28 April 2026 · 2 min read

Sophie Dries on The Stria Candleholders.

Domestic totems turned from a composite of coffee husks and sawdust.

Sophie Dries works between Paris and Milan across interior architecture, collectible design and material research, with a practice formed by training under Jean Nouvel, Pierre Yovanovitch and Christian Liaigre. Her work has been shown at Salone del Mobile, PAD London and Collectible Brussels, and has entered the permanent collections of the Mobilier National.

For Project Materia 2026 she contributes the Stria candleholders - a series of turned objects produced on a lathe from Matek, presented in Copenhagen with Tableau as part of 3 Days of Design before travelling onward to Paris.

In the artist's words

The Stria candleholders, conceived by Sophie Dries for Matek / Project Materia, explore the sculptural potential of a turned upcycled material. Crafted from a composite blending coffee husks sourced from coffee production with sawdust from the wood industry, they reveal an organic, living and deeply textured material. The turning process exposes inclusions, tonal variations and natural irregularities - like a geological cross-section in which each piece becomes unique.

Invited by Tableau as part of 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen, the candleholders are produced on a lathe through a process that alternates different shades of the composite, creating through superposition a pattern of stripes and strata visible throughout the material itself. These concentric lines evoke the marks of time.

Through this series, the designer juxtaposes the almost archaic rigor of monolithic forms with the spontaneity of a transformed and recycled material. The candleholders become domestic totems, balancing craftsmanship, experimentation and a raw aesthetic.

Following their presentation in Copenhagen, the Stria candleholders will be exhibited in Paris in September during Paris Design Week (venue to be confirmed).