Singular works. Made in Chicago.
Refractory undertakes customs and commissions across furniture, lighting, sculpture, works of art, objects, upholstery, and architectural elements.
A commission may adapt an existing work or begin entirely anew, developed for a particular interior, landscape, collection, or circumstance.
THE WORK
It may begin with a dimension, a material, the particular condition of a space, or simply an idea not yet resolved.
Working with designers, architects, artists, collectors, and clients to develop work specific to a context: scale, proportion, configuration, material, and function converge as part of the study.
Our material vocabulary spans bronze and aluminum casting, metal fabrication, cast glass, carved wood, cast composites, specialty finishes, and processes uniquely developed for the work itself.
IN THE MAKING
Clients and collaborators are invited into development, from early sketches and material studies through models, casting, fabrication, and assembly.
Materials can be tested with room for exploration. Proportions reconsidered. Processes invented or adapted. Traditional techniques sit alongside experimentation, with the evidence of making left intact.
COLLABORATIONS
Refractory welcomes collaborations with artists, designers, architects, and other creative brands. This may begin with a shared material interest, a fully articulated idea, or a question worth pursuing together.
Our studio and workshops become a home for that exchange. The result might be a singular work, an edition, a collection, or something without an established category.
ACTIVATE
We welcome conversations at any stage, from a developed brief or architectural drawing to the earliest notion of a piece. Visit our Chicago studio to see work in process, meet the magic makers, and consider what might take form.
inquiries@refractory.studio
