For over 10 years, the “Kassone” workshop in the capital has been producing custom-made furniture. Implementing complex solutions, using expensive materials, and experimenting with forms are its signature features, so to speak, its furniture-making style. Despite the war and all the difficulties it brings, including to the domestic business sector, the workshop has managed to preserve its distinctive character.

As Boris Pylypenko, the founder and current director of the “Kassone” workshop, shared, the war had a shocking impact on the workshop’s team, as it did on all Ukrainians, but it didn’t disrupt their work for long. As soon as the enemy was driven away from the capital, the workshop resumed its operations. There were pre-war obligations to clients, and fulfilling them according to contracts became a top priority even when Ukraine was under enemy shelling. Moreover, some of the clients were international, from India, and the United States, and every manufacturer values such clients not only in economic but also in image terms.

Not every domestic furniture maker would claim, as Boris Pylypenko does, that the war, paradoxical as it may sound, opened up new opportunities for companies, and since the beginning of this year, they have been actively taking advantage of them. Primarily, it refers to exhibition activities. The “Kassone” workshop became the first Ukrainian company to showcase its products at the Belgian design exhibition “Collectible.” And it doesn’t stop there: one of the most prestigious exhibitions this year, “iSaloni” in Milan, participated in the April trade mission of the Ukrainian Association of furniture manufacturers (UAFM) to the United Kingdom. And the company doesn’t plan to limit itself to these exhibition achievements: it is planning to participate in the Paris exhibition “Maison & Objet” in the fall.

In Milan, the workshop, as part of the national collective stand, showcased the project “Entity ∞,” realized in collaboration with the studio “Decorkuznetsov.” It was conceived as a reflection on the geopolitical processes taking place in Ukraine, an attempt to understand the roots of social phenomena and provoke reflections among viewers. This project is part of the premium collection Panoptikum and represents one of the workshop’s intentions to create a series of unique designer objects.

The collaboration between the workshop and the young Ukrainian studio “Panoptikum Collections” was also demonstrated – the Bubbles cabinet by artist and designer Andriy Rudenko.

The inspiration for its creation came from soap bubbles that he used to blow with his daughter while strolling through the squares of European cities, as well as imaginative motifs encountered in the works of street artists in London and Glasgow. To move away from the utilitarian nature of the cabinet and fill Bubbles with emotions, the designer plays with forms and colours. As a result, playfulness becomes the artist’s means of self-expression and the conceptual language of the object.

It should be clarified that the “Panoptikum Collections” studio is not just a partner, but a “relative” of the Kassone workshop since Boris Pylypenko is its co-founder alongside designer Andriy Rudenko. They have been creatively and passionately sharing their dedication to masterful craftsmanship, working with both traditional and new materials for over 10 years. And now they have created a joint creative environment where they explore the interaction of seemingly incompatible objects to form a new harmony.

When you hear about such things, it may seem that the ongoing war somehow doesn’t cause any trouble for the workshop and doesn’t hinder its success or even development. But that’s not true. The workshop was left with only a few furniture craftsmen who had to exchange their furniture tools for weapons, wearing military uniforms. Of course, this complicated and strained the production processes. Boris Pylypenko himself had to fulfil his mobilization duties in the military. The company even provided its brand-new van for the army’s needs.