Contract Magazine - March 2017 - 28

PELLE is a New York-based design studio
founded in 2011 by the husband-and-wife team
of Oliver and Jean Pelle. Together, they have
designed lighting, furnishings, art pieces,
interior accessory items, and even soaps.
Oliver is a native of Germany, and Jean is originally
from South Korea. They met while pursuing
Masters of Architecture degrees at Yale
University. Oliver worked for Robert A.M. Stern
Architects, and Jean has experience at both
EHDD Architecture and Tod Williams Billie Tsien
Architects. PELLE opened a new studio
and showroom in New York's Chelsea
neighborhood in 2016.

Among many other furnishings
and items, PELLE has designed
the Lost & Found table (above)
and the Lure sconce (right).
For the Wreath Bubble
Chandelier (top, right),
PELLE worked with lighting
engineers to develop
the LED bulb housing, which
is hidden behind a beautiful
metal exterior that looks
like a socket. Light quality
from the bulb appears as close
to incandescent as
technically possible.

28

Designers
You
Should
Know
PELLE
When and how did the two of you meet?
Jean: We met as graduate students at the Yale School
of Architecture in the early 2000s. Oliver and I only
had one elective class together, photography. Two
years after graduating, we met again at a Halloween
party. A few months after that, we got engaged.
You both have backgrounds in architecture.
How does this inform or influence your design
of lighting or furnishings?
Jean: We are very hands-on when we design. That
means we communicate and resolve ideas through
rounds and rounds of drawings and models. Designing
becomes about the process and the considerations
that go into it rather than trying to achieve a certain
look. We are still designing and tweaking as we
construct, and we don't hand off the process to others.
That has a lot to do with the way we had worked in

ALL PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY PELLE

SLUG
PROFILE

architecture. Architects fetishize "honest" materials
such as wood, stone, metal, and glass, as well as joinery
connections, and construction details. We are
completely guilty of that as well.
What makes your design approach unique?
Oliver: Our work is about a sensibility rather than
a style. Our approach can be defined as a layered design
process that comes from two people with separate
and overlapping interests. This approach creates
the DNA for our designs. We like to switch up the scale
and materials wildly. There's also a learning factor that
we incorporate into the work; to try something knowing
that we are not experts. By virtue of that, we create
an unexpected result.
Explain the unexpected aspects of your work.
Oliver: We've worked with soap and scent to create
our hand-cut Soap Stones; used heavy timber,
expanded metal, and discarded marble for furniture;
made sculptural petals out of cast paper for the
Lure sconces; and brought leather and cotton
to lighting at a time when that was unusual. Every scale
is approached with the same attention to detail
and craft. We hope that our work connects to people
in a meaningful way. That is the primary goal. Sometimes,
[asking] a very simple question helps us to evaluate our
work: "Would I buy it myself?" I'm not sure that question
is asked often enough.
In your opinion, what is important in design today?
Jean: For me, design is about connection. It's important
that we create an emotional relationship between
our work and the one who experiences it. Design is also
an education. It's a chance to observe, analyze, and
break the rules. And it is good to push the boundaries
and rethink what design may mean.
Oliver: One might argue that there is a feedback loop
between creative ideas and inclusive cultures. Design,
like architecture, is always also an expression of its time.
Design can propose an optimistic idea of place and time.
What's next for PELLE?
Jean: We're currently working on an extensive collection
of furniture and lighting pieces with a collaborator.
It's the first time we've creatively collaborated with
someone else, and the results are a bit of a departure
for us in a good way. We are planning on showing the
new work at our showroom during New York Design
Week in mid-May. c

contractdesign.com 	

MARCH 2017
http://www.contractdesign.com
Contract Magazine - March 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract Magazine - March 2017
