About Us
Brian Kent
Cirque Creative Designer
As a trained architect, designer, sculptor and craftsman, Brian Kent has a long history of creative design experience. He has studied chair design for over 50 years.
It is this experience that informs and inspires his Cirque furniture range. Clearly, these sculptural pieces pay tribute to the giants of 20th Century chair design, especially those associated with the Bauhaus School, founded in Germany in 1919.
Those early pioneers, such as Marcel Breuer, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Eileen Gray, used modern materials, such as tubular steel, to fashion exquisite works of art.
Cirque’s designs borrow from, enhance and build on this body of mid-century, modernist, work, while also paying tribute to the work of others, such as Arne Jacobsen and Charles and Ray Eames. The influence of these pioneers has helped shape Cirque’s furniture.
At the same time, almost one hundred years later, the Cirque line incorporates an African flavour, originality and innovative craftsmanship.
Creative director Brian Kent is a University of Cape Town trained architect and all the fabricators come from Xhosa and Muslim backgrounds.
In the interconnected world of today, ideas flow freely, evolve and manifest themselves in new forms. So it is with Cirque. The original Cirque “Isitulo” chair was first conceived, in a dream, in the USA; inspired by the Bauhaus School and modernist roots, the design has evolved, grown and flowered into a beautiful line of furniture, on fertile African soil.
Cirque Chairs
Inspired by Bauhaus Architecture
Cirque was founded in 2018 with the sole purpose of creating chairs that are elegant and functional. Each piece is uniquely crafted with the most care to create something that is of the highest standard. Crafted in Cape Town.
Cirque chairs are at the forefront of African Bauhaus which is inspired by the German Bauhaus architectural style of the early 1900s. When you look at any furniture from Cirque, you know right away that you are looking at a piece that is beautiful and timeless.
Xhosa Names
Here a translation of the Xhosa names for our products.
Isitulo
Chair. This is the original Cirque design.
Indlwane
Nest
Imbovane
Ant. Named after the Ant chair by Arne Jackson.
Ijika
Curve. The name for all our rocking chairs.
Isidlo
Meal. Appropriate for a dining chair.
Isibane
Lamp
Isiliphi
Slip. This a sled style chair
Isigcaw
Spider. Named after the spindly chair legs
Lubhelo
The colour yellow. Named after our yellow prototype chair.
Meet the Team
It takes a village to create something incredible that can stand the test of time. These are passionate hands behind Cirque’s greatest products.
Alfred
Craftsman
Alfred is one of those essential behind the scenes craftsmen at Bend-It Engineering. He alone is responsible for all of the Cirque polished stainless steel finishing.
Albert
Craftsman
Albert works at Bend-It, the company that makes all the stainless steel frames for Cirque furniture. His expert work involves shaping the chairs, tables and lamps.
Taliep
Craftsman
Taliep Cassiem is one of the talented craftsmen who ensure Cirque leather work is of the highest quality. Taliep has worked in the leather industry for over 30 years.