Gilad Ritz, co-founder of the award-winning architecture and design studio RITZ&GHOUGASSIAN, is known for creating interior-focused moments that merge the external environment with the interior experience. Fresh from his visit to Salone del Mobile in Milan, Gilad shares his insights on the latest design trends and innovations, their potential influence on new residential design, and his studio's approach to crafting memorable spaces.
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From Milan to Melbourne: the design trends shaping our homes
01 July 2024
What were some of the most inspiring trends or innovative ideas you observed at Salone del Mobile this year?
The strongest movement we observed at the Salone del Mobile was a shift towards re-use and re-invention. Yves Salomon and Chapo Creation expressed this idea in their upholstered furniture in which shearling off-cuts were assembled as if they were wooden inlays. This translated into furniture that was rich in texture and expressive in technique. Emerging designers such as Jisun Kim took to using plastic bags to create lamp shades, while we saw the invention of organic matter amalgamated with resin to create such things as avocado-seed bricks by Fragmentario.
How do you envision the concepts and designs showcased at Salone del Mobile influencing the architecture and interior design of new homes in the near future?
I think Salone del Mobile 2024 has reinforced the design community's willingness to re-use materials in inventive ways and a desire to create new palettes and design outcomes. Our own studio's work balances the ordinary with the technical, the banal with the profound. I see this idea broadening outwards and becoming a methodology designers can use for residential applications. Imagine your own home, a clean elegant space, the walls in hempcrete are textural and sensorial, plastic lighting shades send shards of light across the floor, the furniture is new but shows the creases and patina of 50 years.
Experimenting with materials is a hallmark of your studio's work. Were there any material innovations or applications at Salone del Mobile that caught your attention?
As mentioned, the creation of new materials such as the 'avocado-seed brick' or in our own studio's work, the creation of new masonry blocks made from building waste inspires us. These new palettes will shape future architectural envelopes that are grounded in re-use and re-invention.
Your studio has gained recognition for its unique approach to interior-focused architecture that creates memorable moments and experiences. Can you walk us through your creative process and how you work with clients to bring these visions to life?
Our work focuses on the user experience of the spaces we create. We are interested in one's relationship to the built environment through an interiorised lens. A clean minimal palette means that space is expressed as simply volume and light. When shaping these spaces, we focus heavily on the clients' brief and their spatial preferences. Materiality is influenced by the site and/or some other local context. Materiality also dictates the construction methodology and thus, in turn, all these factors mould design.
How do you see RITZ&GHOUGASSIAN evolving into the future? Are there any exciting projects on the horizon or new areas you're eager to explore?
We work across a large number of sectors from residential and multi-residential to hospitality. In turn, our designed spaces are often influenced by one another. Hospitality becomes a little more residential and residential becomes a little more experimental. This method of working on many things at once allows ideas to become more plastic and stretch across projects.
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