Erloom: Bonsai

The art of bonsai has been in Thomas‘ life since he was very young. His grandfather was deeply connected to these trees, spending much of his life caring for them. Erloom began as a convergence between their passions, where Thomas’ love for design intertwined with his Grandfather’s love of bonsai. As time passes, a part of Thomas wishes he had become interested in learning about bonsai at an earlier age. To work alongside his grandfather and learn the knowledge he had obtained. The essence of Erloom is an expression of capturing time, of passing something tangible down to the next generation, to having something that reminds you of where you came from and where you might go next. Erloom exists to disrupt the current bonsai culture. From the materials of the pots themselves, to the use of red-orange in the visual language, it’s meant to stand-out and represent something that hasn’t come before. The design and engineering of these pots were inspired by Japanese carpentry, specifically a joinery system that doesn’t rely on glue, hardware, or other means of adhesion, providing a minimalist and cost effect way to create metal forms. This also allows for flat-packing prior to construction. Due to this unique joinery system, the pot designs are scalable to any scale and the system can be applied to other mediums such as furniture. Meticulously crafted, these pots are a modern interpretation of traditional forms that span thousands of years.