Thomas d’Enfert is an artist and product designer based in Basel Switzerland.
With a focus on utility and concept, he designs hybrid objects and furniture, proposing alternative uses and multiple reading possibilities.
Having experiences in both traditional craftsmanship and contemporary design processes, he develops efficient solutions, based on material understanding, manufacturing technics and spatial reflection.
For more information or inquiries about purchase, wholesale or custom order/projects please reach out.
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No Spare Wheels (A first taste)
Recorded performance, 2 min 07, 2024
Despite its small size, the thumb plays a central role in our lives. A humble and discreet hero, it is an essential tool for many technical achievements and marks a turning point in the evolution of humanity. Much more than a single finger, it symbolizes the history of our species.
Described by Aristotle as the “instrument of the instruments,” the thumb, with its opposable feature, is the foundation of our dexterity, offering us the possibility to evolve from arboreal primates to tool manufacturers. Thanks to it, we can not only manipulate objects but also represent, grasp, and write them. In a word, it is the foundation of communication and creation.
The first companion of babies, from the womb where we all sucked on our thumb, to the feeding bottle, fork, knife, book, pen, scissors, pliers, and brushes ... innumerable objects we can handle our entire lives thanks to our two thumbs. What would be our daily life without the opposable thumb, without that little gesture of gripping?
No Spare Wheels is an invitation to dinner where each participant can explore the possibility of evolving without a thumb. It is an intimate and humorous performance implemented through a series of objects specially designed to facilitate this forgetting of the thumb. This project, in its ludic and participative form, is a simple way to reapproach our relationship to the body, the objects we live with, and otherness.
No Spare Wheels is also a design method used to produce some of the dinner elements, following the same abstraction principle. Through hand carving, type design, and sketching, this process proposes an exploration of new aesthetic possibilities and unexpected design solutions.
No Spare Wheels is finally a collection of intimate stories about hand troubles, such as Parkinson’s disease or accidents. In addition to the designed objects, a book will archive all these different experiences, offering an alternative method to produce knowledge.
No Spare Wheels (a first taste)
Recorded performance
2 min 07, 2024
Despite its small size, the thumb plays a central role in our lives. A humble and discreet hero, it is an essential tool for many technical achievements and marks a turning point in the evolution of humanity. Much more than a single finger, it symbolizes the history of our species.
Described by Aristotle as the “instrument of the instruments,” the thumb, with its opposable feature, is the foundation of our dexterity, offering us the possibility to evolve from arboreal primates to tool manufacturers. Thanks to it, we can not only manipulate objects but also represent, grasp, and write them. In a word, it is the foundation of communication and creation.
The first companion of babies, from the womb where we all sucked on our thumb, to the feeding bottle, fork, knife, book, pen, scissors, pliers, and brushes ... innumerable objects we can handle our entire lives thanks to our two thumbs. What would be our daily life without the opposable thumb, without that little gesture of gripping?
No Spare Wheels is an invitation to dinner where each participant can explore the possibility of evolving without a thumb. It is an intimate and humorous performance implemented through a series of objects specially designed to facilitate this forgetting of the thumb. This project, in its ludic and participative form, is a simple way to reapproach our relationship to the body, the objects we live with, and otherness.
No Spare Wheels is also a design method used to produce some of the dinner elements, following the same abstraction principle. Through hand carving, type design, and sketching, this process proposes an exploration of new aesthetic possibilities and unexpected design solutions.
No Spare Wheels is finally a collection of intimate stories about hand troubles, such as Parkinson’s disease or accidents. In addition to the designed objects, a book will archive all these different experiences, offering an alternative method to produce knowledge.
Vive la CGT !
Powder coated steel and mahogany, 660 × 560 × 482 mm, 2o20
Vive la CGT ! is a chair based on the concept of union. The cooperation between leftover materials produce a solid structure. The different parts of the steel assemblage and the wood seatings are nesting into each other, offering its aesthetic and a joint potency.
Unity is strength.
Vive la CGT !
Powder coated steel and mahogany
660 × 560 × 482 mm, 2o20
Vive la CGT ! is a chair based on the concept of union. The cooperation between leftover materials produce a solid structure. The different parts of the steel assemblage and the wood seatings are nesting into each other, offering its aesthetic and a joint potency.
Unity is strength.
The joy of not choosing (maybe an armchair)
Baltic birch plywood, 635 × 735 × 940 mm, 2o22
Based on the concept of versatility, each piece of the joy of not choosing series is meant to be rotated, tilted, pivoted, and assembled to reveal their various functionalities. Each piece of furniture can, depending on the situation, reinvent their function with a simple gesture.
