Hospitality Design - August 2013 - 61

products

proﬁle

rich brilliant
willing
By Alia Akkam
Photography courtesy of
Rich Brilliant Willing

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SCHOOL TIES
Former classmates trade in homework for a design biz

While students at RISD they shared
classrooms, and now, for six years, Theo
Richardson, Charles Brill, and Alexander
Williams have spent their days working
together in a Brooklyn, New York studio.
“We developed significantly individually,
and then have spent the past few years
developing as a group,” says Williams.
Here, in the industrial neighborhood
of Gowanus, is the headquarters for their
design firm Rich Brilliant Willing, where
the trio crafts and manufactures an array of
sleek, edgy, playful lighting and furniture
pieces. The company, notes Richardson,
was launched out of a yearning to create
products catered to young designers: “We
felt we had a different aesthetic from the
market offering at the time. We wanted to
make simple products, of better quality than
the conventional outlets for minimal design,
expressing warmth of materials with a hint
of wit. What we realized is that this was
very much missing for architects looking for
alternatives to European design.”
An example of the studio’s smart, clean
approach is one of their inaugural lighting
triumphs: the Excel line, resembling
oversized magnifying glasses and produced
by Roll & Hill. Says Williams, “It was our

first claim to fame. I believe it remains
instantly recognizable and fits within our
body of work.”
Paying homage to fine craft
workmanship while at the same time
embracing digital techniques defines Rich
Brilliant Willing’s style, and it garnered
them the Best New Designer award at ICFF
during New York Design Week in 2011. It
proved a turning point for the partners,
leading to the manufacturing of their
own products.
There’s the Branch chandelier, with
“branches” fashioned from plywood and
perforated metal shades to filter light;
the Akoya, a pendant destined to hang
above dining room tables with a glass bulb
protruding from a parchment shell; and the
versatile Delta, which looks like a rocket
engine-meets-Chinese lantern flaunting
a fabric shade based on traditional box
pleating techniques.
Named after its resemblance to a single
lens, Monocle, made from milled aluminum
and offering warm LEDs, is one of the team’s
newest products. Introduced specifically
for bedside lighting needs, it’s a boon for
the hotel market. “We know there is a need
for both a bright direct light for reading

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1. Schoolmates turned
business partners (left to
right): Alexander Williams,
Theo Richardson, and
Charles Brill.

3. With plywood
“branches,” the
Branch floor lamp has
perforated metal shades
to filter light.

2. The Excel chandelier
resembles oversized
magnifying glasses.

and a diffuse indirect light required for
atmosphere. We have combined these two
functions in a dimming, rotatable light
fixture,” Richardson points out.
Now that they’ve set their sights on
furniture, too, Rich Brilliant Willing’s
contemporary vision translates to items like
the rustic-utilitarian oak Cask stool dressed
in brass ribbon, and the glass Russian Doll.
Just like its nesting namesake, two of these
end tables can be tucked inside the larger
coffee table version.
“Lighting is what comes naturally to
us, we love doing it,” Brill explains. “I think
the furniture items for us are more of a
passion.” hd
ri chb ri lli a nt w i lli ng .com

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