Project Inquiries
Studiobolivar Los Angeles, CA Washington, DC
hola@studiobolivar.com Instagram

Terralis A commission with Ben Barber Studio

Finding the form

Living room furniture study with a curved sofa, chairs, side tables, and Ben Barber Studio's Xenolith nesting coffee tables.

The starting point was the living room itself. Between a curved Vladimir Kagan Biscuit Sofa and the credenza opposite, we needed a coffee table with a particular balance of proportions: generous enough to serve the seating, while leaving an easy path into the room.

Ben Barber’s Xenolith offered a promising starting point. Its near-oval silhouette, curved along one side and flatter along the other, suited the arrangement. The full composition of two nesting tables occupied more space than we needed, so we explored using the larger table alone. Reversing its orientation brought the narrower end toward the approach to the seating area, keeping it open and welcoming, while the fuller, rounded end served the swivel chair in the opposite corner.

From stone to brass

Close-up of the Xenolith stone tabletop. Close-up of the layered brass Terralis tabletop.

Material became the next question. A large oval dining table in white Carrara marble stood nearby, and our client preferred not to introduce another stone tabletop in such close proximity. We agreed and began exploring brass.

At the time, we were particularly drawn to Vincenzo de Cotiis’s work, especially the coffee tables we had been exploring through Carpenters Workshop Gallery. Their use of metal and biomorphic forms helped shape the direction we wanted to pursue for this room.

Through The Future Perfect LA, we shared those references and an early drawing proposing a layered brass tabletop, inviting Ben to develop the idea through his own practice. The conversation brought together these influences with the room’s particular proportions, furnishings, and palette. What began as an inquiry about adapting the Xenolith gradually developed into the custom commission that would become the Terralis Coffee Table.

Refining the design

Ben’s initial proposals introduced a sculptural composition with two possible approaches to the base. We were drawn to the plinth legs and the way they appeared to pierce the tabletop, carrying their shapes into its surface.

Working from his drawings, we developed revisions that preserved the overall silhouette while adjusting the balance and usability of the piece. The right-hand support felt visually heavy and too close to the edge; the left needed to meet the tabletop flush to avoid a recessed pocket. We also proposed joining two central areas into a more continuous surface, giving objects a place to sit within the layered composition.

We sent annotated images and a revised drawing to communicate these changes. Ben incorporated the revisions into his drawings, and a further conversation brought the form and proposed finish combinations together.

Initial brass coffee table proposal by Ben Barber Studio with separate legs.
Initial proposal, V1Ben Barber Studio’s initial proposal with separate legs.
Alternative brass coffee table proposal by Ben Barber Studio with plinth supports.
Initial proposal, V2Ben Barber Studio’s alternative proposal with plinth supports.
Studio Bolivar’s annotations on Ben Barber Studio’s proposal, identifying adjustments to the tabletop and supports.
Reviewing the proposalRendering by Ben Barber Studio; design annotations by Studio Bolivar.
Studio Bolivar’s revised drawing showing a continuous central surface and a support set flush with the tabletop.
Developing the revisionsRevised drawing and annotations by Studio Bolivar.
Top view of the revised coffee table, rendered by Ben Barber Studio incorporating Studio Bolivar’s revisions.
The revised compositionUpdated rendering by Ben Barber Studio incorporating Studio Bolivar’s revisions; top view.
Perspective view of the revised coffee table, rendered by Ben Barber Studio incorporating Studio Bolivar’s revisions.
The developed formUpdated rendering by Ben Barber Studio incorporating Studio Bolivar’s revisions; perspective view.

Bringing the piece to life

Ben’s studio took the developed design into fabrication, with brass components cut by waterjet and assembled through welding. Alongside the making, we continued to explore how the finishes would bring out the relationships between the table’s layered surfaces.

A newly cut curved tabletop component held upright in the workshop.
The silhouette takes shape.
A curved brass support with its seam and weld points visible.
Forming the curved supports.
The assembled Terralis coffee table in the workshop before patination.
The first assembly, before patina.
The tabletop outlines displayed on the cutting machine’s control screen.
From drawing to cutting file.
Waterjet cutting a brass tabletop component.
Waterjet cutting the brass.

Finding the finish

Physical samples and photographs guided that exchange. We selected finishes and their placement, then revisited the patina as the piece progressed. Ben recommended a subtler treatment, allowing the movement within the composition itself to remain prominent.

For the dark patina, we ultimately chose a predominantly black finish, with lightly burnished edges revealing the brass beneath. The decision emerged through that dialogue: our vision for the room, informed by his knowledge of the material and its possibilities.

The layered brass tabletop before the dark patina. The finished tabletop with dark patina and burnished brass edges.

Living with the design

Terralis in the finished room, surrounded by the gold sofa, blue-gray chair, rug and credenza.
The finished table in the room that shaped its proportions.

As we begin to develop furniture of our own, our attention goes first to the relationship between the piece and the person using it. Seeing the finished table in the room brought us back to the questions that had guided its development: its height beside the sofa, its width near the swivel chair, and the space it left to move comfortably around it.

Then came the things a drawing cannot fully convey: the feel of the brass beneath a hand, the weight of the piece, its sturdiness, and how it met the floor. Durability and the practicalities of moving it mattered alongside its appearance.

Again and again, the table affirmed the decisions made along the way. Ben was right about the patina: the dark surface against the brass revealed at the edges gave the layered forms the definition they needed.

The result was thoughtfully resolved, reassuringly substantial, and undeniably sexy, a solid brass coffee table whose presence was felt in every sense.