One may see here the evolution of chandeliers, tables, bed frames and their headboards, where metal, wood, glass, and stone are reinterpreted to furnish civilization. Barlas Baylar chain chandeliers trace the descent of light along glass strands dripping like fringe with gently sinuous waves of metallic piping. The solemn beauty of dying trees is forever captured in solid slabs serving as seats. Then there are the accessories that seem stone and wood all at once – petrified wood, naturally. And these floor samples only hint at the routine activities of his bustling New York City workshop.
Twenty-four craftsmen help realize the Barlas Baylar ideal into the utilitarian artwork that grace celebrity apartments and upscale boutiques alike. Each piece is unique, with no two exactly alike. With a background in production design and a family tradition as machinery manufacturers, he founded Hudson Furniture to make use of all-natural antiquated materials modernized with industrial detail to turn interiors into exteriors by using organic structures that evoke the universe without. Surfaces are not simply sanded down, but hand-burnished using broken glass to reveal nature’s own eternal handiwork underneath.
Concern for nature informs his work, and not just admiration of her. Devoted to the conservation of nature, he uses only sustainable materials for consoles, panels, sofas, mirrors, and everything else ever made by the company. Dead or dying lumber is used exclusively, particularly that of salvaged arbor wind or storm-damaged. Preferred species include Claro Walnut, Black Walnut, Myrtle, Jasmine, Acacia, Satinwood, and Ebonized Pine, typically removed by owners such as farmers to prevent damage to houses or other trees.
Nothing goes to waste. Leftover scraps and cuttings of every irregularity are integrated into every design. And with the connections developed through family ties and personal experience in various industries, his company is able to ensure the origins of its materials, even going so far as to seek the approval of embassies and consulates when importing necessary materials.
Indeed, Hudson Furniture is proud to be New York’s sole repository for legally harvested petrified wood. Thus Baylar’s geometric forms, traditional joinery techniques, and hand-rubbed oil finishes can continue to return to the nature from which it emerges to grace civilization.
