HIGH POINT, N.C. — Architectural furniture brand Edge34 will introduce its first artist collaborations at the upcoming spring High Point Market. The brand, known for its concrete furnishings and planters, partnered with cultural artist and product designer Sam Mangakahia and multidisciplinary designer Tym DeSanto for new pieces.
Mangakahia lives in Hawaii and draws creative influence from across the Pacific. Raised in a family of artists and mentored by Māori master carver Rangi Kipa in New Zealand, Mangakahia developed a philosophy that every object carries meaning and emotional resonance. He has created custom pieces for musicians Post Malone and Jelly Roll, as well as collaborations for the Disney film Moana 2 and a residential project for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
“The most important thing to me in design is the story it carries,” Mangakahia said. “Even when people don’t know the story, they can feel it. With Edge34, the opportunity was to translate that feeling into form — something sculptural and meaningful that becomes part of the environment around it.”
For Edge34, Mangakahia created a 7-foot undulating bench known as Tangaroa in honor of the Māori god of the ocean.
“Sam approaches design like a storyteller. His shapes are incredibly organic and expressive. After nearly 20 years of mold making, taking on Sam’s design was both exciting and challenging,” said Kim Spencer, Edge34 cofounder and interior designer. “What began as a small sculpture had to be thoughtfully translated into a large, functional bench. The process required us to carefully study and refine the form so it could work at an entirely different scale. That stage, perfecting the shape before mold making even began, was just as demanding as producing the mold itself, but it was incredibly rewarding.”
DeSanto—a multidisciplinary creative whose career spans architecture, product design, music, podcasting and television—was deeply influenced by architecture, particularly Brutalist forms he saw in his native England.
“I’ve always been fascinated by materials that feel grounded and authentic,” DeSanto said. “Concrete has this incredible duality—it’s permanent, powerful and architectural, yet it can also be shaped into something deeply sculptural.”
DeSanto’s debut piece for EDGE34, a modular lounge chair called Grimaldi, references the dramatic terrain of a lunar crater while remaining engineered for comfort and adaptability. The design allows multiple pieces to be rotated and combined into sculptural seating landscapes that can evolve with a space.
“For a designer motivated by pushing ideas forward, the opportunity to collaborate with a manufacturer that respects craft, engineering and material integrity was essential,” DeSanto said.
Spencer and Philip De Ryke founded their concrete manufacturing studio in Panama to produce architectural furniture for hospitality, residential and commercial environments. And Spencer said these collaborations represent a natural evolution of the brand’s philosophy.
“Edge34 has always been about creating pieces that feel permanent, objects that belong to a place and become part of its story,” she said. “Inviting artists like Sam and Tym into the process adds new creative energy. They challenge us to think differently about form, meaning and how our designs can inspire the spaces where people gather, rest and connect.”
The collaborations with Mangakahia and DeSanto, which are Edge34’s first formal artist partnerships, will debut in the company’s High Point Market showroom at 1700 W. Green Drive.
