year later, a group of designers is presenting wooden furniture crafted from salvaged wood from trees of Altadena after the Eaton fire. Co-produced by Vince Skelly, the exhibition marks one year of devastation yet reshaping.
On view through January 31, 2026, the exhibition at Marta, Los Angeles, From the Upper Valley in the Foothills showcases a unique furniture collection, among other objects, by two dozen designers. The exhibition presents wooden materials as a carrier of loss and regeneration.
The designers partnered with Angel City Lumber, an LA-based operation that sources from either fallen or removed trees for reuse in community projects. The wood species used in the exhibition include Aleppo pine, cedar, coastal live oak, and shamel ash.
The works are all installed in a free arrangement, allowing visitors to move freely like in a forested landscape. The wood retains the marks of its history, rejecting the idea of perfection. Each piece has its own story molded by weather, fire, and time. This incorporates a shared origin story among the pieces despite featuring different forms, intentions, and functions.
Giving the lumber a structural and functional purpose, the design showcases how devastated spaces or objects can once again support everyday life. Skelly celebrates the LA communities by featuring local designers who have a raw experience of the fire. On the first anniversary of the devastation, the exhibition proposes that attention to what is left can create life and hope again.
Via: designboom
