Mexican designer Rafael Prieto has transformed his loft in a vintage industrial building in the heart of Manhattan into a deeply romantic space that reflects his refined taste and emotional approach to design. The founder and artistic director of design studio Savvy has created a domain punctuated with carefully chosen objects and homemade creations that mirror his profoundly romantic aesthetic.
Prieto's TriBeCa loft serves as both his living space and the creative birthplace of elegant Casa Bosques chocolate tablets made with cocoa beans from Chiapas, which are sold at the well-known Lower East Side delicatessen Russ & Daughters. The space represents a place where form and substance blend organically in daily life, demonstrating Prieto's philosophy of combining professional and personal life.
The idea of merging work and personal life manifested in the fall of 2020, when the Mexican designer returned to New York after a long forced absence. "When I moved in here, many people had deserted the neighborhood. Little by little, I tamed it, as well as its inhabitants who often live and work at the same address," Prieto explains. "Many galleries have opened their doors in the area over the past two years. I like to escape there to think or, on the contrary, to empty my head and let myself be surprised by discoveries."
The living room showcases an eclectic mix that includes a coffee table designed by Rafael Prieto himself, a 1970s sofa, chairs by Gerrit Rietveld, and a wooden seat with antique fabric conceived with Valerie Namé Bolaño, founder of Spoliā. An antique-style statue sits alongside Isamu Noguchi's sculptural Akari lamps and a suspension light imagined by Prieto and his partner Loup Sarion for their label Marrow. A Design Within Reach table and a painting by Pedro Friedeberg complete the sophisticated arrangement.
Apart from minor kitchen renovations to prepare chocolate for his confidential Casa Bosques label, Prieto has preserved the rented loft in its original state. The space, surrounded by large windows and punctuated by cast iron columns, embodies the charm of 19th-century New York industrial buildings. Its high ceilings and generous volumes invite contemplation of the designer's collection objects and creations, including works from his first solo exhibition "Together Over Time" at the Emma Scully Gallery last spring.
The exhibition featured a poetic juxtaposition of furniture, sculptures, and lighting fixtures, including the linen and steel Marrow model created with his partner, artist Loup Sarion. This sculptural lamp, with lines inspired by bones saved from dinners, appears throughout the loft in various versions. The living room corner features a nose-shaped sculpture by Loup Sarion, while a garden stone table echoes the cast iron columns of the loft and a molding of the building that houses it.
In this avant-garde interior, design icons signed by Gerrit Rietveld, Ettore Sottsass, and Isamu Noguchi coexist with ancient or surrealist sculptures, creating an environment where nothing is premeditated. "It reflects my evolution through my experiences and travels. The dialogue between different styles and eras is due to the randomness of life," reports the aesthete behind several decorations in New York and Mexico. "While I have never actively sought a design piece, rather letting it come to me, it's a little different for art. I constantly visit galleries, museums and consult many specific works. I cannot help but go in search of works that have aroused emotions in me."
Stones have been arranged throughout the loft like sculptures, with one serving as a nightstand. A corner reserved for Studio Savvy displays Casa Bosques chocolate tablet packaging on the wall. The low seating area near the floor echoes the traditional Japanese lifestyle that won over Rafael during a stay in the Land of the Rising Sun eight years ago.
"Japan is among my main sources of inspiration. You encounter so much beauty and humility there," he observes. "Taking a place near the floor also helps me keep in touch with reality, because I have an unfortunate tendency to have my head in the air." The designer enjoys receiving friends informally for festive meals or creative exchanges in this space. "Here, people and ideas come and go freely," he concludes.
