Written in the Stars. A solo show by david/nicolas in New York

Beirut, with its rich history, turbulent past and contemporary charm, is half of the inspiration behind “Supernova”, a solo show opening 24 January by design studio david/nicolas at New York’s Carpenters Workshop Gallery. “Beirut is a city that was reborn over and over again,” they explain of the concept that brought these Lebanese designers to titling their exhibition and the two bodies of work on display: “Constellation” and “Monocle”. “It’s a place where time and space are different, where beauty is in the small things or even in the memories of it.” Working, too, with the concept of post-explosion phenomena, the duo of David Raffoul and Nicolas Moussallem has produced tables, cabinets and rugs that speak of the retro-futuristic beauty of regeneration. “The death of a star results in either a black hole or a supernova,” they state. “Death is only a transformation; it outshines everything else and evolves into a new life.”

This transformative nature of a celestial body is portrayed through materials that are given a voice through form and void. The Monocle series represents large masses of dense matter, where wood, marble and bronze are set against transparent glass, evoking the idea of equilibrium of mass and light in a star. Constellation is a series that includes low, clean-lined travertine tables referencing new life. Perhaps the most entrancing of these new-life forms, Constellation C080, a 966kg demountable three-metre table, is set on three robust pillared travertine legs, each one carved to basal angles facing different directions, enhancing the patterned lines within the stone. It may just leave you star struck.