The joy of not choosing (maybe an armchair)
Baltic birch plywood
635 × 735 × 940 mm, 2o22
Based on the concept of versatility, each piece of the joy of not choosing series is meant to be rotated, tilted, pivoted, and assembled to reveal their various functionalities. Each piece of furniture can, depending on the situation, reinvent their function with a simple gesture.
The joy of not choosing (maybe a stool)
Baltic birch plywood and marine grade plywood, 508 × 355 × 406 mm, 2o22
Based on the concept of versatility, each piece of the joy of not choosing series is meant to be rotated, tilted, pivoted, and assembled to reveal their various functionalities. Each piece of furniture can, depending on the situation, reinvent their function with a simple gesture.
The joy of not choosing (maybe a stool)
Baltic birch plywood and marine grade plywood
508 × 355 × 406 mm, 2o22
Based on the concept of versatility, each piece of the joy of not choosing series is meant to be rotated, tilted, pivoted, and assembled to reveal their various functionalities. Each piece of furniture can, depending on the situation, reinvent their function with a simple gesture.
À la carte
Baltic birch, straps, and aluminium, variable dimensions, 2024
À la carte is a set of modular furniture composed of three different elements that can be combined in multiple ways to create a variety of furniture pieces.
The different configurations can vary from an armchair to a queen-size bed and can simply be assembled by reorganising the base modules and strapping them together. Additionally, a back panel can be bolted to the base modules.
This highly customisable ability allows the easy creation of furniture, meeting specific needs and fitting into any spaces.
Additionally, elements are interchangeable, wich means that À la carte can be easily updated or rearranged as needs change over time.
Armrest : 508 × 762 × 15 mm
Large base module : 254 x 762 x 762 mm
Small base module : 254 x 762 x 381 mm
Large back panel : 450 x 10 x 752 mm
Small back panel : 450 x 10 x 371 mm
À la carte
Baltic birch, straps and aluminium
Variable dimensions, 2022
À la carte is a set of modular furniture composed of three different elements that can be combined in multiple ways to create a variety of furniture pieces.
The different configurations can vary from an armchair to a queen-size bed and can simply be assembled by reorganising the base modules and strapping them together. Additionally, a back panel can be bolted to the base modules.
This highly customisable ability allows the easy creation of furniture, meeting specific needs and fitting into any spaces.
Additionally, elements are interchangeable, wich means that À la carte can be easily updated or rearranged as needs change over time.
Armrest : 508 × 762 × 15 mm
Large base module : 254 x 762 x 762 mm
Small base module : 254 x 762 x 381 mm
Large back panel : 450 x 10 x 752 mm
Small back panel : 450 x 10 x 371 mm
Partner chair
Cherry, 762 × 458 × 406 mm, 2o23
With a little help from a friend
Partner chair
Cherry
762 × 458 × 406 mm, 2o23
With a little help from a friend
Partner stool
Cherry, 762 × 458 × 406 mm, 2o23
With a little help from a friend
Partner stool
Cherry
762 × 458 × 406 mm, 2o23
With a little help from a friend
Two sunny windows
Cherry, red oak, aluminium and 24v LED, 500 × 350 mm, 2o23
As part of the sunny window series, this lamp offers an exploration of the frontier between contemporary painting and design.Using a sheet of veneer for the shade, the light reveals the drawings within the wood structure.
Turned on, the lamp designs shadows, proposing a second painting.
Two sunny windows
Cherry, red oak, aluminium and 24v LED
500 × 350 mm, 2o23
As part of the sunny window series, this lamp offers an exploration of the frontier between contemporary painting and design.Using a sheet of veneer for the shade, the light reveals the drawings within the wood structure.
Turned on, the lamp designs shadows, proposing a second painting.
A landscape and something
Lacquer on plywood and aluminium, 2030 × 150 x 50 mm, 2o23
Based on a Shakers coat and furniture rack, A landscape and something is an homage to minimal painting and sculpture, adapted in a functional coat rack. Thanks to its size and the spacing between the hooks, each element participates to a changing aesthetic and takes part in an evolving installation.
A landscape and something
Lacquer on plywood and aluminium
2030 × 150 x 50 mm, 2o23
Based on a Shakers coat and furniture rack, A landscape and something is an homage to minimal painting and sculpture, adapted in a functional coat rack. Thanks to its size and the spacing between the hooks, each element participates to a changing aesthetic and takes part in an evolving installation.