American Design Honors 2019 Recipient: Arielle Assouline-Lichten Principal and Founder – Slash Objects.
Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat, co-founders of WantedDesign, are thrilled to announce Arielle Assouline-Lichten, founder of Slash Objects as the 2019 recipient of the American Design Honors, an exclusive WantedDesign program, presented with Bernhardt Design.
Launched in 2015, American Design Honors was created by WantedDesign co-founders Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat, and Jerry Helling, President and Creative Director of Bernhardt Design, to recognize up-and-coming American designers who embody excellence in creative design and superior entrepreneurial ability. Previous honorees include New York based Egg Collective (2015), Chicago based Steven Haulenbeek (2016) and Portland based Studio Gorm (2017), and New York based Oliver Haslegrave, founder of Home Studios.
”We are very pleased, and thankful to Bernhardt Design, to be able to give an extra support and visibility to the new generation of talented American Designers. Arielle is a brilliant and creative young woman, capable to envision original products and spaces, with a particularly great attention to details and without compromise. It is very exciting to have her as the fifth recipient of the American Design Honors,” say Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat.
“We are thrilled to highlight Arielle Assouline-Lichten as this year’s American Design Honoree. Her dynamic approach to design and unique vision translate into a wide range of remarkable projects, spanning the digital to physical realms. Her creative use of materials, like recycled rubber, and appreciation for sustainability make her work not only interesting but original. It’s no surprise Arielle has earned such recognition.” Jerry Helling.
Arielle Assouline-Lichten shares her vision of her work and process
‘’I truly believe in the ability of design to impact the world around us; it can make us aware of the choices we take, and theresources we use every day. I started Slash Objects as a way to explore material connections, to create beauty from certainforms of refuse, and to impart a sense of intrigue into the spaces we occupy. Our process is rooted in the material, with aninterest in exposing the very tactile nature of making, while creating pure forms bound together by geometry and precision.As an architect by training, I think about the impact any piece will have on the space around it, and am driven to create a senseof delight from the unexpected. Slash is rooted in the multifarious – as designers in today’s world, we can work at many scales and mediums, unbound by a single discipline. We aim to use thoughtful design to create innovative work that embodies a senseof curiosity and consideration for the world we live in.’’
In an extension of her award winning Coexist Collection, Arielle Assouline-Lichten introduces the Coexist Daybed. The Coexist Daybed is a contemporary take on the chaise longue, designed by Slash Objects and fabricated in New York. The daybed consists of a black steel frame, with a brass cube at one end, and a nero marquina marble cube at the other end holding the frame in place. Using balance and delicate harmony of materials meeting, the piece holds space in suspension through the daring move that turns the brass cube on its finest edge. The pieces fit together seamlessly, with the marble cube holding up one end of the piece, and the brass cube notched into place on its knife edge in suspension. There is no hardware used to hold the piece together, rather precision fitting and engineering allows for the parts to rely upon one another to exist – hence Coexist. The mattress is upholstered with karakorum italian bouclé wool by Dedar. The new daybed will be part of the installation at WantedDesign Manhattan.
About Arielle Assouline-Lichten
Arielle Assouline-Lichten is the founder of Slash Projects, a multidisciplinary design firm in New York whose work spans from digital to physical. Her line of furniture and products, Slash Objects, explores the intersection of materials and form. Using unexpected juxtapositions and thoughtful design, the studio strives to create beautiful pieces with impact. Arielle is interested in design as a way to transform the way people experience the world – by creating tactile stories that reframe our understanding of materials, to the way we conceptualize the space around us. The objects are made using sustainable and long lasting materials, creating chic homewares from raw parts that have been re-worked to achieve a new effect. Slash is rooted in the belief that thoughtful design leads to a better world.
Arielle holds a Master of Architecture from Harvard University with commendation, and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Critical Theory and Visual Media from New York University. She has worked for internationally renowned firms such as BIG, Kengo Kuma & Associates, and Sn.hetta, from Copenhagen to Paris, Tokyo and New York. While at Harvard, Arielle was selected to study under Toyo Ito in Japan.In 2014 she was appointed as Principal of OfficeUS at the Venice Biennale, where she was part of the curatorial team for them US Pavilion. She has been published in Metropolis Magazine, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Architectural Record among others, for her design work and activism. In 2013, Arielle started the petition for retroactive recognition of Denise Scott Brown by the Pritzker Prize, and together with Caroline James led a campaign that has received over 20,000 signatures in support, including 9 past laureates. She has been invited to lecture at the Guggenheim Museum, as well as Columbia University GSAPP, and Harvard Graduate School of Design.