– Alki is unique
in this regard. Their appreciation for form and materiality is what imbues their designs with an emotional resonance. In every detail, there are strong visual textures as well as tactile expressions that can elicit joy, project calm, or mitigate the effects of workplace stress.
So often, traditional approaches to design are too narrow in their scope, optimized to perform a specific task or singular function. Design of this nature is destined to treat people like cogs, bereft of any ability to think or feel. But people are impulsive, their fate tied to the whims of a state of mind constantly in flux, whose moods and motivations can change on account of a splash of color or a fleeting conversation.
Understanding the ways people respond to and derive pleasure from design informs how Alki approaches their craft. “I’m especially interested in the emotional relationship that we, as people, develop with certain objects,” says Jean Louis Iratzoki, Alki’s Artistic Director. “‘Why do we like something?’ and ‘Why do we keep only some objects?’ The search for this affection is a constant in my work.” For Alki, design is a holistic endeavor.
The sanctity of the essential is a prevailing influence in their work. Design, to Alki, is not a disguise, “but rather a continuous pursuit of purification.” It’s among the many reasons they design with natural materials—most notably, sustainably managed oak. Wood transcends the indulgences of contemporary living. There’s a connection to oak that is steeped in local traditions and endemic to Alki’s outdoor surroundings. But in many ways, it speaks to something more innate—a sentiment resembling what sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson would describe as our predisposition to subconsciously pursue connections with nature.
