Antoine Léger
Antoine holds a Diploma of College Studies in Cinema and Communications and a Bachelor’s degree in Design from Concordia University in Canada (Tiohtià:ke/Montreal), and has recently completed a Master’s degree in Material Futures at Central Saint Martins in London.
His practice focuses on regenerative design, with an emphasis on low-impact forestry, material and craft heritage, and participatory approaches to making. Through research-led projects, he explores how traditional forest management methods can be reinterpreted using parametric design and digital manufacturing tools to create structures, workshops, and collective building experiences that bring people together.
he/him
a-leger@outlook.com
@leger_ant
2026
What Grows Again is a research project developed during my MA Material Futures at Central Saint Martins, exploring how coppiced timber can be used as a locally sourced material for temporary structures and shared spaces.
Coppicing is a traditional form of woodland management where trees are repeatedly cut back to encourage new stems to grow from the same root system. The resulting poles are typically smaller, more irregular and varied than conventional sawn timber. This variation became the starting point for exploring how fabrication processes could work with, rather than against, the natural differences in diameter, curvature and geometry.
During a summer build at AA’s Hooke Park, I continued developping and testing a fabrication process for working with irregular coppiced timber. This included experimenting with router and lathe setups, drilling jigs and connector systems designed to accommodate variation while maintaining a degree of consistency.
The process was later developed using locally harvested sweet chestnut from Torry Hill Sweet Chestnut Fencing in Kent, leading to a modular connector system that allows irregular poles to be assembled into different configurations and temporary structures.
2026
The fabrication system was developed into an interactive installation where visitors could build and expand a temporary structure together. First presented as part of the MA Material Futures final show at Central Saint Martins, the installation invited participants to assemble coppiced timber using modular connectors, without a predetermined final form.
The irregularity of the poles made each connection slightly different, encouraging participants to adapt, improvise and communicate. Handling the timber, testing connections and finding ways to build together became a form of learning through making, with play and problem-solving embedded in the construction process.
The system opens up possibilities for temporary structures that can be assembled, adapted and dismantled collectively. Further tested at Emerge East and Camden Inspire in 2026, the installation allowed people of different ages to engage directly with the material and contribute to a shared structure, making the process of building as important as the space produced.
2026
As part of What Grows Again, an open call invited makers and designers to explore the potential of coppiced timber through their own practice. Three projects were selected and developed over four weeks using locally grown coppiced hazel, each offering a distinct interpretation of a material shaped by growth, time, and regeneration.
The selected projects were:
Jacob Marks - Coppiced Brush(es)
A series of brushes exploring how coppiced materials, rich in biodiversity, can be transformed into everyday utilitarian objects.
jacobmarks.co.uk
@_jacob_marks
Inés Miño Izquierdo - Trampoline Media Console
A hand-turned piece in coppiced hazel and sapele that captures a moment of growth held in tension between refinement and rawness.
imi-imi.com
inesminoizquierdo.com
@iminoizq
Takumi Ise & Marco Ciacci - ConTorno
A minimal intervention in which a bent branch supports a mirror, allowing the natural form of the wood to guide the object.
@takumiise
@marco.ciacci
The resulting works were presented at Dropcity during Milan Design Week 2026, creating a platform for dialogue around regenerative forestry, material stewardship, and contemporary making.
2026
This research publication explores coppicing as a regenerative forestry practice and its potential to inform contemporary design. Drawing on fieldwork, material experimentation, ecological research, and conversations with foresters, makers, and woodland managers, the text examines how trees, materials, and landscapes can be understood through cycles of growth, harvesting, and renewal.
Through a collection of essays, observations, and project documentation, it traces the cultural, ecological, and material significance of coppiced wood, revealing connections between woodland management, biodiversity, craft traditions, and the built environment.
Developed alongside Antoine's final Master's project at Central Saint Martins, the publication serves as both a record of the research process and a reflection on how regenerative forestry practices might shape future approaches to design, making, and material stewardship.
Read the full publication →
Project carried out as part of as part of What Grows Again (MA Material Futures, Central Saint Martins).
2025
This 1970 Imperial Signet typewriter was reimagined to reveal the hidden costs of AI. Each keystroke produces a glyph shaped by CO₂ emissions, transforming language into silent warnings. The machine acts as a bridge between analog and digital, foregrounding slowness, gesture, and material honesty while raising questions of labour, obsolescence, and automation. Its typebars were modified through collaboration with the Jewellery Workshop at CSM, replacing type slugs via 3D modeling and resin printing. Using TouchDesigner and Grasshopper, AI emission data was translated into meshes and textures, turning abstract impacts into tangible forms. Visit presshardfeelsomething.cargo.site to find out more about the whole project.
Project carried out as part of the Remix assignment (Unit 2: Material Proposition; MAMF).
2025 | Antoine Léger, Josie Blundell, Weixi Kuang, Polina Goldobina, Scarlett Guy, Richard Gunter
As part of a collaboration between MA Material Futures and DropCity Milan, this proposal responds to the challenge of reimagining what a material archive can be. Rooted in the history of the physical location, our concept bridges historical continuity with forward-thinking ecological values, redefining the role of a ‘material library.’ This library revives the site’s history as a hub for material flow and exchange, where warehouses once connected artisans through shared resources. Movable display units echo this past, allowing materials to shift, adapt, and be reconfigured, just as materials once circulated through the city. Here, materials are not static objects but active participants in a living system of knowledge, craft, and innovation. The library’s structure builds upon this foundation, integrating principles of localism, regenerative design, and adaptability, ensuring that both its technical design and user experience honor its past while embracing a sustainable future.
