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Wedded to design
With tWo decades of design associations and creations in nY citY, the Boym couple emBark on a Middle eastern sojourn With plans of reWriting design sensibilities here.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROB AlTAmiRAnO

t is a setting in contrast. There is the chatty, cheerful Laurene Leon Boym, all animated as she explores the possibilities of the photo shoot with Robert, our photographer. Then there is Constantin Boym, quiet, visibly tired after his long day at the University, almost bored with the attention and the shoot. There is the view from their apartment on the 27th floor of a West Bay tower that is tantalizing, and the mildly threatening stare of the green-eyed family cat, Ozzy. And back to the power couple whose magical touch is said to have imbued objects with emotion and culture. Constantin Boym started Boym Partners in 1986 and Laurene joined him in 1995. Since then they have been involved in a cultural reawakening of sorts of the design community in New York City, with installations in museums and product designs that always attracted attention. Doha is where the couple have now relocated. In this setting, one wonders how the designing process works for the couple. Who takes the lead, and who brings the various parts together to bind them all in a creative wholeness? The Boym work process is totally organic, says Laurene, comparing their working to the synergy within a rock band. We are multi-instrumentalist, but we tend to specialize and/or take on a specific role, depending on the project. Sometimes I research and ideate, and then Constantin will come in and give the project an iconic image. Maybe during the fabrication or manufacturing phase I come in again and push the project along. All through the process we are discussing ideas with each other, and all decisions in the design process are made for the ultimate outcome of the project. Its important to give yourself over entirely to the project, and clients always appreciate the extra special attention. Making something work thats delightful and funny is hard work. Laurene decides to pose with her newest creation, a papier-mache deer in dirt brown with colored feathers for horns, a study in contrasts of material and texture. I am just finishing this one and I love it, she says, as she settles down to tell us more about their designs that kept the creative fires abuzz in NY City, while elaborating on their plans in Doha. WHY DOHA? Boym Partners were the winners of the National Design Award in 2009. Their studios designs include tableware for Alessi and Authentics, watches for Swatch, lighting for Flos, showrooms and retail displays for Vitra, and exhibition installations for many American museums, including Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. The list runs long and impressive, though the design duo seem impervious to their own success. And so you cant help but ask the obvious question: What are you doing here in Doha, of all places? We definitely wanted to reinvent ourselves, starts Laurene. We had this successful design practice in NY City for more than two decades, and then this

opportunity comes our way when Constantin is asked to head the new Masters Program in Design at VCUQ. But that is not all... There is so much happening in the city. Doha is like the new cultural capital of the world in a way, with new museums, buildings and subways. These are all design interventions and obviously there is a need for more and more of such amenities that are designed for people to use, to live in, to work in, as opposed to just being imported from somewhere. Things that are made in the region by people who understand why and where they

Crude and creative the Timeless installation, views of vitra design studio, and the designers with their newest product

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are being used. It was an opportunity that we just had to explore. Constantin adds: Education was a major part of our interest. I came for the job interview and I had observed the dynamics of the place, the pace of construction, and felt that this place was up to something and it seemed the right thing to do, to be a part of what is happening... For Laurene there was also the mystery associated with the Middle East which pulled her to this part of the world, a sort of crush for the region, she explains.

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The masTers Course
virginia commonwealth university in Qatar recently announced the master of fine arts in Design studies, a unique graduate design program in the gulf region. it is to head this program that constantin is here. placed amidst a great transformation of the state of Qatar, the program gives students a chance to both learn from this historical process and to influence its future development, he says. there is a need for a new kind of designers new industry leaders sophisticated global individuals, fluent in most recent trends and capable of moving between different design disciplines. in addition, we need to prepare a next generation of design teachers who one day will take over the program. mfa Design acknowledges that design is a highly collaborative discipline, incorporating the transfer of knowledge across traditional domains to create products, environments, forms of communication, and the organization of information. no more than seven students are accepted into the program each year, which allows for individual personalized mentorship throughout their course of study.

