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Inspiration
Marco Lavit, Talented Designer
This week, The Socialite Family travels to the Milan Furniture Fair to meet young and talented architect Marco Davit. Marco is presenting the new model of the Venezia Chair at the Nilufar Gallery Nina Yashar, whose prominence and expertise know no bounds, owns this sublime gallery showcasing one of the finest collections of 20th century furniture design. For this years fair, the piece was edited in Marco’s studio, Atelier LAVIT. The design is as elegant and distinguished as Marco himself, taking us on a whimsical dream whilst still remaining the iconic piece it is. The Venezia Chair is open to admire from Tuesday 12th April at the Nilufar Gallery. Before journeying to Milan, we visited Marco’s studio in Paris where he’s to be found working hard and welcoming clients whilst not on construction sites in Italy.
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TSF
Marco, how do you earn your living?
Marco
I’m an architect and designer with a strong passion for photography, both travel photography and studio work.
TSF
How long have you lived in Paris and could you tell us about your background?
Marco
I’ve been here for 11 years now. I arrived in Paris in 2005 after passing my Italian baccalaureate and was interested in the École du Louvre and the business of art galleries, both classic as well as modern and contemporary. Then I branched off into architecture with a degree from the Ecole Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris. After a lot of experience working abroad, always exploring new realities in architecture and design. For the last two years I’ve lived between Italy and France, with the Atelier LAVIT project that highlights the work of object design, the fundamental principle of which is the dialogue with the artisans and their Made in Italy savoir-faire.
TSF
How did you design your armchair? Where did you get your inspiration from?
Marco
Venezia is an armchair created for the fitting out of the interior of the Palazzo Nani Bernardo, for the inauguration of the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2014, for the architect Rem Koolhaas. We talked with artisans working in steel and leather for this project and conducted an aesthetic and structural study that evolved through various experiments and analyses. This dialogue focused on functional and aesthetic solutions that go beyond simple technical design or stylistic choice. In its complex and fluid lines, in the purity and essentiality of details, Venezia goes back to the elegant forms of the gondolas that glide silently along the canals of La Serenissima.
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TSF
Who is your armchair designed for?
Marco
People who are aware of the bespoke design and creation process that involves its clients as well as its artisans. Each product bears the traces of the person who worked on it and showcases the artisanal techniques involved in transforming materials.
TSF
Where can it be seen today? Where can it be bought?
Marco
Venezia is currently produced exclusively and to order by Nilufar Gallery.
TSF
What material is the version that you have in your home made of?
Marco
This is a prototype model. The structure is in brushed stainless steel, the seat is in African albino zebu skin and the cushion is in nappa leather.
TSF
How do you want to see Atelier Lavit developing in the future, in terms of furniture?
Marco
Atelier LAVIT is continuing to develop its architecture and design projects, each time trying to use one of the two disciplines to integrate the other. As for design, the challenge of the chair/armchair is very intriguing and fascinating, being the object in our surroundings that most questions the body and its comfort. The world of light is equally intriguing, but more palpable. The desire to design an object is often derived from an encounter and a material, that’s why I’m as curious as you are to see the next new arrival, knowing that something is already under construction.
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