4 Latinx Design Studios We Love – And Think You Will Too
Earlier this month, we checked in with five Latinx women, all living in the U.S., to discuss the very real and very bleak lack of representation of the Latinx community in the design world—and beyond. They explained how societal stigmas surrounding their Latinx heritage have impacted their work, opening up about everything from how it feels to be the “diversity token” to working double-time just to get noticed.
And while the challenges of being a Latinx creative in the U.S. are unique, we’d be remiss not to point out that the work of Central and South American design studios can be very much overlooked in the U.S. So, in honor of Latinx Heritage month, we decided to highlight the founders of four of our favorite design studios living and working in South and Central America. (If you’re a longtime Clever reader, you know that we love a good roundup of inspiring designers.) Consider the output of these talented studios the “4 p.m. must have or else” espresso shot that will keep you trucking along. (Yes, they’re really that cool!) Read on to hear all about how this need-to-know crowd is here to stay—and doing it all in style.
Ries
Who: Marcos Altgelt and Tasio Picollo of Ries
Where: Buenos Aires, Argentina
What you’ll find: “We’re a studio devoted to design. We produce furniture, objects, and interior spaces.”
What’s next: “Recently, we cofounded an exhibition program called Quick Tiny Shows with Juan Garcia Mosqueda from Chamber Gallery. We like to think of it as a platform to promote experimental design in a way that challenges traditional institutional exhibition formats. And as for next steps, we are planning on opening a showroom next year that hopefully will not operate just as a static place to showcase our pieces, but more as a dynamic space to host different types of activities such as dinners, lectures, live interviews, et cetera. We’ll see!”
Instagram: @ries_estudio
Sofía Véliz
Who: Sofía Véliz
Where: Mexico City, Mexico
What you’ll find: “I’m a trained industrial designer. Almost three years ago, based in Guatemala [where I was raised], I started to explore my own direction and language as a designer. I started to work with a more sculptural approach and experimenting through unconventional or discarded materials. Often, I try to approximate my work in a way that formalities can be diluted. I recently moved to Mexico—my family spent an exile here.”
What’s next: “I’m planning to give continuity to my work by crossing disciplines. I’m currently interested in how, through my practice, I can create narratives related to a specific research, material, or to an individual piece that is merely functional. I’m intrigued by how gradually all of these layers could overlap.”
Instagram: @sofia.veliz
Bravo
Who: Rodrigo Bravo of Bravo
Where: Santiago, Chile
What you’ll find: “Bravo is a small and elastic studio in which we move around different design fields such as interior, furniture, and product design.”
What’s next: “I’m working on a new object series, which is driven by the use of different states of minerals—combining them in a way that generates a big contrast but with some balance, and in a complementary way. In the interior design field, we are continuously working on new projects, and we’re about to start developing new furniture for the new building for the Ministry of Cultures and Arts here in Chile.”
Instagram: @bravo_estudio & @bravo_interior_
Agnes Studio
Who: Estefanía de Ros and Gustavo Quintana of Agnes Studio
Where: Work between Guatemala City, Guatemala, and Providence, Rhode Island
What you’ll find: “We slowly transitioned from a multidisciplinary studio, where we were trying to do everything from graphic design and branding to architecture and interiors, to selected interior projects and eventually object design. We came up with the idea of a hypothetical utopian future where pre-Columbian design would have evolved if it didn’t have the Western intervention of colonialism—it was a passion project that luckily became what we are focused on right now.”
What’s next: “Our plans for the future are to take advantage of these two years of Estefanía’s learning at Rhode Island School of Design while applying it to our constant development of new ideas and objects and keep on working on Agnes so it can be our life project.”
Instagram: @agnesstudio.co
Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest