ARTIST

Charles Kalpakian

Charles Kalpakian was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1982. After a long collaboration with the prestigious design firms OraIto and Christophe Pillet, in 2011 Charles opened his studio to develop original objects. Over the past decade, he has become a prominent figure in collectible design.

“I’m considering myself as an Artist–Designer who evolves in a multi–disciplinary world. The client does not see the differences between paintings, sculptures and collectible furniture. The trend was always Art in general. It’s linked to our society and our way of life,” says the artist.

His practice includes collaboration with leading galleries, exhibition institutions and museums, among them Design Miami and the Collectible exhibition in Brussels, where he showcased his 3D–wood experiments created during the lockdown.

The designer's style was influenced by his strong oriental identity, French craft traditions and urban contemporary culture. A pure visual language was born from this radical mix, reminiscent of calligraphy in space. Kalpakian relies on the laws of optical art and optical illusions, and expresses them through sophisticated objects. He rethinks the ideas of arts and crafts in a modern way, especially by using various materials.

“The material is the strong link to the creation process and the project in general. It is very important to me to highlight the connection between handwork, craftsmanship and industrial techniques. I explore different visual support techniques such as photography, 3D–work, writing, drawings and prototyping in my workshop. Sketching is the method that I use most commonly. I create a collection of furniture and object and it is very important to have a common tactile and aesthetic approach. Each shape and color are an echo of the collective memory of each person,” says Kalpakian, “For me wood and stone are the most important materials. There is a duality and a diversity in them, the warmth and the cold. Both can be used in the CNC process as well as in craft techniques, and in projects of different scale”.

CASTLE

The first pieces of the Castle collection were created by Charles Kalpakian exclusively for Booroom Gallery in 2021. Now, on the occasion of PAD London, the collection is joined by two new works — a wood and onyx console, and a stool in shades of rose crafted in the same technique.

The key idea of the collection is how various natural elements create a sculptural unity, a combination of vertical and horizontal, and the power of a human in the center of an intellectual construct who can transform and create elements. “I wanted to explore the relationship between men and architecture: they are upright, standing on their feet and strong enough to carry this sculpted wooden architectural beam. This collection is based on my approach to historical architecture”, says Kalpakian. Each marble block is meticulously cut, rotated, and aligned to follow the natural rhythm of its veins — creating almost mystical composition where matter becomes self-referential, where imperfection transforms into language, and where mineral lacework lets emptiness breathe.

This choreography of solid and void is both raw and precise, echoing the brutal beauty of a landscape untouched, yet purified by the eye of the designer. There is no ornament for ornament’s sake — only clarity and intention, where time leaves its trace in the form itself.

Elegance here is not softness, but structure. It’s the kind of elegance that emerges from restraint — from subtraction, from the dialogue between mass and air, shadow and stone. At its core, Castle balances radicality and refinement. The radicality of shaping silence from weight. The refinement of translating millennial material into a contemporary alphabet. It’s a modern gesture rooted in ancient logic — a sculptural language that echoes both the vernacular craft and the futuristic toolpath. Where form follows time, and time becomes form.

Each veneer sheet was carefully selected to create a continuous, seamless landscape — one in which the eye can wander and lose itself, like tracing the contours of an imagined topography. The wood grain flows like lines of force, drawing a fluid, natural horizon across the surface.

Carved white onyx anchors and elevates this composition, offering a mineral foundation that is both discreet and powerful. Here, a primal dialogue emerges between wood and stone — between organic warmth and luminous solidity, between the artisan’s gesture and the timelessness of raw materials.