Declaring that since, ‘It is absolutely no longer possible to convert the masses.’ Hoffmann believed ‘then it is all the more our duty to make happy those few who turn to us.’

- Josef Hoffmann

Steve Avakian is a Designer of Furniture, Objects, and Space - through alchemy and cohesion. Avakian can be found working in Brooklyn, New York, by way of Savannah, Georgia - where he received his Master of Fine Arts Degree in Furniture Design from Savannah College of Art and Design.

Both his professional experience in New York, as well as his time at SCAD, reaffirmed the value in his approach to design, which is reminiscent of the Werkstatte’s ‘Gesamtkunstwerk.’ To him, design is the most just and has the most integrity when its conception is holistic - a total work of art. There is an intrinsic value, an endurance, and a narrative to objects and spaces that collectively provide an experience, a sense of atmosphere, and that nurture the subject-object relationship. Each piece is developed under the principle - that to exist one needs to be emotionally durable, aesthetically sustainable, and contribute to the cohesion of the atmosphere it’s meant to inhabit.

Avakian peers vehemently to both the past and future. With his work steeped heavily in tradition, pulling threads of antiquity and historical notions - he creates a mirror in which to gaze, reflect and critique within the modern context. With his fondness of Morris, Mackintosh, Hoffmann, and the movements they pioneered - Avakian endeavors to see design as a moral force, a brother & sisterhood forged by designer and artisan. Utilizing the highest quality material, transformed by the highest possible skill, and nurturing the invaluable relationship between designer and maker - the transformed are given the agency to display their own integrity. He believes the story isn’t in the making. The real story begins with a sustained narrative, the facilitation of intimate interaction, and the relationship between subject and object that develops only with the passage of time.