as new designs and innovations hit the market to be consumed by the market and later discarded when time makes them redundant, the Boyms presented a design called Timeless, which indicates their aspiration for timeless values. we imagine objects that defy time and obsolescence, things that withstand fluctuations of trends and style, says constantin of this creation. this collection attempts to make objects as timeless as ancient bronze monuments. once we apply our special treatment, the familiar shapes start to look and feel like bronze sculpture. trivial objects suddenly look permanent and essential. making Timeless Objects has required a great deal of time and experimentation. the material is applied over the surfaces of the objects with our own proprietary technique. all pieces are made by hand at our studio, in a limited edition. each object literally carries the fingerprints of its maker. Timeless Objects was presented to the public at experimentaDesign in lisbon in september 2009 and at cooper-hewitt national Design museum in october 2009.

Timeless

I have always lived in a diverse sort of place. In that context, Doha too is similar to NY City, with people from all over coming here. In NY I was the only New Yorker, everyone else was from somewhere else. Education, it seems, underlines their being here too, as both of them want to educate the masses, evoke a design consciousness and initiate an understanding of design in everyday life. It is not as if design doesnt exist here, says Laurene, careful not to upset the local design fraternity, but the idea is to create a different type of awareness, where it seeps into public perception. Not just for those who are steeped in it but for the common man to enjoy and understand too. So is there a lack of design awareness, especially in the context of education? Of course, and that is why we are here. To create a local platform where designers can meet and exchange their expertise to build this place. There are no design studios, no design university until now, no designs that address the local environment. It is a kind of vicious circle and the only way to break it is through education, says Constantin. And also by creating a community of people appreciative of design, says Laurene. We have been involved in this sort of process from the moment we started to work together, engaging young people, having design actions and discussions akin to design movements. We have already started this with Constantins students as we are mentoring them. We love this idea of young people having their own design, design products, installations. It is not about us or our ideas but about what they bring to the table and how they take it further. It is all very satisfying. We like design to be spontaneous, creative warm and expressive as opposed to being dry and stale. We want people to use it and that is what we want

students to understand. IMBIBE AND REACT There are a bunch of ideas in the offing. And all of them can be literally seen bubbling inside Laurenes head. But she is waiting, in a selfimposed hiatus to understand the place she is in, get a feel of it, settle here before she embarks on realizing those ideas. We took a while to synthesize what we were taking in visually. We wanted to be part of the culture, absorb it and then respond to it. We love motivating young people. We wanted to impart our understanding of the design culture from our experiences. We also want to bring people from the outside to Doha to give their design inputs. Then we have our studios, in NY, we will eventually have our own designs here too. SELF-DESIGN Ask them about their previous designs and the couple are quite flippant. Probe them about installations and Laurene asks: Which one? We have so many...! Constantin says: It was a long time ago. That was an interesting period of time, when each design process was so exciting. Constantin talks about that interesting designing period when they designed not just objects commissioned by clients, but also for the love of creation while they explored their creative boundaries. Our studio had this peculiar way of working. Other than commissions from clients we used to work on our own designs. We used to design without any specific goals, work on different themes, and sometimes it resulted in particular prototypes which we used to exhibit, use for design conferences or events. These self-designs were very popular. Sometimes companies have asked us to mass-produce one or commissioned us to produce something similar. This was an artists way of being a designer or a creator. This is common in Europe, especially in Italy. In the US it took some time for this kind of design intuitiveness to evolve. Somebody had to pave the way, and now it is very popular. Sometimes we worked with such abandon with clients who allowed us freedom; these clients educated us too in the long run. Working with Swatch was one such exercise, because we worked with the genius Alessandro Mendini. Working with Vitra, one of the most advanced design companies in the world, was another such extraordinary process both artistic and educative. We intend to continue this form of product design here, with more such products, a marriage of an Eastern influence with a modern base, which reflects our understanding of the environment, he adds. Probe about the designs they are working on in Doha and Constantin is emphatic: Lets discuss it once we finish it. n

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