
NEW YORK DESIGN AGENDA is in love with the last design from the Portuguese Boca do Lobo. Entirely self-taught, the head designer Marco Costa finds inspiration in the Surrealist movement. Beyond the furniture and its primary function, our head designer pushes the object to new levels and blurs the boundaries.
He has conceived this exclusive design piece by questioning the notion of space, experimenting with material, and playing with color. Emporium is a limited edition chair made in aluminum with a particular detail: it only has three legs!
A sense of fun and frivolity pervades this chair, but this exclusive piece also manages to be sophisticated, thought provoking and (above all) finely handcrafted.
Perhaps Marco dares to create a design piece so eloquently because the focus of his approach is to explore the fragility of our humanity by revealing the beauty in imperfection. Marco felt it was about time to design a piece that made justice to the weakness that humankind is experiencing today.
An example of the level of both skill and imagination combined to create an exceptionally unique object that will stand out in any room. Emporium is also available in two different versions: finished in gold plated or copper plated.
Marco Costa was born in 1987, just south of Porto, Portugal; He is now a product designer who drew international recognition for his Pixel cabinet, produced by Boca do Lobo Design Studio, in 2010.
Marco Costa graduated at Arts and Design University, at Coimbra, Portugal, in 2009. During his last year of studies, in March, he did an internship at Boca do Lobo Studio and seven months later, in October, he was promoted to Creative Director of the successful design label. Marco Costa is now ubiquitous, designing for the Portuguese exclusive design brand. Additionally, Marco Costa works on architectural and interior design projects, as private residences in Oporto, Lisbon and Algarve.
C. Could you share your inspiration for the newest release you have designed?
I design Emporium Chair by questioning the notion of space, experimenting the material, and playing with colors. Emporium is a chair made in aluminum with a particular detail: it rises with only three legs. It’s something very unusual and I love to play with pieces that surround us in our daily life. It’s about trying to visualise the relative importance of something real and have an opinion about it and then I try to find a way to express my point of view. My creative freedom is about what I see, what surrounds me. At Boca do Lobo Design Studio we operate in the design world but we are more or less artists in the way we work and think. Everyone says there is an art and design crossover and I can’t agreed more. I really love to try new experiences, new materials, new techniques. My approach with this piece of Art & Design is to explore the fragility of our humanity by revealing the beauty in imperfection. I think this is the perfect time to design a piece that made justice to the weakness that humankind is experiencing today. I am very happy with the work Boca do Lobo has done and I have a feeling that there are many things yet to come. It’s a ‘learning by doing’ process.