Project carried out as part of the Material Vault assignment (Unit 1: Material Exploration; MAMF).
2024
The Clapper is a conceptual instrument designed to disrupt, challenge, and rethink the traditional craft of bell founding, the art of casting and tuning bells. The tool consists of a metal-cast wheel, an homage to the bell-founding process, crafted from gilding metal (a copper-zinc alloy) with the phrase “Listen to the materials” engraved on its surface. A contact microphone embedded within the device captures the vibrations and impacts of the wheel on various materials. The instrument acts as a metaphorical clapper, striking materials to produce sound and allowing the symbolism of bells to evolve, existing anywhere and in any form within the built environment. The resulting audio forms an abstract collection of sounds, translating the textures of materials into an auditory experience. Visit theclapper.cargo.site to find out more about the whole project.
Project carried out as part of the Re-Activating Craft assignment (Unit 1: Material Exploration; MAMF).
2023
Exploration of the transformation process of plastics and their assembly methods with the goal of designing a fully disassemblable chair. Simple lines, flat panels, and a minimalist aesthetic: the chair is made from plastic sourced from the chlorine buckets used at the Cégep du Vieux-Montréal swimming pool; high-density polyethylene (HDPE) containers that would otherwise be discarded. The plastic is shredded in an industrial granulator, then compressed and melted in a heated hydraulic press (210°C). Panels are flattened and machined using a CNC machine.
Project carried out as part of an Independent Study (BFA in Design, Concordia University).
2023 | Antoine Léger, Félix Beaudry
Design of a speaker enclosure made from panels of mycelium pressed under heat (200°C). The mycelium, the vegetative part of the fungus, acts here as a natural adhesive, binding the panel particles together. After growing for 30 days, the mycelium is compressed and then dehydrated. The result is rigid, lightweight panels that can be cut with the same tools used to work wood (band saw, sanding disc, drill, etc.). The electronic components are salvaged from an obsolete pair of speakers. The front panel is made from recycled translucent PLA (3D printing waste).
Project carried out as part of a professional internship at Atelier Ecodesign.
2024 | Antoine Léger, Pramila Choudary
Short film produced as part of the Collect it. Wash it. Shred it. Shape it. Recycle it. exhibition at 4th Space in Montreal to promote and share the plastic waste transformation process set up by CP3 (Concordia Precious Plastic Project), an initiative in which Antoine was workshop and design coordinator. From Bin to Coasters looks at the various stages involved in making coasters from the plastic of a damaged polyethylene bin.
Link to the 5-minute video: https://youtu.be/RqvYSZOKUsU
2023 | Antoine Léger, Elisabeth Bureau
Candidature for the Festival des Jardins de Métis 2024: outdoor public installation consisting of monolithic structures made from panels of mycelium. This project invites visitors to enter into a dialogue with the living world through the fungus, a species that brilliantly dominates the world of interspecific communication. The installation allows visitors to recognise the natural evolution of ecosystems and observe the creative freedom of living organisms. It aims to preserve and support biodiversity through its permacultural plant assemblage and the ecological properties of its biomaterials.
This project was carried out for personal purposes and objectives.
2022
Design of a lamp made from compostable, biodegradable, and recyclable materials. The compacted earth base is a mixture of sand and clay sourced from various construction sites in Montreal. The compartment and bottom plate are 3D-printed in bioplastic. Pieces of recycled glass have been cut to form the light unit. The lamp’s packaging is made from mycelium as an alternative to polystyrene.
Project carried out as part of The Future Life of Objects course (BFA in Design, Concordia University).
2022
Bio-material experience: an alternative to industry standards. Packaging made from mycelium. Inoculation of a liquid culture of Reishi on a substrate composed of rye grains and granulated wood. The packaging components are fully compostable, while sharing the properties of polystyrene: lightness, reduced rigidity and impact resistance.
Project carried out as part of The Future Life of Objects course (BFA in Design, Concordia University).
2021
Pinecones have the remarkable ability to adjust their scales based on humidity to maintain their own watertightness and control seed dispersion. They also respond to light and heat by opening. Cocotte is a heater inspired by this natural phenomenon. Composed of multiple scales, the device unfolds in response to heat and light, just like pinecones.
Project carried out as part of the Bio-inspiration in the Design of Objects course (BFA in Design, Concordia University).
2022 | Antoine Léger, Elisabeth Bureau, Aseel Elhariri, Florence Giguère
This project focuses on the study of seasonal affective disorders and the effects of light variations in northern regions. Its goal is to make the living environment more pleasant during the darkest times of the year by examining our interaction with domestic light sources. The Aura lampshade is made from organic cotton dyed with natural pigments and stiffened with a cornstarch mixture. It is designed to be foldable, making it easy to transport.
Project carried out as part of the Socio-cultural Environmental Research and Practice II course (BFA in Design, Concordia University).
2021 | Antoine Léger, Ankine Apardian, Seanty Abraham
The design of this coffee table is based on the theme of sedimentation, referring either to the rock itself or to the process of rock formation: the idea of transition and transformation of one thing into another. This coffee table was first modelled in Rhino 6. The final object consists of a cantilevered steel structure on which a concrete slab rests. The roughness of the finish helps to highlight the materiality of the final product.
Project carried out as part of the 3D Digital Concepts course (BFA in Design, Concordia University).
2018-2026
I've developed a considerable interest in film photography over the last few years. I enjoy being in control of the mechanics of the process as well as being pushed to create an optimal product based on certain random environmental factors, such as ambient light. I study movement as well as stillness; visual as well as narrative contrasts. I have had the opportunity to explore photography in colour, black and white, and more recently colour enlargement in an academic setting.
2026 © ANTOINE LÉGER