In Liberia, there is a practice of weaving tote bags from recycled plastic threads.

These objects use modern materials, while their intricate weave evinces the embodied knowledge of local artisans. Craft is a verb, not a noun — it’s the intentional honing of bodily intuition to produce beautiful and useful objects. Named after a former Gola kingdom, Studio Senjeh draws inspiration from this discipline. 

Studio Senjeh founder Rachael Louise Elliott grew up in Detroit, the birthplace of modern industrial production techniques like the assembly line. She absorbed the productive tension between the craft of her African-American and Gola ancestors, and the industrial design that built her hometown. 

While studying design in Copenhagen, Elliott learned about a philosophy that synthesized these two approaches. The Scandinavian ethos is democratic, emphasizing both financial and cultural affordability of well-designed objects and spaces.

Elliott studied architecture at Columbia University in the City of New York. She gained her professional experience in collaboration with design studios large and small, including Selldorf Architects, Reunion Goods & Services, and Goodrich Company.

After a decade designing custom furniture and luxury interiors in New York City, Elliott launched Studio Senjeh to democratize her own work. Studio Senjeh produces limited run, everyday objects, and is available for custom interior projects that embody these design principles.

Design is a practice, not an aesthetic

An exacting process is the foundation of precise design. Our continuous practice of hand-made techniques — from construction, weaving, and cooking — inspires the precise fabrication processes and considered materials we use to build useful and beautiful objects.

Materials should be honest 

We believe in the beauty of usefulness. Our practice doesn’t obscure materials — we design to celebrate functionality, from solid wood and marble to silicone and anodized metal.

Good design is unobtrusive

No item is too small to be designed well. The most ubiquitous objects and everyday routines are the most worthy of considered design. 

Design for permanence

Great design is revealed across generations of use. We design with materials that last, so the story of one object can be told through its lifetime.

Consider provenance

There is no new design, only new contexts. We are exacting in our citation of past creators, artisans, influences and techniques too frequently co opted. We believe the histories of materials and techniques manifest in the final product.