Going off-book: Justin Donnelly creates geometric interiors

Designer Justin Donnelly left architecture in 2013 to form his own design practice. He made ICFF’s shortlist of Emerging Talent 2016
Designer Justin Donnelly doesn’t use cookbooks anymore. The passionate home chef, whose architectural offerings will soon include kitchen accessories, takes a similar approach to developing products for his eponymous brand.
‘Cooking to me is very much like design, it’s very intuitive, as you do it more you get a better feel for how things go together,’ says Donnelly.
The DC native studied architecture as an undergraduate at Stanford before earning a Master’s of Architecture from the University of Maryland. He practiced architecture in DC, and worked with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to expand and renovate the historic St. Albans School. The project took nearly three years.
‘At the end of the day, there’s a building,’ Donnelly says, but in 2013 he was ready for the experimentation and output his own brand would provide.
‘The reason that I’m doing interiors is that it’s so much more immediate,’ Donnelly says. His intuitive approach has paid off, and he made ICFF’s shortlist of Emerging Talent 2016.
Donnelly’s 2015 offerings– including a tubular steel bench and tessellating wallpaper– may seem disparate as first; however, all favour a sort of crystalline simplicity.
‘I’m still really compelled by architecture,’ the designer explains, and his colourful Spiral planters prioritise linearity over monolithic shapes. Donnelly appreciates that the powder-coated steel can be thinned down to a degree he never could have achieved with wood.
ICFF called out Donnelly’s Wave shelf, a modular piece focused on eliminating spatial and material waste. The catalyst for the project was Donnelly’s personal need for a shelf that could comfortably store his record collection, fit oversized art books, and naturally display smaller objects.
The solution was seven shapes traced out of three squares of white-lacquered MDF(bamboo plywood for custom orders). They produce no excess material. Once assembled, they become one unit of stackable shelving suited for apartments small and large.
‘I’m always thinking about shipping [in this ] era of global design,’ Donnelly explains. It’s a point of pride that a single unit of the Wave shelf can be flatpacked into a USPS envelope. His own apartment in DC used 12 of the units.
Donnelly’s assembly instructions borrow heavily from the IKEA style for better or worse, he gamely admits. A fan of the company’s research division, the designer is nonetheless grateful he can bring a design to life after a small amount of testing and then tweak it afterwards.
‘You really get to know the chair you designed when you sit in it all day,’ he says. His recipe for success is intimacy in every step of the production process.
For his next collection, Donnelly’s focus is on prismatic shapes. He’s made the move from DC to New York, and is working on setting up his studio. The designer hopes future collaborations will bring his designs to a larger audience, but he isn’t giving up the independence he savours.
‘Cooking to me is very much like design, it’s very intuitive, as you do it more you get a better feel for how things go together,’ says Donnelly, a passionate home chef
‘I’m still really compelled by architecture,’ the designer explains, and his colourful Spiral planters prioritise linearity over monolithic shapes
ICFF called out Donnelly’s Wave shelf, a modular piece focused on eliminating spatial and material waste. The catalyst for the project was Donnelly’s personal need for a shelf that could comfortably store his record collection, fit oversized art books, and naturally display smaller objects
‘I’m always thinking about shipping [in this ] era of global design,’ Donnelly explains. It’s a point of pride that a single unit of the Wave shelf can be flatpacked into a USPS envelope
For his next collection, Donnelly’s focus is on prismatic shapes. He’s made the move from DC to New York, and is working on setting up his studio
INFORMATION
For more information visit Justin Donnelly’s website and follow him on Instagram
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Introducing the design-led Split Watches, a force for good
Good design is given a charitable spin by Split Watches – for every one sold, the company donates an hour of therapy
-
Meet the New York-based artists destabilising the boundaries of society
A new show in London presents seven young New York-based artists who are pushing against the borders between refined aesthetics and primal materiality
-
Inside a Montana house, putting the American West's landscape at its heart
A holiday house in the Montana mountains, designed by Walker Warner Architects and Gachot Studios, scales new heights to create a fresh perspective on communing with the natural landscape
-
The owner of this restored Spanish Colonial home turned it into a gallery – with no social media allowed
Casa Francis in LA is a private residence, but recently opened its doors to one member of the public at a time for an exhibition centred around domesticity
-
Why are so many rooms covered in curtains?
Comfort, privacy, and performance are all contained in the rooms swaddled in plush draperies
-
This Manhattan apartment and studio is a shrine to art
This New York artist's home is both comfortable and flexible, acting as a studio and a showcase for his work and collected pieces. We take a tour for our interiors series, The Inside Story
-
Life’s a beach at this tropical-glam Miami development
Five Park Miami Beach mixes streamlined glamour with vibrant colour, and is the focus of Wallpaper’s interiors series, The Inside Story, as the Floridian city holds its annual Grand Prix
-
A Frank Lloyd Wright lamp broke auction record at Sotheby’s – fetching $7.5 million
The architect's ‘Double-Pedestal’ lamp, which was designed for the Dana House in 1903, has become his most valuable work ever offered at auction
-
Step inside this Upper East Side jewel box apartment
This radiant Lexington Avenue home is a harbinger of good things for the Upper East Side, and the latest focus of The Inside Story, our series spotlighting intriguing and innovative interior design
-
This Colorado ski chalet combines Rocky Mountains warmth with European design nous
Wood and stone meet artisanal and antique pieces in this high-spec, high-design mountain retreat
-
Swiss utilitarianism meets West Africa in this Armando Cabral and USM furniture collaboration
A centuries-old West African motif signifying movement, adaptability, and progress served as the starting point for this collaboration between New York-based designer Armando Cabral and Swiss furniture brand USM