Founder of Lumifer, Javier Robles is an architect and designer with a global practice rooted in New York City, Miami, and London. Growing up in Peru and studying architecture at the University of São Paolo in Brazil, he holds a master’s degree in Architectural Design from Columbia University. Besides working in prestigious architectural practices in New York and teaching at Parsons School of Design, his design studio offers fully integrated services to residential, hospitality, and institutional clients. Join us to explore Javier Robles’ lighting products in-depth during today’s Maker Monday.
Inspired by the latest images of our universe from NASA’s deep field telescopes, the Stellar Vertical Pendant is based on orbiting binary stars as well as the massive galaxies they inhabit.
Andrew Joseph: Describe your design style as if you were explaining it to someone who cannot see.
Javier Robles: My work is modernist and minimal, using a vocabulary of restrained design elements, creative solutions and refined details. My aim is timeless design, reduced to its essence. I like to explore materials and forms, creating a warm and layered universe where natural and artificial lighting plays a key role in enhancing the quality of spaces as well as the sensory reactions of their inhabitants. I like to design spaces that look and feel continuous and open with a sense of quietness and visual serenity.
As an architect, I like to explore a dialogue between indoor and outdoor spaces, which are strategically constructed in a framed narrative depending on the programmatic requirements.
For furnishings, lighting and decor, in addition to custom pieces I create for my brand, Lumifer, I love to mix in vintage Brazilian and Italian modernist pieces from the 1950s, 60s and 70s, sometimes incorporating pottery or sculptures ranging from ancient to avant-garde as well as contemporary mixed-media art.
AJ: What makes you angry?
JR: Rude people and bad manners. I also expect people to work as passionately as I do, so I can be demanding with my team, vendors and consultants, therefore I usually get angry when people don’t perform their duties or delay tasks just because they are lazy.
The Switch lighting collection features hand-finished brass with retro industrial design and fluid, pivoting elements.
AJ: What’s something you always travel with?
JR: Over the years, after intense traveling around the world in diverse circumstances, I have developed my very own “rituals of traveling.” I only travel with a carry-on and I use my Rimowa aluminum classic cabin suitcase and a Prada backpack.
Some of my must-have items are: Cuttler and Gross spectacles and sunglasses, two pair of watches (sport and formal) and my Havaianas flip-flops to bring a bit of Brazil with me wherever I go. I pack very light and bring comfortable clothes that can be easily combined and mixed.
When in the air, I listen to classic music or some bossa nova in my noise-canceling headphones and always carry with my Aesop hand cream and my sleep mask.
Flying is the time where I detach from the “real world”, and get fully inspired and creative. I sketch and write a lot in mid-air and always have with me my Canson sketchpad, Caran d’Ache pencils and my iPad.
AJ: Do you get your eight hours a night? – what is your schedule like?
JR: I wish! But I usually get around 6 hours. I get up between 6-7 am, jump out of bed, listen to the BBC or NPR on the radio while sipping coffee, and check emails and a bit of social media, then begin working with my European clients and vendors for an hour, and then go running outdoors or to the gym.
I am at my office around 9-10 am and start working on my architecture or interior projects or go on site visits. Lunch can be in the studio with my team or meeting colleagues and clients around town in NYC or Miami.
Around 2 pm I start working with my Lumifer team on everything product related – from design and production to marketing and business, finishing around 7 or 8 pm.
My schedule gets interrupted when I travel but I keep checking emails, answering calls and connecting with my team to make sure all projects move along even if I am on the road. If I’m overseas, I catch up with the day after dinner or in early morning, or during long-haul flights.
The sharp geometry and the angled blade-like shape of this mirror evoke the famous French guillotine. A walnut beveled and tapered frame detail is accentuated by a smoke tinted mirrored surface, creating a continuous tapered volume.
AJ: How would you describe your personal style?
JR: Sober and refined, I wear similar clothes most days, almost a uniform, always in dark tones – black, gray, brown or military green, mixed with leather and metal accessories and watches.
I gravitate from classic British suits and Italian shoes to Japanese streetwear when in NYC or London. When in Miami or Latin America, I go for sporty, relaxed clothing -chinos, jeans or shorts with T-shirts, trainers and truckers’ hats.
AJ: What would your dream project or dream client be right now?
JR: A dream project will be to design and build a cultural institution in NYC or Miami.
AJ: What’s inspiring you in life (in the industry) right now?
JR: I am really inspired by NASA, science, nature and technology – there’s so much information and inspiration that the design world could draw from.
In the design and architecture field, after 20+ years in the industry, I am still inspired by the same people I looked up to when I was studying architecture! I am still moved by ancient Japanese architecture and the work of some contemporary Japanese architects – Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, Kazuyo Sejima, Shigeru Ban. I also admire Italian architects and designers – Gio Ponti, Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Carlo Mollino, Carlo Scarpa and Lina Bo Bardi as well as Brazilian modernists- Paulo Mendes da Rocha and Jorge Zalszupin to name a few.
I hope we pass this current maximalism trend in design (cacophony of “more is more”) and move towards a more sensitive and restrained world, focus on efficiency, sustainability, and identity.
About the Maker | Lumifer is a New York City-based lighting, furniture, and accessories studio founded by designer Javier Robles, whose constant search for products for his interior design projects lead him to create an ever-evolving collection of contemporary work inspired by his global cultural experiences and his multidisciplinary approach to the design field.
Javier has developed a unique and consistent design vocabulary that combines a diverse cultural identity, his global lifestyle and the knowledge of materials, forms and scales to create a collection of unique and functional products that elevate their surroundings and exhibit a deep appreciation for quality and craft.
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