USTIO | Paul Hardy x Lythore

17 January 2026

Derived from Latin, Ustio refers to burning as an act rather than an effect. A physical, irreversible transformation that alters matter and leaves visible traces. In this collection, fire is not decorative or symbolic. It is treated as a process, an active force that reshapes metal through heat, stress, and reaction.

Steel is plasma-cut and heat-treated, allowing oxidation and thermal tension to mark the surface. Blue burn traces, raw edges, and variations in tone are not applied finishes but records of exposure and time. Metal is approached as a living, reactive material, capable of retaining memory.

Across the collection, metal elements are deliberately separated from their bases. Slender rods suspend surfaces and structures above mineral components composed of sand, reclaimed construction debris, and ashes. These distances introduce tension, imbalance, and void, transforming weight into suspension and mass into presence.

Within the framework of Against Industrial Time, USTIO rejects smooth repetition and industrial neutrality. Imperfection, variation, and irreversible traces are not corrected or concealed. They are accepted as structural evidence of process. Each piece is unique, shaped by fire, material resistance, and duration.

The USTIO collection unfolds through a limited set of pieces, each exploring fire as a structural and temporal process. Seating, lighting, and tables share the same material logic, where heat shapes metal, separation activates space, and tension replaces mass. Rather than repeating a form, each object applies the same principles at a different scale, allowing function and sculpture to coexist. Together, the pieces form a coherent system where fire, material memory, and duration define both presence and use.

Armchair and Sofa

The armchair and sofa translate the core principles of the USTIO collection into seating objects defined by material contrast, tension, and duration.

Folded steel frameworks are plasma-cut and thermally stressed, allowing fire to leave visible traces of oxidation and burning across the surface. These marks are not corrected or refined, but preserved as evidence of process and exposure.

Within these rigid structures, black leather seating introduces softness and comfort, creating a deliberate opposition between scorched metal and tactile material. The metal frames are visually and structurally separated from their mineral bases, composed of sand, reclaimed construction debris, and ashes. This gap creates a sense of suspension and instability, shifting the perception of weight and grounding.

The resulting pieces exist between function and sculpture, where use does not erase presence and structure remains visibly shaped by time.

photo : Ustio Sofa I Paul Hardy x Lythore

The Lamp

The lamp explores fire and cutting as forces that shape not only the object, but the space around it. Starting from a restrained geometric volume, the metal is plasma-cut, pressed, and deformed, allowing process to interrupt and alter the initial form.

Openings created by cutting allow light to escape through the surface, projecting shadows and extending the object into its surroundings. Heat leaves visible marks of reaction and oxidation, subtly turning the metal blue and recording transformation rather than concealing it. Light becomes an extension of fire, activating edges, voids, and thickness.

The lamp functions as both a source of illumination and a sculptural intervention, shaping atmosphere through material and process rather than decoration.

photo : Ustio Lamp I Paul Hardy x Lythore

Table & Chair

The table and chair address structure through suspension, integrity, and restraint.

The chair is formed from a single continuous sheet of metal, plasma-cut and folded without welds, allowing internal tension to remain visible and uninterrupted. Heat and pressure shape the form directly, balancing precision with deformation.

The table extends these principles horizontally, using a heat-treated metal surface marked by burning and thermal stress. The tabletop is held in tension above its bases by slender rods, creating a deliberate gap that gives the surface a suspended, almost levitating presence despite its material density.

In both pieces, the separation between metal and mineral reinforces the dialogue between weight and absence, mass and void. Fire and duration remain central, allowing form to emerge through process rather than predetermined design.

photo : Ustio Table & Chairs I Paul Hardy x Lythore

USTIO | Paul Hardy x Lythore

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