After spending several months as an artist-in-residence at the RALPH PUCCI sculpture studio in New York City, architect Lee F. Mindel has expanded his Veritas collection for the RALPH PUCCI brand. Recently on view at Galerie56, the six new pieces build on the possibilities of PUCCI’s proprietary Plasterglass material through evocative forms that give nod to global destinations and elevated craftsmanship. Veritas means truth and honor in Latin, elevating the stories of the artisans that created the collection through a lens of perceived effortlessness, despite the material’s unique challenges.
The Pont Royal Sofa embodies the spirit of Parisian refinement and beauty. Elevating details to features, this take on seating is welcoming, elegant, and cohesive, blending well with the other elements in the room. We can see the Santorini Coffee Table evoking images of waterways and arches of bridges reflected in murky depths. The use of light blue, both in the walls and in the rug, helps freshen every piece in the room, giving a clean and tidy effect despite the handmade nature of the pieces. The Rialto Bench shares similar design language with the Santorini Coffee Table, utilizing the same mold in the sculpture studio to form its arched structure.
The Santorini Console is a great example of the casting technique utilized in the collection, building upon the artisans knowledge of Plasterglass and the inherent limitations of the material. “We were thinking about these forms and what they represented, and then by moving them around, resculpting, shaping, and carving, we realized that we wanted nothing to be literal, and we wanted nothing to be copied from something else, but to be their own fresh version of something,” shares Mindel.
The Circle Game Chandelier also debuts, featuring a dynamic, ringed shape that mimics the circular form of the Double Take Mirrors.
Hand-built forms take center stage, creating a dialogue between modern design and public perception of craft. Mindel adds: “The creative experience is a collaborative one – we learn from the craftsmen about who Pucci really is, and how we could perhaps together go somewhere that each of us couldn’t go on our own. Another thing that concerned us was a consciousness about waste, and economy of material. The hardest thing I think in design is to make things seem inevitable, that things look effortless to do in the end, that you can’t imagine them any other way. These things usually take the most effort.”
Lee F. Mindel is an architect and designer who worked with RALPH PUCCI’s Master Sculptor to better understand the capabilities of Plasterglass, which can be molded, pigmented, and waxed to create different effects. Veritas, meaning ‘truth’, is an homage to his alma mater, Harvard, and signifies how Mindel treats the practice of architecture. “As architects, our work is in pursuit of rigor and honesty, with the intent to transcend the ordinary, in search of the extraordinary,” Mindel says.
To learn more about the Veritas collection by Lee F. Mindel for RALPH PUCCI, visit ralphpucci.com or galerie56.com.
Photography by Antoine Bootz.