Uhuru Design, headquartered in Red Hook, is a multi-disciplinary design firm, founded in 2004. Bill Hilgendorf, Uhuru’s co-founder, explained that he had studied abroad in Sweden for a semester, which is when and where he really fell in love with furniture design and interior spaces. He and his business partner Jason Horvath both attended the Rhode Island School of Design to study industrial design. Hilgendorf initially came to know Red Hook when he completed an internship on Ferris Street during his junior year.
“I really just fell in love with the neighborhood,” he added. “I went back up and finished school and immediately moved back down here.”
He and Horvath packed their bags after graduation, and the two worked on their own respective projects for a year and a half before establishing Uhuru Design. They opened a communal studio in a garage space – with Uhuru starting out as a high-end custom/residential furniture company.
“For the next 10 years we were in where Tesla is now,” Hilgendorf said. “That’s where we really grew and became the company we are today.”
BUILDING UP THEIR BRAND AND CLIENTELE
During that time, Hilgendorf and Horvath really developed their aesthetic, which was not only a combination of reclaimed materials, but a combination of wood and metal as well. Plus, their original inspirations were a combination of Shaker Modernism and Scandinavian design.
“Jason was more towards metal working and I had gravitated more towards woodworking,” Hilgendorf said. “But our design was very collaborative; most of our pieces are a combination of wood and metal.”
As the two designers grew and cemented this aesthetic, they were hired for more commercial jobs. For example, they were introduced to the designer working on the new Williamsburg office for Vice Media in 2014. Hilgendorf said they initially went there to pitch a design for a conference table, but ended up supplying about 90% of the furniture.
“They really liked our aesthetic and, at the time, the office market was a pretty bland offering. There really wasn’t anyone who was bringing that residential material and high material style into the workplace,” he explained.
Uhuru also does all of the domestic and international seating for burger-and-fries franchise Shake Shack – and will be working on a complete interiors package with all-custom furniture and fixtures in an upcoming project, according to Uhuru’s website. They recently outfitted Shake Shack’s office headquarters in Manhattan with seats, stools, and custom conference and breakout tables.
COLLECTIONS
Hilgendorf said they launched their debut collection, made mainly out of found objects and wood scraps, at BKLYN DESIGNS in 2006.
“We didn’t have a lot of extra money to buy materials for our first collection, so resourcefulness became a core value and an understanding of sustainability,” he said.
They continued doing custom work, but began to develop more collections as well. Uhuru’s second collection was a line made from reclaimed bourbon barrels. Hilgendorf explained that Horvath, who is originally from Kentucky, had a connection with a Bardstown distillery – which gave him a bunch of barrels that would be turned into furniture for the 2008 collection. They had also made a six-piece limited edition collection in 2010 out of the Coney Island Boardwalk.
One of those pieces, a lounge chair fabricated from reclaimed Ipe wood, was acquired by the Smithsonian American Museum of Art and became a part of its permanent collection in Fall 2012. Later Uhuru did a line out of the decking from the USS North Carolina, a World War II battleship that was built in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
WHAT’S NEXT?
While Uhuru switched over from doing residential to mostly commercial work (with a focus on the workplace) in the last few years, they still do residential pieces. Hilgendorf said anyone who’s interested can call and make an appointment at any time.
One of Uhuru’s goals for the future is to produce some of their classic designs in higher quantities. It’s Hilgendorf’s hope that, as a result, prices can come down and the pieces can become more accessible for people.
He also said that when their original building was sold to make way for Tesla Motors, they moved to their current location, 185 Van Dyke Street, three years ago.
“We recently took over a ground floor retail space and we’re going to open that showroom to the public within the next 12 months or so. That’ll be something to look forward to,” Hilgendorf said.
Email [email protected], call 718-855-6519 or visit uhurudesign.com for more information.
Top photo courtesy of Uhuru Design
Author
George Fiala has worked in radio, newspapers and direct marketing his whole life, except for when he was a vendor at Shea Stadium, pizza and cheesesteak maker in Lancaster, PA, and an occasional comic book dealer. He studied English and drinking in college, international relations at the New School, and in his spare time plays drums and fixes pinball machines.
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