Interview with David/Nicolas

Everything begins in Beirut - a city of contrasts, overlapping memories and constant reawakening. It was there, at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts, that David Raffoul and Nicolas Moussallem met in 2006. In 2011 they founded their studio David/Nicolas, and after completing a master’s degree at the Scuola Politecnica di Design in Milan, they opened a second base in the Italian city, bringing with them a way of designing that doesn’t seek harmony but a productive state of tension - between intuition and discipline, imagination and structure. In the meantime, a third studio has opened in San Francisco. Their design practice mirrors their hometown: layered, resilient, able to renew itself without erasing its traces. Their aesthetic draws from the Italian design tradition and artisanal know-how, but also from Mediterranean vernacular architecture, electronic music and photography. Over the past decade they have collaborated with brands such as Tacchini, Pierre Frey, cc-tapis and Moooi, and exhibited their work in galleries including Nilufar Gallery and Carpenters Workshop Gallery. Their material approach - from the hand-carved boiserie of the Supernova collection for Carpenters Workshop Gallery to travertine tables etched with brass markings - reflects their belief that craftsmanship is not decoration, but a cultural structure. We spoke with David and Nicolas about identity, creative geographies, Beirut as an invisible matrix, and Milan as a platform for exchange.
 

How do you split your time between Beirut and Milan? What do these two cities represent for you and how does San Francisco fit into this balance?
Our main base is Milan, where our core team is based and where most of our collaborations take place. But Beirut remains an essential part of our work: we still have a studio there, and we go back regularly. Both Italy and Lebanon are key to our production; we prototype and build in both places. San Francisco is part of our growing presence in the US, where one of our team members is based to follow ongoing projects.

What does it mean to be born in a city like Beirut? How much of that identity comes through in the way you design?
Being born in Beirut is, in many ways, a challenge. You grow up surrounded by contrasts: different proportions, different rhythms, an underlying chaos, but also moments of true sophistication. And that duality deeply shaped our design language. We’ve become obsessed with proportions, with balance, with the refinement of details, perhaps as a way to make sense of the environment we came from. Beirut is a city you can’t fully explain, you have to live it to understand it. Our identity keeps evolving. It’s built on what we inherited from Beirut, and constantly reshaped by what we encounter as we move through the world.

How do you see the Lebanese creative scene today?
The creative scene in Lebanon is strong, and it’s evolving in a very promising direction. There’s a real energy that sets it apart. You can feel the desire to grow, to challenge limitations, to produce locally despite the difficulties, and to make the Lebanese scene matter internationally. What’s also striking is the sense of exchange between artists, designers, architects: there’s a shared will to push forward, to support one another, and to build something meaningful together.

What would you say is your design signature - the thing that defines you the most?
What defines us the most is this constant dialogue between times. We often look to the past, reinterpret it through our lens today, and try to project it forward into something that feels timeless, or even a little futuristic. Over the years, what has come to represent us most clearly is our work with wood paneling: the systems we’ve developed to dress walls, the way we integrate materials, textures, and proportions into architectural surfaces. It’s become a very important feature of our work and a language in itself, which continues to evolve with every project.

Milan - when did it enter your story, and what did it represent?
Milan became part of our story when we moved here to do our Master’s degree, back in 2011. That was really the beginning. We met people during that time who are still close friends today, and even collaborators. Since then, there’s always been a back-and-forth between Beirut and Milan. We travelled often, stayed connected to both cities, and over time it became clear that Milan would be our base. And it still is. What we love about Milan is that it’s not a city that reveals itself immediately. It’s not in your face, you have to dig a little, pay attention to the details, to the architecture, to the atmosphere. It’s not for everyone, and that’s exactly what makes it so special.

What are you working on?
We’re working on several projects at the moment. We’re presenting a new installation with Buccellati at Downtown Design Dubai this year, and we recently completed the library and Saddle Workshop for ADREA, the new Royal Equestrian School of Abu Dhabi. We’re also designing private residences in Dubai, Beirut, Milan and Paris, while continuing to expand our wood paneling line internationally. At the same time, we’re developing new furniture pieces in collaboration with different brands, and preparing for next year’s Salone del Mobile in Milan.

Will we see you at the next Milan Design Week?
Absolutely. We’ll be presenting several projects, including a new product with a brand we can’t reveal just yet, and a new collaboration with Nilufar and de Gournay. We’re also preparing something special in our own studio in Milan. So yes, we’ll definitely be part of it.

The theme of Fuorisalone 2026 will be “BE THE PROJECT.” What does mean to you?
For us, “Be the project” simply means being genuine. Everything we design is a direct extension of what’s going on in our minds, our thoughts, our obsessions, our way of seeing the world. It’s not about putting distance between us and the work. Quite the opposite as we invite people to discover who we are through the pieces we create. In that sense, the project is us.