aqua creations studio visit

aqua creations studio in tel aviv, israel image © designboom

between design and art, aqua creations lighting & furniture atelier creates handmade pieces in their studio and workshop headquarters in tel aviv, israel. designboom visited the workshop where natural materials are redeveloped into usable art pieces using both traditional and technologically advanced techniques.

the company was started in 1994 by designer and artist ayala serfaty and her photographer husband albi serfaty. until recently, all the designs were made by ayala and produced by skilled artisans, however, they have recently announced that the company is expanding to include a new generation of in-house and external designers headed by albi. although their production continues to grow, each piece is still made by hand.

‘morning glory’ being prepared for packaging image © designboom

the functional art lighting fixtures and furniture have been shown all over the world including the tel aviv museum of art, london design museum, museum of art and design in new york and the centre pompidou in paris.

‘morning glory’ production area image © designboom

fixture with illuminated bulb image © designboom

silk color wheel image © designboom

albi serfaty, managing director of aqua creations discussing the internal structure of  the ‘palm beach’ collection image © designboom  

inner metal frames for ‘satala’ and the ‘stand by’ collection image © designboom

catagorized pieces to be used in formation of fixtures image © designboom

components for the lamps divided by type image © designboom

welding of the light fixtures’ metal frames are done on site image © designboom

completed fixtures ready to be packaged image © designboom

felt is handspun for the making of the ‘in vein’ furniture collection image © designboomayala serfaty’s newest collection of felted furniture pieces is currently being presented to the public in her first solo show in new york at cristina grajales gallery. each of the seating objects are upholstered in hand-spun felt, whereby different coloured wool are layered into each other to create a textured appearance. see designboom’s article on ayala serfaty’s ‘in vein’ exhibition, on show until january 26th, 2012, here.

samples of felt color combinations for the ‘in vein’ furniture collectionimage © designboom

albi serfaty explaining the felt manufacturing process image © designboom

templates for  tracing out the felt pieces used to upholster the ‘in vein’ furniture image © designboom

studio space where the ‘soma’ collection and newest addition to the series, ‘memory’ are made image © designboom

the ‘soma’ lighting collection are a series of light sculptures which are formed by an internal structure made from manipulated glass filaments which are housed within a polymer shell which results in an organic appearance that resemble marine animals such as coral. read more about ‘memory’ and its production in designboom’s article ayala serfaty: memory at design miami. glass form for ‘memory’ which is made from 2 -3mm thick glass filaments image © designboom

lit lighting sculptures from the ‘soma’ collection image © designboom

stairway leading up to the upper level of the studio image © designboom

studio members hand sewing and preparing the outer shells of the ‘gladis’ seating collection image © designboom

‘gladis collection’ image courtesy of aqua creations

upper level office / studio workspace image © designboom