The Dwell 24: Döppel Studio

Parisian designers Jonathan Omar and Lionel Dinis Salazar of Döppel Studio have extracted humor from a rather hopeless time. "During this year of hibernation, we kept thinking about how people like us weren’t shaving," says Omar. "So," adds Dinis Salazar, jumping in, "we decided to apply this effect of the lockdown to modern design icons and see how it would change them. Would they still be recognizable? Would they have the same effect in a room?" 

The result—their Hairy Design Icons series—has turned such classics as Marcel Breuer’s Wassily chair and Big-Game’s Bold chair into shaggy explosions of electric blue. 

Though the pieces were originally only available as NFT collectors’ cards, they will soon be physical. "For us, digital techniques are a way to push the boundaries of the realms of possibility, and we work hard to make the physical match our digital ambition," Omar explains. 

Read the full Q&A with Döppel Studio below.

Hometown: Nevers, France

Describe what you make in 140 characters. We are a design duo working on micro- to macro-scaled projects.

What's the last thing you designed? A perfume bottle.

Do you have a daily creative ritual? Listening to documentaries and podcasts.

What everyday object would you like to redesign? Why? We'd like to redesign toilets and trash cans because they have been used everyday for decades but there has been no efficient evolution.

Who are your heroes (in design, in life, in both)? Jean Prouvé.

What skill would you most like to learn? Handcrafting skills like glass blowing and pottery.

What is your most treasured possession? A pair of dice.

What contemporary design trend do you despise? Fake sustainability and fake craftsmanship.

Finish this statement: All design should... be contextualized.

What's in your dream house? A tree.

What do you wish non-designers understood about the design industry? It's not about cost and it's not about fame. It's about culture.

You can learn more Döppel Studio on Instagram.