Thanks to the combination of traditional craftsmanship and cutting-edge technologies, wood now lends itself to all designs and uses. As functional as it is artistic, wood reinvents the layout of spaces and transforms even the most unexpected objects. 

“Nothing is impossible”: this could be the motto of ARCA, the furniture research and creation workshop born from the imagination of Steven Leprizé. Since 2009, he has taken on the most audacious challenges, such as cladding a Kelly Wood bag for Hermès in wood and metal or the fairing of a motorcycle called the Wood Eagle, using infinitely customizable combinations. Having grown up surrounded by wood, tools, mechanics, and science, the cabinetmaker, trained at the École Boulle, quickly sought to enrich traditional skills by developing innovative techniques for working with his chosen material. Collaboration with master cabinetmakers, designers, engineers, and even scientists from the École des Mines, led to the development of unprecedented, combinable processes. This is how it became possible to make wood thermoformable – called “C°Wood©” – and to combine it with other materials. In the latter case, derivatives with remarkable properties are obtained from traditional marquetry: its hybridization with metal creates the decorative motifs of "Bois Larmé©," the origin of the aforementioned pieces, while its combination with a rubber membrane generates a flexible and elastic wood, "inflatable wood," known as "WooWood©." Thus, craftsmanship and engineering work in concert. As functional as it is sculptural, evolving according to the user's needs thanks to its multiple wooden pockets, the Marsupio desk, a true "manifesto object" by Steven Leprizé, earned him the 2017 Liliane Bettencourt Prize for the Intelligence of the Hand in the "Exceptional Talents" category. The artisan-inventor continued his artistic and technical exploration in 2022, during a residency at the Villa Albertine in New York, and then the following year at the Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto. This inspires new creations, which are studied within the design studio bearing its founder's initials, STL, before being implemented by ARCA. While this duo of companies delivers its own designs under the name "STL Design" collection, it also works for designers, publishers, interior architects, luxury brands, and private individuals, who thus have access to unique decor and furnishings.

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