Design without Borders

Furniture pieces by Ousmane M’baye in front of his workshop in Dakar, Senegal

Ousmane M’baye is putting Dakar on the map of world design. For many he is an artist of the new African generation but he considers himself a designer. He creates iconic objects reusing ordinary materials, making iron furniture from oil barrels.

Oggi Ousmane has now 10 employees, two of which are dedicated solely to exploring the garbage dumps in Dakar, with the aim of finding empty barrels of oil or pieces of iron that could be used for making furniture pieces.

Oggi Ousmane grew up in Dakar, in a neighborhood where it was normal to create things out of nothing. He never thought he would later become a world class renowned designer. He remembers leaving school at 15 years for being dyslexic, and start working while still a boy, repairing refrigerators with his father. He was probably influenced by the environment he lived, the houses of clients he visited, where he observed many different types of furniture that have inspired him in his creations.

Furniture pieces by Ousmane M’baye and the designer in front of his workshop in Dakar, Senegal

Armchairs with iron structure and steel plate reused from old oil barrels

Sideboard and bed with iron structure and steel plate reused from old oil barrels

After more than 15 years repairing refrigerators, he was faced with a "midlife crisis" and began producing objects with iron and steel recovered items. He had no money to buy materials and this situation taught him that each material is unique and has unique properties.

At the beginning M’baye worked with any sort of material, such as barrels, hydraulic pumps among other stuff he found around the city. Has always preferred to create from his own ideas, through a personal and non-academic concept.

The work of M’baye became internationally known when a friend of his saw a chair that he had made with iron structure and steel plate reused from an old oil barrel. Realizing the potential of the object, he commissioned several chairs, tables and sideboards to his house on the island of Goree in Senegal. Classified as heritage site by Unesco, each year the houses on the island are opened to tourists that, this way, were able to appreciate the magnificent pieces of M’baye.

Exterior of Ousmane M’baye's workshop in Dakar, Senegal

Designer Ousmane M’baye outside his workshop in Dakar, Senegal

Sideboard with iron structure and steel plate reused from old oil barrels

To avoid losing his roots, the designer continues to produce his furniture pieces in his father's old workshop. With the success he achieved, he bought a bigger house which he uses as showroom. The house is only a few meters from the workshop, at the Medina where he grew up.

This was precisely the Medina where he learned to think creatively. As we walk through the streets, we realized immediately why M’baye creates furniture out of "nothing": row upon row of crafts and merchants selling beds, chairs, tables, desks and shelves made of wood or steel, shops with hundreds of objects made from cans of Coke and tomato pulp, as well as recycled materials that become tables, fixtures, lamps, ashtrays, etc..

Furniture pieces by Ousmane M’baye at the Spanish brand store Pilma

Sofa and sideboard with iron structure and steel plate reused from old oil barrels 

The Spanish brand Pilma, based in Barcelona, discovered  Ousmane M’baye and imports the designer’s furniture to Spain and to Portugal through DimensãoNova.

Text and images: Nuno Ladeiro