Harry Nuriev employs denim to transform conventional furniture design

Transformism, a term primarily used in the context of evolutionary biology, is the concept that throughout time, species can experience slow and constant modifications that result in the emergence of new species. It is a dynamic approach to problem-solving and the creative process in the world of design. Highlighting how design may change and adapt in response to shifting requirements it emphasises contextual shifts and enhancements in technology. Transformism inspires designers to investigate novel concepts, test out unconventional materials, and challenge conventional design paradigms.

New York and Paris-based artist, architect and interior furniture designer Harry Nuriev embraces this theory of ‘Transformism’ to describe his process and design philosophy that prioritises the transformation and transformative experiences that products go through. Nuriev is the founder and creative director of Crosby Studios, an interior architecture and design studio established in 2014. He pursues his enthusiasm for design experimentation for cutting-edge retail environments and Web3 in the digital sphere and derives inspiration from the unexpected beauty of commonplace objects for his product designs.

The multidisciplinary designer fuses art, design, architecture and fashion, breaking the boundaries that have traditionally separated these four creative fields to challenge broader ideas about how we live and work. His latest collection titled Denim is a physical manifestation of his concept of ‘Transformism’. Nuriev believes that denim as a material has been adopted by everyone from miners and cowboys to Hollywood celebrities over the past two centuries, and he aims to bring this history to his furniture design collection. He constructs microenvironments to simulate an apartment at the Carpenters Workshop Gallery for this collection. The modular design collection was designed as a system made up of a number of separate and interchangeable components that work together to form a matrix. “In the same way that you layer your jeans, T-shirts and jackets in the order you want, I want my furniture to adapt and shape itself according to the user’s wishes,” explains Nuriev.

The hybrid pieces in the collection were designed to adapt to how people spend time indoors, which has undergone significant change in recent years. Ingeniously designed by Nuriev the distinguished furniture pieces ideally come together to create a multifunctional environment, encouraging people to easily switch between eating, working, and relaxing in the same place. “A sofa can be an armchair but also an ottoman. Each element is its own entity that put together constitutes a piece. I think my favourite piece is probably the DJ Booth because it brings people together, not just in a party context but as a meeting space. And the vanity too,” shares the product designer. As the collection's name accurately suggests, Denim is encased in the classic denim material and bears the imprint of the designer's background in the fashion industry, inspired by Cristobal Balenciaga or Karl Lagerfeld.

Commenting on his strong link with the fashion world, Nuriev states “When I started my practice 10 years ago, my question was ‘What can I bring to interior design?’ Interior design is a symbiosis of three major creative practices: design, architecture, and art. The big one missing from this equation is fashion, which I find very surprising. Fashion is a unique means of expression and I think that furniture is an extension of our wardrobe, our style and more broadly our identity. Fashion is everywhere, it surrounds us. It’s a medium that lasts over time so let’s infuse it into design.”

Nuriev establishes a synergy between our living spaces and personal style by skillfully fusing the timeless impact of fashion with functional design. He inspires the user to picture a world where design defies convention by his artistic ability. His investigation into 'Transformism' not only influences interior design but also pushes us to reconsider the very nature of our surroundings and the transformational potential of design itself.