Brooklyn-based Goux Studio debuts with the modular and easy-to-install 'Plus' collection

Goux Studio is a design practice that works at the intersection of hardware and furniture design. It was founded by Steven Gertner, who grew up around his grandparents' hardware business and later went on to pursue a Master of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Operating out of Brooklyn, New York, USA, Goux Studio is rooted in a speculative architectural vision and an understanding of backend and installation systems and is focused on creating adaptable contemporary furniture and objects for everyday use. Goux is a contraction of Gertner and Marcoux, the last names of the studio's founder and his wife, respectively. Although only Gertner is engaged with the processes within the studio currently, the usage of both names for the studio symbolically honours the importance of connection.

The design studio recently unveiled its debut series, the minimalist Plus collection, which includes wall-mounted nightstands, shelves, hooks, mirrors and planters, all designed around the same plus-shape (+) extrusion. Gertner also hopes to add storage units and bookshelves, among other product designs to the collection. Versatile, adaptable and easy to install, the Plus collection can hold bedside essentials, books and artworks, apart from supporting planters, mirrors and hooks.

Each piece in the collection comprises an aluminium core component available in four different colours—bone, clay, graphite and oxblood. These are accompanied by add-ons currently available in four materials—stainless steel, Maplewood, white oak and antique marble. Gertner intends to introduce new textures and finishes as the collection expands. "The Plus pieces are not engineered to disappear into anonymous bits of hardware; they are designed to have their presence, point of view and hopefully, beauty," the architect and product designer shares.

We asked Gertner for more insight into the collection's inspiration and its modular design. Below are edited excerpts from the conversation.

STIR: Please elaborate on your design approach which is based on "developing pieces in series".

Steven Gertner: I enjoy the process of developing parts that can work together in a physical or conceptual system. With the Plus collection, it's a basic connection at heart—how a simple plus-shape meets the wall. Once there was an initial concept for how to do that, I thought of successive variations to see how it could achieve different goals with add-on parts: wood shelves, stainless steel mirrors, aluminium planter vessels, etc. It's kind of musical, starting with an opening theme and then working through variations that colour or re-frame things in new ways, in an additive, open-ended, serial process.

STIR: What was the inspiration behind creating the Plus collection as your first product line?

Steven: I was looking for a single structural element that could make a wide variety of objects. I have always loved very utilitarian structural framing systems, especially their ingenious connectors and the incredible flexibility they can provide. However, it is hard to bring that type of system into a designed or lived-in environment. I wanted to make something that can become just as flexible, ultimately, but with an eye towards developing a design language that can work in harmony with the goals of interior architects and designers. I kept returning to the 'plus' shape because of its natural strength and symmetry, [and] how adaptable it can be—it easily connects to itself and other pieces. I also love the way it can act as both a graphic form and a three-dimensional element.

STIR: How does the Plus collection draw from modern architectural influences, specifically, Mies van der Rohe's works?

Steven: Mies van der Rohe's chrome-plated, cruciform columns, especially in the Villa Tugendhat, have been lodged into my subconscious since architecture school. So there is a literal connection to the Plus collection there. But, Mies also used structural elements, generally, as a sort of universal organising principle that can operate at any scale. I like to think of the pieces in the Plus collection as little architectural interventions that could eventually be repeated, configured and incorporated into much larger pieces.

STIR: What entails the process of installing pieces from the Plus collection? How much weight can they bear?

Steven: The installation is easy and straightforward. All of the pieces are mounted with a round backplate that is attached to the wall with two fasteners. Once the backplate is installed, all of the variously sized plus-shape brackets, which project out from the wall, slide right in. A wedge-shaped cleat binds the bracket to the backplate and this connection becomes stronger as more weight is applied to the bracket—it locks itself in.

And as for how much weight they can bear, the answer is, it depends! Under normal circumstances, when properly installed, there should be no concerns about the weight limits. The connection between the cleat and the backplate is typically stronger than the connection to the wall. So when heavily loaded, with more than 100 kgs for example, it's more a question of how strong the wall is, as well as the fastening method, than the performance of the product itself.

STIR: How durable are the pieces and how does one dispose of, reuse or recycle them?

Steven: The pieces are meant to last a lifetime or longer. All of the parts are made from solid materials—aluminium, hardwood, stainless steel, marble—which can be maintained and repaired indefinitely. We don't anticipate the need to recycle them, but aluminium is very easy to recycle if need be and all of the other parts could potentially be re-adapted to other uses.