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“It all started under the rainbow,” David Luraschi, one-half of nara, exclaims when I inquire about the idea that realised FAMILY, a collection of six individual pieces that Nara Lee and David Luraschi—founders of the Paris-based design studio nara—refer to as art furniture. These are modular pieces that can be placed on the floor in various ways, to seat, to decorate, to play with, or to build a novel sculpture. The idea for this playful collection was conceived when Luraschi brought up Montessori toys and inspired by their colourful tones and blocky forms, Lee drew a rainbow. This simple moment of artistic expression and interaction between Lee, a fashion designer and set designer from South Korea, and Luraschi, a French-American photographer and director, led to a dialogue, which finally culminated in FAMILY.
FAMILY, as the name suggests, is a collection of objects that harmoniously fit together. It comprises a sofa, two armchairs, a coffee table, an end table, and a foot rest. These pieces are fit for a variety of locations and purposes—From living rooms and workspaces to art galleries and classrooms, FAMILY can adapt according to its users' needs, anywhere. “FAMILY was motivated by the thought that Nara and I complete each other, like a Venn diagram. We instinctively started collaborating together, or rather, just laughing together, enjoying Korean cuisine together in Paris, and falling in love with each other, as kindred spirits, as friends. It was, hence, only natural for us to call this collection that embodies our relationship, FAMILY,” shares Luraschi, fondly highlighting how their friendship inspired the collection.
On being asked how this atypical collaboration—to create playful contemporary furniture—between a set designer and photographer commenced, Luraschi relays, “It happened instinctively—we knew immediately that we would be friends. We were already aware of each other’s creative faculties. I had seen Nara make a shelf before, too. It was very playful and full of colour, something that I felt should be out there. So, one evening, on June 5, 2022, while we were running in the rain, we chanced upon a Korean restaurant, we finally decided, between food and laughter, to put this plan into action, and hence we built the studio nara.”
Delving further into the making of FAMILY, the French photographer and designer elaborate on the production of the pieces. While the design of the 'art furniture' was initially developed by Lee as sketches, claymations, and scaled-down foam models, these forms were further refined on 3D softwares. Lee and Luraschi then visited different ateliers and modified the pieces to their final forms. The process of finding a workshop to cut these forms was not an easy task. The undulating arcs of the couch and chairs were difficult to cut on foam. For this, the designers had to find an atelier that specialised in performing precise and industrial cuts. Once the foams were cut, the next task involved finalising the fabric that would cover the foams as well as the style of stitching them upon the foam pieces. Luraschi and Lee used Kvadrat fabric for the covering of their furniture design pieces. FAMILY can be cleaned by vacuuming each piece first and then, steam-cleaning spots for better results.
The furniture designers detail the process of disposing of the collection safely once it is worn down—“When you want to reuse or dispose of FAMILY, we would recommend you to separate the fabrics from the foams first. We would highly ask you to try to arrange for your foam waste to be collected by a licensed carrier, such as Business Waste. This gives the foams a second life. Then it’ll be recycled through various methods, such as recycled foams, closed-loop recycling, or chemical recycling.”
Reiterating and adding to his previous explanation behind the influence of FAMILY, and the multiple colours used to fashion it, Luraschi comments, “Nara’s rainbow, but also our colourful personalities and our likeliness to pop colours and pastel shades inspired the choice of these hues.” The result is a set of harmonious objects that sit 'like a family' with each other, with none overpowering or overshadowing the other. Apart from Luraschi and Lee, Clémentine Berry of Twice Studio was involved in crafting the project identity of FAMILY. “Our art director Clementine who joined us afterwards is a big part of our language. She has a great design culture and she completes us,” Luraschi shares.
Luraschi and Lee welcome users to interpret the pieces of FAMILY in their own unique way. “What’s fun with FAMILY is to interact with it,” they say. For the launch of the collection, the designers improvised Alexander Calder’s unique rendering of the circus and invited people to play with each piece, as one would with toys. “People came in and made sculptures that we had never imagined, so this is a collaboration with our users. That's the real answer,” the duo declare.
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