GoEs: taking Bosnian wood crafting expertise onto the international stage

A landscape that features dense forests and fast-growing trees has afforded Bosnia and Herzegovina a long history of supplying woods, wooden parts and fully crafted furniture to the world. Anyone who has invested in a Billy Bookcase in the past 15 years, chances are it started life in a Bosnian forest. Beyond the country’s borders, however, it’s been an unsung asset and expertise for much of that history, and we are only now starting to see the heritage of Bosnian furniture-making celebrated in the form of considered home-grown design brands on the international stage. Only now are the stories of both the origins of these fine raw materials and the making traditions being told.

While some Bosnian brands are emerging from family carpentry and carving traditions, others are branching off from some of the larger corporations of makers and suppliers. Such is the story of GoEs, which is a side shoot of Aptha, but very much its own entity. With creative direction by local designer Nataša Perković, GoEs is defined by its finely-tuned fusion of carpentry expertise – something in abundance locally – and the latest, pioneering wood-shaping technologies. Its aim is to push the boundaries of what natural materials can do and bring something a magical, a little bit unfathomable to their pieces. This is combined with an ambition to work with some of Europe’s finest designers, and the use of some of the country’s finest woods – in particular solid oak and walnut. It also puts a strong focus on minimising waste.

Ado Avdagić’s award-winning Primum collection, a founding family of furniture for the brand, sets the tone for the sustainably produced, modern renditions of Eastern Europe’s bentwood traditions. ‘The GoEs tech team set high production quality standards that opened up a broad creative space, minimised material waste, and thus ensured that our products were at the highest level of sustainability,’ affirms Avdagić, a Tuzla-based designer. Primum is a precisely engineered collection – its chairs and tables in walnut bringing an air of warm modernism to the 14Horses Restaurant in Vilnius, Lithuania, while in ash, they cut bright, clean lines at Tatami in Kuwait.

Nataša Perković has herself pushed manufacturing boundaries with her Elle series for the brand. A Sarajevan, whose father and grandfather worked in the furniture and wood industries, Perkovic brings her experiences studying and practising design locally but also in London and Milan. Elle chairs are made through a process that combines 5-axis CNC milling, hand carpentry and finishing, the chairs have a timeless, pared-back elegance that sees the line bringing sculptural simplicity to restaurants in Paris (Le Mimosa in the first arrondissement) and London (Lavelle - an ecology-conscious coffee and e-bike store off Oxford Street).

While the woods and technical prowess are proudly Bosnian, GoEs is collaborating with designers from across Europe. Stefano Bigi, a Milan-based designer of furniture for the likes of Porada and Galotti&Radice has lent his eye for refined sculptural forms to the Alpha collection. A symphony of sweeping curves form the wooden frame of the Alpha armchair and footrest, and the whole of the elegant high side table. ‘The set speaks of quality and longevity and will remain in your family generation after generation,’ reflects Bigi.

Formstelle, the German studio founded by Claudia Kleine and Jörg Kürschner, are the latest design team to join the fold. As past collaborators with the most famous of wood benders, Thonet, the Munich-based studio has been impressed by the standards the Bosnian brand has demonstrated. ‘The precision of the craftsmanship, the fine-tuned show appearance and the well-designed products made us curious’ says Kürschner.

A new table design, Dragonfly, is the outcome of Formstelle’s link up with GoEs, and the poetic piece is set to grow into a larger family of furniture. ‘Our brief was to design a table that highlights and showcases GoEs expertise and skill alongside our expressions and conceptual thinking. The frame is sculpturally shaped and showcases the company's craftsmanship,’ says Kleine. The studio maintained a close dialogue with the brand throughout the process, and visited the production facility to collaborate fully, learn the processes, and ensure the best possible outcome. For the silhouette they also looked to nature. ‘We always look for a strong design and content motif, which we then try to realise. The Dragonfly with its wing shape inspired us for the table.’

It will be interesting to see what comes next for this punchy brand. In discussions with their current design associates but also new world-renowned studios about its next steps, you can’t help feeling that Bosnia and Herzegovina is at last taking up its rightful place on the furniture-making map. Watch this space.

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