Charles Kalpakian

French-Lebanese designer Charles Kalpakian has a rare gift for subtly incorporating personal biography into his art. His chiselled geometric lines are the signature of his innovative approach, fusing his oriental roots with his knowledge of design and the decorative arts. These influences take shape through the reinterpretation of classical motifs, historical forms and archetypes, often inherited from Lebanon’s history and geography, filtered through a resolutely contemporary urban culture.

 

His work is distinguished by references to his native Oriental identity, combined with traditional French techniques – notably marquetry – and a fresh take on the tradition of metalworking. The stroke is always clean, the line always clear, even if the gesture is sometimes akin to calligraphic writing in space. Furniture, lighting, staging: the territories are as rich as his creation, with Eastern influences blending with Western culture past and present.

Embodying the notion of Retrofuturism, the ‘Cinétisme’ wall cabinets and sconces are hypnotic piece that flirt with Op’Art and the spirit of Vasarely. The sculptural sconces play on contrasts and complementarities between four aluminium finishes: brushed, hammered, guilloché and lacquered. Bulbs embedded in three-dimensional aluminum panels create the illusion of undulating movement, transforming calligraphy into works that are as functional as it is artistic. In the same retro-futuristic vein, the 'Moon' armchairs and 'Crescent' sofas and armchairs reinterpret the classics with a fundamental futuristic twist.

French by nationality, Charles Kalpakian was born in Beirut in 1982 into a family with strong Armenian roots. In 2011, after collaborating with prestigious agencies including Ora Ito and Christophe Pillet, he launched his design studio and has since developed his own projects. Over the past decade, he has become a major figure in collector’s design, drawing on the tastes of lovers of optical arts and optical illusions expressed in the language of objects.