Merve Kahraman Studio
FURNITURE AND LIGHTING DESIGN
Based in New York and Istanbul, this designer creates furniture and lighting inspired by classic literature and astronomy.
Furniture and lighting designer Merve Kahraman explores the relationship between product and user, creating designs with a playful character.
Merve Kahraman experienced a personal revelation when studying molecular biology and genetics. Realizing that this was not her passion, she quit her course and headed for Milan, where she studied at the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED), and then to London, where she completed an Master of Arts in product design at Central Saint Martins. “My favourite teacher there was Nick Rhodes, who helped me develop a much broader vision and question why designers do what they do,” she says. She worked with product designers Tom Dixon and Tord Boontje in London, and interior designers Martin Brudnizki Design Studio and Crème Jun Aizaki Architecture and Design in New York, before establishing her own furniture, lighting and interior design practice and commuting between its offices in New York and Istanbul. Her production and logistics teams are in Istanbul, where her furniture and lighting designs are manufactured by freelance artisans, many of whom she has known for years. Interior design projects comprise about forty percent of her business and most of the contractors for these projects are based in the USA.
“Lighting is always more magical for me, but I love designing all sorts of furniture, from a bar cart to a vanity desk,” Merve says. The Iris Chair exemplifies her skill in ringing the changes within a single design.
Inspired by the Greek goddess Iris, messenger of the gods and personification of the rainbow, its geometric minimalism and joyful palette of coloured fabrics delight the eye. Its adjustable back is designed with comfort in mind. The Beice Sofa’s cumuluscloud-like silhouette, rounded armrests and spherical feet in American walnut hint at Art Deco, as does its upholstery in powder pink-fabric or mustard-yellow leather. Entirely handcrafted, it can be customized in different sizes and upholstery.
The Cassini lighting collection is named after the historic Cassini–Huygens space mission, which explored Saturn and its moons and rings. Cassini floor lamps, chandeliers and sconces are characterized by handcrafted rattan “rings” and opaque white-glass spheres that glow like Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. In fact, the Cassini collection’s design is reminiscent of an astronomy lesson: in the chandelier version, each light source is symmetrically aligned above another, as if in orbit.
Currently Merve is working on a Cassini series of coffee and side tables, as well as designing furniture for pets. “My future creative and business aspirations are to create sustainable and emotional designs,” she adds. mervekahraman.com