David Raffoul & Nicolas Moussalem
David Raffoul and Nicolas Moussallem have established a global presence since they set up their studio, david/nicolas, in Beirut in 2011. Through their interdisciplinary approach to their retro-futurist design aesthetic, they have staged several exhibitions and collaborated with established international brands like Vista Alegre, CC-Tapis, Moooi, Vogue Italia. The pair work in a salon-style studio environment and have fostered a creative space where their individual ways of creation can flourish and where critique is an indispensable part of their collaboration. david/nicolas met at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts, where they both studied for a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Design, going on to undertake Masters degrees at the Scuola Politecnica Di Design in Milan. After graduating, both undertook internships with international design studios, Nicolas going on to freelance for a year in Beirut while David worked as a designer at Fabrica, in Treviso, Italy.
In 2014 at the Milan Design Week, the New York Times selected them as one of the design week’s three breakout stars. Later the same year, they held their first solo show in Beirut, “Loulou/Hoda”, exhibiting pieces inspired by their grandmothers that combined Oriental and Western as well as antique and contemporary influences. Subsequently, the studio introduced its first industrial project at Maison & Objet, the “Orquestra” tableware collection for Vista Alegre, which was awarded the Red Dot Design Award and the Wallpaper*Award.
Since 2016, they are represented by Carpenters Workshop Gallery. Their solo exhibition “Supernova” was shown in both Paris and New York and is continuously expanding into a wide range of carefully crafted pieces.