NATURAL EVOLUTION
Designer and vernacular architect Porky Hefer’s work and signature nests are continuously developing over time
Porky Hefer is a design maverick and pioneer whose desire to drive trends rather than follow them has resulted in ever-innovative work. A former ad man, his transition into product design bears the conceptual thinking of his previous occupation as well as a truly artistic devotion to craft and materiality. With a passion for context, his signature nests have become an instantly recognisable trademark.
Hefer has been designing these environments for years, each collection building on the one before and exploring the idea further by experimenting with new techniques and textures. This longstanding affinity for natural habitats and advocating for vernacular architecture and methods have made him a respected figure in the design community.
“Design is about a continual evolution of a product or object. Environments are continually changing and products need to as well,” says Hefer.
Starting with the more literal iterations — integrated into gardens and parks from Babylonstoren to Tokara — and moving on to his more conceptual living pods, where the creatures themselves serve as the habitat, his designs have progressed.
Hefer’s most recent collection is a set of art pieces that don’t contain anything as such, but explore the wider issues of the man/nature dynamic, such as conservation — his Endangered collection, commissioned for the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, is made of recycled materials by artisans in Cape Town. “I believe in vernacular architecture. We have been building like that for thousands of years, so why change?”
But why nests? “My father was a keen birder and we spent many hours of my youth following and studying South
Africa’s amazing bird life. Birds and their architecture started me thinking about seasonal, sustainable architecture based on simple functional forms.
“Weavers also make the most variations of nest shape than any other family of birds. They are spread out over more varied climates and vegetation and have managed to adapt their nests and technique to survive,” he explains.
The large-scale culmination of his journey, The Nest @Sossus, takes the concept back to its roots but also to its next stage of evolution. Inspired by the sociable weavers’ communal living designs that occupy whole trees, the lodge on a tract of dramatic Namibian wilderness draws on its surroundings for design cues. A vision a decade in the making, it is a considered study in context and appropriateness.
“I am a big believer in and follower of vernacular architecture. We have been building like that for thousands of years, so why change? Animals are vernacular architects and we can learn a lot from them about materials and form,” says Hefer.
His human-scale environments merge fantasy and function, and their playfulness belies deeper thinking. “It’s the future of the next generation that I am concerned about and the state of the world they will inherit. Looking after our animals and Earth is one thing, but also the preservation of human skills, crafts and traditions.”
animal-farm.co.za