BLOKE AND MIRRORS
We caught up with Lance Surgeson, one half of Durban design studio Arkivio, creators of striking décor, lighting and mirrors
HMy business partner, Paul Rabinowitz (pictured here on the left), studied Industrial Design in Milan, while I studied Economics in Cape Town. When we started working together in 2013, we both had a passion for building and business, which soon manifested in the design and testing of our first product, the Glass Garden Vase.
How would you describe Arkivio, in a nutshell? As a synergy between craft techniques and modern technology. The craft techniques have at their core the pursuit of perfection, care and dedication to detail and we combine this with newly available methods of precision laser cutting, 3D design and modern components.
What’s the story behind the name? The name is the Italian word for Archive, an element which we will be bringing to some of our product ranges. We intend to create limited-edition items, each uniquely numbered and the details of their owners recorded in an archive. This may be as simple as a name and area in which the owner of a certain product lives, or perhaps more detailed information should the technology allow us to track our product’s life cycle.
Your favourite materials to work with? Although we started with glass, mirror and wood, we have always found the freedom and flexibility of steel to be the most inspiring material to work with. With the right tools, steel can be coerced into any shape and hold any form.
A piece you’d love to make?
We’d like to build a range of outdoor furniture in wire frame — it would be an interesting learning curve.
A design destination you’d like to travel to? Tokyo, Japan. From what we have seen, it looks like a melting pot of experimentation and exploration.
A South African design item you’d like to own? A Porky Hefer chair.
And an international one?
Any piece of furniture by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, a design team formed by brothers in France.
Who would you love to own one of your products? Anyone with good taste.
Good design is ... cleverly simple. — By
Roberta Thatcher
www.arkivio.co.za