While designer Rafael de Cárdenas started out in fashion, he’s spent the better part of the past decade making a name for himself as an architect and interior stylist. He’s executed mood-driven concepts for an impressive shortlist of celebrity and commercial clients including Jessica Stam, OHWOW gallery and Nike’s Bowery Stadium.
This year sees de Cárdenas’ first furniture collection, which he launched at Soho’s Johnson Trading Gallery in conjunction with NY Design Week. Core77 jumped at the opportunity to have a brief Q&A with the multitalented creative.
Core77: Furniture design is a natural extension of your work in interiors; is there any reason that 2011 marks your first official foray into that world? I know that you’ve designed at least a few bespoke pieces for clients: is the new collection intended to fill in gaps where you are unable to source vintage or otherwise original pieces, or is furniture design simply another mode of creative expression for you?
Rafael de Cárdenas: The furniture is a natural progression to what I already do—architectural interiors projects. I enjoy the change in scale and its unexpected difficulty. A change in scale is often great, such as with our current work on a ground up 6-story building project with an entirely different set of concerns.
Post a Comment