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João von Hafe Pérez May 4, 2022 0 comments

Olivier & Clio - Interior Designers and Founders of Garcé & Dimofski

Hanging Out With Olivier & Clio,

Interior Designers and Founders of Garcé & Dimofski.

Olivier and Clio met in Paris during their studies in Interior Design and Architecture. With their experience in different agencies from Beijing to New York as Interior Design Directors, they decided to combine their knowledge and bring to life Garcé & Dimofski as a gallery and a multi-disciplinary design brand.

They welcomed us in the amazing and historic Pombaline building from the XIX century located in the Intendente neighbourhood in Lisbon, where they soon will open the space in which the gallery will take place.

Get to know them.

Can you tell us your story so far?

My name is Luísa, I was born and raised in Lisbon, and I love this city. I took a Design degree and I am extremely passionate about color and graphics. Music has always been a big part of my life, it helps me to focus on work and to never stand still. Ever since I was little I have experienced a lot of different genres of music. My mother was always listening to Fado at home, so it’s a genre that I keep very present.

Four years ago I received my first vinyl record, an album and ever since then I haven’t stopped buying music. After that I took some beginner lessons in Djing with a good friend of mine and have become more and more interested in this craft. New opportunities to play started coming up so I began to focus more on Djing, playing mostly in events and clubs. Nowadays I have a monthly program at an online radio - Collect Radio - where I play lounge and dance music.

I fell in love with Surfing couple of years before and had the idea of designing my own home in shipping containers, send them to Portugal and start my new life together with my girlfriend and daughter close to the sea.

Why Pt? Because I was travelling Portugal in my Van for more than 12 years and every time I was spending a couple of weeks at the coastline, first Zambujeira do mar, later I went South where I started to surf. The amazing nature, the Portuguese lifestyle and surfing, it was a dream for me to come there. So at the end I got things done and moved close to Budens / Vila do Bispo, where I enjoy my time, improve surfing day by day and working on my creative projects.

Can you tell us your story so far?

We met during our 3rd year at the Camondo School of Interior Design in Paris. After graduating, we decided to study architecture. We both obtained an equivalence degree and entered a Master's program at the Ecole d'Architecture de la Villette in Paris. With our 2nd degree in hand, we decided to go to China. We lived and worked in Beijing for a year before coming back to Paris. After several experiences in various agencies such as Shigeru Ban Architects or Pierre Yovanovitch New York as interior design directors, we decided to combine our knowledge and Garcé & Dimofski was born as a gallery and as a multi-disciplinary design brand that creates lifestyle objects and interior design.

Next steps for you?

We are currently finalizing our showroom/gallery in Intendente neighborhood in Lisbon. It will open in July. Our goal is to establish this space in Lisbon as one of the leading furniture galleries in southern Europe. Lisbon and Portugal are in a corner of incredible development. Creativity has so much improved during the last years and has brought a new range of people who want to see more curated design.

Best spot in Portugal for you?

Serralves House in Porto.

The villa, constructed between 1925 and 1944, is a rare example in Portugal of Streamline Modern domestic architecture, but with interiors reflecting neo-classical, romantic and art deco elements. The most important European names in furniture design contributed to the interior of the Serralves House. Émile Jacques Ruhlmann designed the dining room, the hall, the hallway and billiard room, René Lalique was responsible for the skylight in the second floor hall, Edgar Brandt created the wrought iron gate that separates the common area from the private quarters, and Ivan Da Silva Bruhns, Leleu, Jean Perzel, Raymond Subes, and Alfred Porteneuve chose the color of the house. Much of the furniture is now dispersed, having been sold at auction.

What does style mean to you?

Style should embrace singularity. Today most of the creators are staying in a mold and they don’t challenge themselves to be different and singular in this overwhelmed world. Portugal is definitely the right place to get back on what is essential.

Where do you find inspiration?

Mostly in poem books and in architecture such as Fernando Pessoa who evolved a body of work throughout his lifetime - taking each poem, modifying, and redistributing them like architectural elements of a temple. Alvaro Siza Vieira is in continuity of this language for the architecture and what he translates in the Portuguese heritage.

What motivated you to get started with Garcé & Dimofski?

Handcrafts in Portugal was what drove us to create G&D in Lisbon. We wanted to embrace our interior design practice with Portuguese craftsmen and export this knowledge worldwide.

What's the Band / Music Style / Music Artist that inspires you?

It’s an easy answer but Philipp Glass and Kanye West are the most iconic figures from our point of view. Each one has redefined the boundaries of their work in an uncommon way and brought in another level what is music aesthetic and not only on the stage but more broadly in art, fashion, opera, design.

Any guilty pleasure worth mentioning?

I’m not sure it’s a guilty pleasure but we love to collect. It allows us to share our story from those objects. It’s always a pleasure to find the right object for the right space but sometimes when we move from one place to another we need to wait before being able to place the object/furniture in its proper environment but we can’t give it up, it’s part of our life story. Each time we develop a collaboration this pleasure comes in some way part of our life and the people who collaborate with us.