Just a couple words about us to start with, if you haven’t heard about our furniture and our philosophy. Two words, which best represent us: design and ecology. Think of them together, because together they make for excellent design. Always striving to embody sustainability, using resources in a responsible way, with respect for nature and human labor. Nowadays, sustainability has become a common idea, and we are happy about this. We started thinking about it back in 1996. And we would like to show the results of our far-sightedness.

The wood we use comes from Italian and Bolivian forests, both of which respect the same standards regarding the commerce of wood, with the guarantee that the lumber is produced so that the forests can regenerate, according to the criteria of the Forest Stewardship Council.
The design phase rests on this awareness and the control of the production phases which serve both as the starting point and the crowning achievement.
Our furniture is designed to be essential and functional, even minimalist.
We use very few metal elements, screws and bolts. Most of our pieces are fully jointed, with the joints in full view, which underline the way they are assembled. Some designs are not even jointed, but the elements are simply placed one on top of another, like our solid wood bookcases, made of two modules plus shelves of different dimensions. We strive for the greatest simplicity and the greatest lightness. It is no surprise that we started with plywood, designing 10kg bookcases which can support 300kg.
Today our catalogue includes furnishings for every room, from the living room to the study to the bedroom to the kitchen, as well as TotemBuild, to construct entire environments including partitions, walls and stairways, out of plywood. Since 1999 we have produced a line for children and preschools. These products are stackable, light-weight, easy to assemble, and be used to create enclosed or open environments, depending on how the elements are arranged and the different materials.
We continue designing and thinking up new ideas, inspired by our passion for function and sustainability.
Take a look, and leave us your comments! We appreciate them!

our choice to be ecofriendly

TOTEM in Bolivia

TOTEM site, old version

In 1996 TOTEM was founded as a design studio dedicated to innovative construction systems for wooden furniture. The basic criteria was ease of assembly/disassembly, absence of tools or glue, use of sustainable raw materials and the simplicity of handling the products. All of the products knock down into flat packages so they can be transported and stored easily and to reduce the waste generated by bulky packaging. Since 1997, besides furniture design, TOTEM also began to produce and sell a line of products made from laser-cut E1 plywood.

In 1999 TOTEM began designing innovative furniture for children, designed with preschools in mind: all of the objects can be stacked, are lightweight and easy to assemble. In addition to furniture, a flexible, modular space organization system was also designed using different materials (wood, bamboo, fabric, etc.) to create both open and enclosed spaces.

All of the furniture comes unassembled in a flat pack which includes all of the wooden parts, accessories if any, instructions and a bottle of oil to finish and maintain the surfaces.

All of our products can be easily disassembled for transport and storage without using bulky packing materials. Each kit includes the plywood components, illustrated assembly instructions and the finish.

The kits are designed so they can be put together and taken apart many times without effecting the strength and durability of the joints. No metal parts are used in our designs as they tend to wear out the wood and make the connections weak and unstable.

The joints are not hidden but rather they are highlighted so it is easy to understand how the piece 'works' even after it has been mounted.

The joints express the very nature of the objects, the logic underlying their construction and their function.

The basis for our choice of materials is that they have to be recognizable. Thus we do not use wood or wood derivated panels which hide their ‘ingredients’, or synthetic paints or stains which completely cover surfaces making them feel and smell the same and ‘remove’ their natural properties, like absorbing or reflecting light, or conducting sound.