Atelier de Troupe
Gabriel Abraham, founder of Atelier de Troupe, talks about how he got into lighting and furniture design.
©AtelierdeTroupe
FAME: Where are you from and how did your passion for design start?
GA: I was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, and then moved to the south of France in Aix en Provence as a teen. My mother had a knack for picking up furniture on the side of the road and refurbishing them. I was always intrigued by interior spaces moving between the homes of my Swiss, French, and Italian relatives. After a stint in art school, I moved to London and worked in the art department on music videos and later on films in France, to my final destination in Los Angeles, where I worked as a freelance production designer.
FAME: When, why, and how did you start Atelier de Troupe?
GA: My fascination with films and architecture burgeoned when I moved to LA. The treasure trove of modernist homes there that have appeared in movies fascinated me. After I moved into a Rudolph Schindler home, the Bubeshko Apartments on Griffith park blvd, I decided to make my own furniture. In the 1920s, Schindler, like his contemporaries, Richard Neutra and Frank Lloyd Wright, and later Lautner, built radical spaces with basic materials "You don't know where the architecture begins and the furniture ends" would say Schindler, this was inspiring to me. In a way, I have re-contextualized these modernists as a main source of inspiration for my design concepts ever since I formed Atelier de Troupe 11 years ago. Not many industrial designers talk about architecture but I believe it is essential in crafting furniture, don't you?
FAME: What is your design process?
GA: Our process is very much like the conceptualizing of a film. I like to imagine an atmosphere for imaginary characters to be immersed in as you do with a film set. I usually start with the decorative lighting that sets off the tone, lighting is the mood and sets the period. Then I end up designing furniture too to compliment the lighting. Of course, a specific location is important too, as we like to shoot the collections in a real setting when we are finished, and like in movies, until you secure the said location, you'll have to rework the script a little. We have shot our catalogs in multiple Rudolph Schindler homes, an Earl Wear and a Richard Neutra home, and a Luis Barragan of late.
FAME: What inspires you?
GA: I am very much inspired by period movies and architecture of the '20s to the '70s. Mostly French, Italian, and American of course. A lot of Italian architects designed some of the best furniture and lighting in the 60s and '70s for their own architectural projects. Cacca Dominioni for example would start with the interior pieces and work his way out to the outside of the building.
©AtelierdeTroupe
FAME: Where are your pieces made?
GA: Everything is made locally in Los Angeles with trusted vendors. Our pieces are made to order, so we like to keep a close eye on their fabrication.
FAME: What is the most challenging part of your job?
GA: The real work is to find the sculptural shape of the object. Everything has been done pretty much, you know? Form is as essential as function in creating a lighting or furniture object. Architecture and sculpture can sometimes help find novel shape ideas.
FAME: What do you love most about what you do?
GA: Research in finding the narrative for a collection is what interests me the most. The process is more exciting to me than a finished product, but I am also proud of our pieces, whether they sell or not.
FAME: What is next for your brand?
GA: We will continue to create what we like to call "modern antiques" for the considered home. A dream would be to do the total work of art and actually build a whole concept house, but from the outside in, though...haha.
©AtelierdeTroupe