Crafting a Shared Vision: Inside Further Ther, Lisbon’s Hybrid Studio-Home

Main Facts

Rising steadily through the historic heart of Lisbon, the cobbled Rua de São Bento is a corridor of antique shops, vintage dealers, and centuries-old architectural heritage. Amidst this rich urban tapestry lies Further Ther, a protean, multidisciplinary space that functions simultaneously as a design studio, a retail showroom, and a family home.

Founded by romantic and creative partners Tomás Fernandes (Portugal) and Natasza Grzeskiewicz (Poland), Further Ther specializes in collectible design objects, bespoke furniture, and immersive interior concepts. Spanning two distinct levels, the space refuses to separate the domestic sphere from the professional atelier. The upper floor houses a ceramics workshop opening directly onto the bustling street, while the lower level transitions into a serene, open-plan living and kitchen area facing a quiet courtyard.

The studio’s physical outputs are material-driven lessons in form and philosophy. Utilizing local resources—including regional limestones, granites, basalts, and timbers charred using the traditional Japanese shou-sugi-ban technique—Fernandes and Grzeskiewicz craft pieces that demand physical and emotional engagement. Rather than designing for seamless, invisible utility, Further Ther champions objects that command mindfulness, challenging the boundary where functional design ends and contemporary art begins.

Chronology: The Evolution of a Partnership

The genesis of Further Ther is a transnational story stretching across cultural incubators, Scandinavian fjords, and Iberian stone quarries.

• The Late 1990s–2010s (The Formation): Tomás Fernandes and Natasza Grzeskiewicz first crossed paths at the Domaine de Boisbuchet, a renowned cultural workshop project set inside a historic château and its surrounding woodlands in the south of France. Operating since the 1990s as a summer gathering ground for international architects and designers, Boisbuchet served as the crucible for the couple’s shared aesthetic vision. Despite coming from opposite ends of Europe and divergent academic backgrounds—Fernandes in engineering and Grzeskiewicz in fine arts—the pair discovered an immediate creative synchronicity.
• The Norwegian Chapter (Stavanger): Following their time in France, the couple relocated to the coastal city of Stavanger, Norway, drawn by a mutual appreciation for Scandinavian design principles. Over three years, they honed their individual trades—Fernandes crafting furniture and Grzeskiewicz producing bespoke ceramics and tableware.
• The Turning Point: While employed by separate Nordic design studios, Fernandes and Grzeskiewicz were assigned to collaborate on a single restaurant project. The successful partnership proved to be a lightbulb moment, convincing them they possessed the collective toolkit necessary to establish an independent atelier.
• Return to Lisbon (2019): Seeking greater proximity to small-scale manufacturing and diverse raw materials, the duo moved south to Fernandes’s homeland. In 2019, they completed the transformation of their Rua de São Bento building—a space they lived in for five years before solidifying its final architectural layout as a combined home, studio, and showroom.

Supporting Data & Materiality

The operational philosophy of Further Ther is intrinsically tied to the geography of Portugal. Unlike Norway, where industrial scales often restrict custom, small-batch manufacturing, Lisbon offers a deeply interconnected network of local artisans, fabricators, and quarries.

• Geological Proximity: Within a 20-kilometer radius of Lisbon, the studio has access to three distinct types of limestone, one variety of granite, and one type of basalt. This localized abundance anchors their heavy reliance on stone.
• The "Father of Stone": Rejecting corporate supply chains, Fernandes and Grzeskiewicz maintain close, familial bonds with local fabricators. Their primary stone supplier—affectionately dubbed the "father of stone"—has served as both mentor and collaborator, enabling structural and artistic risks that would be impossible within standardized manufacturing frameworks.
• Featured Works:
  • The Bend Sofa: A sculptural seating arrangement featuring a structural stainless-steel frame paired with rich chocolate linen cushions.
  • The Basalt Kitchen Unit: A monolithic, earth-toned kitchen island complete with heavy stone drawers that evoke raw geological formations.
  • The Askew Chair: A dining chair constructed from timber treated with shou-sugi-ban, the traditional technique of charring wood for preservation and aesthetic depth.
  • Bespoke Stoneware: Functional ceramic tableware crafted by Grzeskiewicz, meant to be handled with conscious deliberation during daily rituals.

Official Responses & Designer Statements

The ethos of Further Ther is rooted in transparency, intentional living, and a rejection of passive consumerism. Speaking on their collaborative dynamic and material choices, the founders emphasize the personal nature of their practice.

Reflecting on how they met and aligned their differing backgrounds, Tomás Fernandes notes:

"When we met, we found we were in sync. Despite the fact that we come from opposite ends of Europe and have different backgrounds—engineering and fine arts—we realised that we shared an aesthetic vision and understood almost immediately how we could work together."

Detailing their relationship with local industry, Fernandes explains the deep personal trust required for their experimental pieces:

"In Portugal, workmanship comes with friendship that is almost like family in a sense. We call our stone supplier our ‘father of stone.’ He’s taught us everything we know. He tells us what we should do, and then we sort of challenge him in return. It’s been a beautiful journey, and we’ve done so many projects that would never have been possible without him… If you have a problem or an idea on a Sunday morning, you can call them and they will pick up."

Describing the unique retail and residential layout of their Lisbon showroom, Natasza Grzeskiewicz explains the rationale behind integrating their living space with their commercial products:

"The intention was to show people how these pieces will live with them as we live with ours. By letting them move through the house and see the different textures, different materials, different ceramic forms, they are better able to grasp the feeling of Further Ther, rather than just the objects."

Addressing the philosophical rejection of frictionless ergonomics, Grzeskiewicz adds:

"You have to be very mindful when you use our objects, and we like that."

Elaborating on the intersection of contemporary art and functional design, Fernandes remarks:

"We live in a beautiful time where the worlds of art and design are really intersecting, so we don’t need to create objects that are entirely ergonomic or utilitarian. I mean, that kind of design is wonderful… but our work has a different role."

Grzeskiewicz summarizes the studio’s overarching motto:

"Our philosophy is ‘we are what we explore,’ which is really about how we interact with objects—because those interactions change us."

Implications

Further Ther’s hybrid model offers a compelling critique of modern consumer culture and contemporary interior design trends. By erasing the boundaries between the maker, the seller, the buyer, and the user, Fernandes and Grzeskiewicz challenge the prevalent demand for frictionless, invisible utility.

In an era dominated by mass production, digital dissociation, and disposable goods, Further Ther champions an alternative paradigm: slow, tactile, and deeply relational design. By insisting that users must slow down and interact mindfully with heavy basalt, charred timber, and delicate ceramics, the studio reasserts the emotional agency of material culture. Their Lisbon atelier demonstrates that spaces of creation and commerce do not need to be sterile or partitioned; rather, when living and working merge, design becomes a shared, living experiment that alters both the inhabitant and the object alike.