Equinox
Prize(s):
WINNER 2026 PRODUCT DESIGN / Furniture & Lighting | PRODUCT DESIGN / People-Centric Design
Company Name:Tamiati
Lead Designer(s) Name(s):Sara Elamawy, Ahmed Magd
Project Location:Egypt
Design Status:Commercialized
Website: View
Product Description:
Equinox is a sculptural console that reimagines Egypt's layered identity through a contemporary lens. It unites Italian Carrara and Spanish Black Marquina marble with warm oak and luminous Egyptian straw marquetry, all bound by hand-crafted brass. Each material carries its own history and geography, yet together they form a single, composed object where nothing competes and nothing is erased. This dialogue of materials stages a quiet encounter between cultures and eras. Tradition is not replaced but carried forward, and heritage remains present through balance rather than display.
Equinox is a sculptural console that reimagines Egypt's layered identity through a contemporary lens. It unites Italian Carrara and Spanish Black Marquina marble with warm oak and luminous Egyptian straw marquetry, all bound by hand-crafted brass. Each material carries its own history and geography, yet together they form a single, composed object where nothing competes and nothing is erased. This dialogue of materials stages a quiet encounter between cultures and eras. Tradition is not replaced but carried forward, and heritage remains present through balance rather than display.
Product Innovation / Specification:
Its geometry is the first act of innovation: inspired by the ancient Egyptians' mastery of geometry, the top and base meet at a single point of perfect equilibrium, a structural and philosophical balance in which a heavy marble mass is held in poise by the precision of form. The surface of the top pursues a second lineage: an Ablaq composition pairing Italian Carrara with Spanish Black Marquina, reviving a technique of alternating light and dark stone carried from Syria to Egypt during the Mamluk period, here reinterpreted as a contemporary dialogue of contrast and calm. It is the console's front, however, that completes the vision. A luminous drawer, finished with a hand-crafted brass handle and faced entirely in straw marquetry. Straw marquetry is traditionally a French technique, executed in rye straw. Here, the studio adapted the craft to local Egyptian wheat straw, dyeing it in bespoke tones to achieve the drawer's warm, singular surface. The result is a piece whose innovation lives in process and provenance, where inherited craft traditions are neither replicated nor erased, but genuinely rethought through local material, regional knowledge, and architectural intelligence.
Its geometry is the first act of innovation: inspired by the ancient Egyptians' mastery of geometry, the top and base meet at a single point of perfect equilibrium, a structural and philosophical balance in which a heavy marble mass is held in poise by the precision of form. The surface of the top pursues a second lineage: an Ablaq composition pairing Italian Carrara with Spanish Black Marquina, reviving a technique of alternating light and dark stone carried from Syria to Egypt during the Mamluk period, here reinterpreted as a contemporary dialogue of contrast and calm. It is the console's front, however, that completes the vision. A luminous drawer, finished with a hand-crafted brass handle and faced entirely in straw marquetry. Straw marquetry is traditionally a French technique, executed in rye straw. Here, the studio adapted the craft to local Egyptian wheat straw, dyeing it in bespoke tones to achieve the drawer's warm, singular surface. The result is a piece whose innovation lives in process and provenance, where inherited craft traditions are neither replicated nor erased, but genuinely rethought through local material, regional knowledge, and architectural intelligence.
Product Sustainability Approach:
Equinox approaches sustainability not as a compliance framework but as a design philosophy rooted in longevity, and craft. Conceived as a collectable functional artwork, it is made to endure across generations rather than respond to cycles of trend. Its most direct sustainability contribution lies in material selection: Egyptian wheat straw marquetry repurposes agricultural byproduct, transforming a discarded material into a refined surface of cultural value, reducing waste while elevating a regional craft. The marble top is composed from offcuts of larger slabs that would otherwise be discarded, reclaiming material at the point of waste. Tamiati's small-batch model limits overproduction. By investing in the irreplaceable, human skill, natural material, cultural knowledge, Equinox treats sustainability as preservation of both ecological and intangible heritage. The object is not designed to be replaced. It is designed to remain.
Equinox approaches sustainability not as a compliance framework but as a design philosophy rooted in longevity, and craft. Conceived as a collectable functional artwork, it is made to endure across generations rather than respond to cycles of trend. Its most direct sustainability contribution lies in material selection: Egyptian wheat straw marquetry repurposes agricultural byproduct, transforming a discarded material into a refined surface of cultural value, reducing waste while elevating a regional craft. The marble top is composed from offcuts of larger slabs that would otherwise be discarded, reclaiming material at the point of waste. Tamiati's small-batch model limits overproduction. By investing in the irreplaceable, human skill, natural material, cultural knowledge, Equinox treats sustainability as preservation of both ecological and intangible heritage. The object is not designed to be replaced. It is designed to remain.
Local and Regional Impacts of the Product:
Equinox carries direct local and regional impact through its material and craft choices. Egyptian wheat straw marquetry repurposes a byproduct otherwise burned or discarded as low-grade animal feed. By bringing it into a refined design context, the studio revives straw marquetry as a living craft. Tamiati has built its first centre of excellence around this practice, cultivating specialist craftsmen dedicated to it. This is only the beginning: the studio is experimenting with new local materials, and for each that finds its place in a design, a new centre of excellence will follow. With a presence in Milan and Dubai, Tamiati is part of a broader movement showing that Egyptian craft and design can resonate on the world stage, and that its creative heritage has a voice in global discourse.
Equinox carries direct local and regional impact through its material and craft choices. Egyptian wheat straw marquetry repurposes a byproduct otherwise burned or discarded as low-grade animal feed. By bringing it into a refined design context, the studio revives straw marquetry as a living craft. Tamiati has built its first centre of excellence around this practice, cultivating specialist craftsmen dedicated to it. This is only the beginning: the studio is experimenting with new local materials, and for each that finds its place in a design, a new centre of excellence will follow. With a presence in Milan and Dubai, Tamiati is part of a broader movement showing that Egyptian craft and design can resonate on the world stage, and that its creative heritage has a voice in global discourse.
