The designer bringing Italian furniture to one of Kenya’s oldest slums

By Marianna Cerini, CNN
5 minute read
Published 9:00 AM EST, Wed December 27, 2023

One of Italian designer Giacomo Moor’s modular bunk beds on display at the Why Not Academy in Nairobi.
When Italian designer Giacomo Moor was tasked with creating furniture for a school in a slum of Nairobi, Kenya last fall, he knew instantly what he wanted to make: Pieces that were functional, straightforward and easy to assemble.

“‘Simplification’ was the word that immediately came to mind,” he said during CNN’s visit to his studio in Milan, Italy. “I knew I had to stick to the basics and think of the whole production in an elemental way.”

The resulting range of modular bunk beds, benches and tables is certainly simple in both construction and design. Moor’s furniture can be built on-site using wooden pieces which locals can cut themselves according to plans. Assembly requires only a few basic tools — a chisel, a carpenter’s square and a pencil — thanks to an adaptable system of interlocking joints.

Comprising clean lines and no decoration, the items’ utilitarian aesthetic hasn’t stopped them becoming a point of pride for students at the Why Not Academy, the primary school they were designed for, Moor said.

“It’s a design conceived to work for the community,” he added. “One that puts function first yet doesn’t compromise on form. I think that’s all there is to it. A humble idea.”

Building for — and with — communities
Moor’s project, dubbed “Design for Communities,” resulted from his collaboration with LiveInSlums, an Italian NGO that works in informal urban settlements around the world. The organization’s director, Silvia Orazi, said it was important that people at the school in Mathare, one of Nairobi’s oldest slums, participated in the furniture-making process and have a say in how their spaces are designed.

Giacomo Moor’s furniture can be built on-site using wooden pieces that locals can cut themselves. Assembly requires only a few basic tools — a chisel, a carpenter’s square and a pencil.
Simon Onyango
“We don’t want to come in, ‘fix’ whatever issue is at hand and leave,” Orazi told CNN in a phone interview. “The whole point of LiveInSlums is to act alongside the residents, to guarantee that change takes place on their own terms.”

The NGO invited Moor to Kenya’s capital last year to assemble the first prototypes alongside a group of eight locals.

“I went with the brief and a few sketches,” the designer recalled. “But the assembly work was done as a collective exercise. I ended up only spending three days at the school, so really, the construction of each piece was completely done by the guys I worked with.

“Ensuring they could build the pieces autonomously was key,” he added. “I only provided the blueprints.”

Kevin Ochieng, a tile maker by trade, was one of the workers who participated in the prototype-building. “After Giacomo explained the construction steps for the furniture, it was fairly easy to get going without him,” he told CNN over the phone from Mathare. “The whole process was very intuitive. It only took one day to learn, which was quite surprising.”

The furniture is made using a system of interlocking wooden pieces that can be slotted together without the need for glue.
Alessandro Treves
Back in Italy, Moor manages a multidisciplinary team of wood-makers at his Milan studio, which doubles up as a workshop. A carpenter by training, the designer’s hands-on approach is precisely why LiveInSlums chose him for the project, Orazi said.

“He was the perfect candidate for us, because he understands wood and knows how to work with it,” she added. “In Mathare, we don’t have access to a lot of other materials, so we had to make sure the creative involved would be comfortable within those confines.”

Once Moor returned to Italy, Ochieng, who had never worked with wood before, sent the designer videos and photos on Instagram to check that they were still getting it right. “He would reply, and we would keep building,” Ochieng said. “It was all very smooth. It made me feel quite proud how quickly I mastered it, because it’s not really my area of expertise.”

To date, the Why Not Academy has installed a dozen of Moor’s items in its canteen and dormitory.