A table inspired by the chestnut, which for centuries fed the people of Portugal’s mountainous regions. The burr of the chestnut set the tone, and the plate, moulded by a tinsmith, shaped this table, inspired by the traditional brazier, which brings the family together on cold nights around the fireplace, roasting chestnuts in a moment of sharing.

The Magusto tradition (a feast to celebrate the chestnut) remains very popular in the Schist Villages. In the mountains, in Aldeia das Dez, the people gather in the square to celebrate the Chestnut Festival. Many households still have a traditional metal brazier made from Portuguese tin, from which the name LATO comes, a metaphor for the unity and communal sharing which characterise the Magusto.

Its components, cut in the CNC Router in the Schist Villages FabLab are manually twisted by the tinsmith on the anvil with the help of a wooden mallet. Later, all the elements are soldered, and an artifact emerges that revitalises the forgotten art of the tinsmith, once so much in demand in rural areas.

LATO is a concept that is extended in time, a line that can include several objects that salvage the tin work of the past to reformulate it in the present.