While this expressive material by Japanese studio Nendo might at first look like wood, it is in fact made from layers of an artificial suede product called Alcantara.

Alcantara, produced by an Italian manufacturer of the same name, is composed of 68% polyester and 32% polyurethane. Although it  has a look and feel much like suede, it is actually much more durable, water resistant and resistant to fraying when cut than the real thing, which makes it an appealing material option for harder wearing uses ranging from flooring to furnishing.

To create a woodgrain effect with Alcantara, studio Nendo layered the artificial suede sheets on top of each other and then rolled it into a cylinder. They then sliced the cylinder at a vertical angle – resulting in  ‘tree ring’ like slices.These slices are then formed into planks, which can be inserted into frames for furniture or applied to walls, floors or ceiling as a décor surface material.

Interested to see this effect in person? The pieces will be on display until this May 31st at the Palazzo Reale adjacent to Duomo Milano as part of EXPO Milano 2015.