The Dwell 24: Palma
Formerly classmates in architecture school, the duo behind Palma reunited years later to bring their enigmatic design vision to life.
Lorenzo Lo Schiavo and Cléo Döbberthin’s friendship began long before their design studio, Palma, did. The duo met in their first year studying architecture in the same program in São Paulo but lost touch for a number of years when Döbberthin transferred schools to study fine art. Then mutual friends brought them together again during the pandemic, and they found themselves in the same pod. When Lo Schiavo was approached to create an immersive experience in a retail project, a tight budget and timeline, along with Döbberthin’s expertise in sculpture, made it only logical to join forces.
Photography by Fernando Mendes
"We came from different backgrounds, but we were both interested in these unlikely connections that we brought," says Lo Schiavo. The installation was a huge success, and Palma was born. Interiors projects now play a critical role in the team’s product design process. "When we create something site specific, it can always be taken to another site and be specific in another way," Lo Schiavo explains. Inspiration for the cone shape of their Pinheiro lamp came from jewelry stands they designed for a store, but the textured fiberglass creations can light up just about any room.
Read the full Q&A with Lorenzo Lo Schiavo and Cléo Döbberthin below.
Hometown: São Paulo, Brazil.
Describe what you make in 140 characters... We experiment, we paint, we draw, we sculpt, we build, we debate, we present, we have fun, we call, we research and we start again.
What’s the last thing you designed? A side table in eggshell lacquer and coir mat.
Do you have a daily creative ritual? It involves a truly endless exchange of references and ideas, experimenting in the studio with all sorts of materials, a lot of sketching and a lot of consulting with suppliers and collaborators.
How do you procrastinate? Lorenzo: listening to music, spending time on DuoLingo, drawing, chatting to GPT...Cleo: finding other stuff to do.
What everyday object would you like to redesign? Why? Electrical components such as plugs and switches.
Who are your heroes (in design, in life, in both)? Lorenzo: Ettore Sottsass, Werner Herzog, Isamu Noguchi, Giuseppe Verdi. Cleo: My grandmother.
What skill would you most like to learn? Lorenzo: Stone carving. Cleo: fresco painting.
What is your most treasured possession? Palma.
What's your earliest memory of an encounter with design? Lorenzo: Endlessly flipping through my dad's library. Cleo: "fixing" broken furniture at home when I was a kid.
What contemporary design trend do you despise? New age fun with a vintage feel.
Finish this statement: All design should... All design shouldn't.
What’s in your dream house? A lot of space.
You can learn more about Palma on Instagram.
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Top Image: Courtesy Palma
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