Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 25
Occupation: Designer.
Instagram: @_abreham_
Hometown: Milan.
Studio location: Milan.
Describe what you make: I study Ethiopian culture and traditions by extrapolating forms and concepts and repurposing them in a contemporary way.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: The project that has given me the most satisfaction, both because of its complexity and of the research and development being one of the most difficult products to make, was my Burgui Collection at Fuorisalone last year. This year, I’m showing another important project: “New Ethnic,” a new collection of three rugs for Nodus.
Describe the problem your work solves: Design is what ties me most to my origins. My goal is to give importance to traditional and cultural details that are disappearing. Design is not something complicated and difficult to understand—it starts from the earth, from people, from places, from perspectives. When I create, I only trust my intuition. What comes next is just the result of the experiences I’ve had.
Describe the project you are working on now: For this year’s Milan Design Week, I’ll be collaborating with Nodus, proposing my vision of carpets inspired by Ethiopian landscapes and traditions. I’ve made three different rugs—Mursi, Suri, and Dancalia. The first two are inspired by the practice of Scarification; the last one is inspired by the landscapes of the Dancal Depression. They’ll be exhibited in Monza at Nodus’s headquarters this week.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: I love to surround myself with good music and plants.
What you do when you’re not working: It’s hard not to work. I believe hard work will always pay off one day. I’m passionate about what I do. There are times when I definitely take my head off a bit and go for a run, where I find a moment to blow off steam by having a clear mind and zeroing in on straining thoughts for projects I’m working on.
Sources of creative envy: Recently passed away as we insiders well know, one of the great architects, artists and designers, Gaetano Pesce. I would’ve liked to have known him for his creative mode of approach on materials. Craft experimentation was important to him.
The distraction you want to eliminate: Bad vibrations! All joking aside, I don’t want to eliminate it, but technology that appropriates subjective creativity and simplicity.
Concrete or marble? Marble.
High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse.
Remember or forget? Remember.
Aliens or ghosts? Ghosts.
Dark or light? Light.
