Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 31 (Kevin). 37 (Rob).
Occupation: Designers and founders of Studio Seitz.
Instagram: @studioseitz
Hometown: Berneck, Switzerland (Kevin). Sayville, New York (Rob).
Studio location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Describe what you make: Modern heirloom furniture, lighting, and objects for everyday use.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: Our new Heritage Wall Mirror. It was probably our most ambitious and complicated object to date, where we had the opportunity to collaborate with one of the last few craftspeople in the world who practice the craft of Weissküferei and Schnitzerei.
Weissküferei is a historic, traditional Swiss craft that started at the beginning of the 19th century and specializes in products that consist of curves or curved shapes. When manufacturing containers, the craftspeople cut wood into specially shaped wooden boards (staves). They join them together and form round or oval crockery and containers. The staves are held together by hand-made maple hoops. After the containers have been made in the raw state, the elaborate carving decoration, known as Schnitzerei, begins by hand.
Describe the problem your work solves: It’s a combination of two main objectives—creating functional and timeless objects that can be handed down to future generations and preserving local Swiss techniques that are becoming less prevalent due to mass manufacturing.
Describe the project you are working on now: At the moment, we’re wrapping up a five year renovation of our Williamsburg studio in a former babka factory. We completely gutted the space and built it back up ourselves, only using specialized craftspeople when needed. It has so much history, so we hope our simplification and streamlined approach helps highlight the past while not distracting from modern day living. We aim to open it to the public by the end of summer so our collection can be experienced in-person.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: We’ve been developing a new collection called Fold. It was initially inspired by working with illustrator Malika Favre on our inaugural launch back in 2019. She creates beautiful and detailed work from only one or two colors through shape, pattern, and light. With that in mind, we set out to create a handful of objects that are cut and folded from one simple sheet of aluminum into three-dimensional lighting and home pieces—all paying homage to how light, shape, and pattern bring them to life.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: Lots of sunlight, tea, and greenery.
What you do when you’re not working: Traveling, walking our way through the city, and eating three-course meals always (dessert is a must).
The distraction you want to eliminate: Cell phones and noisy neighbors.
Sources of creative envy: People, places, and things outside of our everyday norm. We always re-energize our senses when we travel to new places and experience different cultures from our own—the food, people, architecture, landscapes, crafts, perspectives…
Concrete or marble? Concrete.
High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse.
Remember or forget? Remember.
Aliens or ghosts? Ghosts.
Dark or light? Light (Kevin). Dark (Rob).
