Hall Haus, heritage with nothing to prove

The DKR chair stopped us. Flat sheets of folded metal, perforated in a pattern that casts shifting shadows depending on where the sun sits.

The object is a reimagining of the palabre chair — a traditional West African seat historically reserved for elders and community leaders, a symbol of oral transmission across generations. Hall Haus made theirs in metal, fabricated in Dakar. In 2025, the Mobilier National acquired it for their collection. The references are there if you know them. They add depth, but the chair holds its own without them.

That quality runs through everything this Paris-based collective of four makes. Sons of immigrants from Senegal, Algeria, Morocco, and Cape Verde, they carry their heritage into their work with confidence rather than declaration. The African references are real, not decorative. You don't need them to appreciate the object. Finding them just makes you want to look again.