Fuorisalone meets Marialaura Irvine | Studio Irvine

Specializing in product design, art direction, and architectural design, Studio Irvine is fueled by the same curiosity that animates its director, Marialaura Irvine, making the studio an interdisciplinary project.

Naples and its thousand-year historical stratification were the breeding ground for Marialaura Irvine, who graduated in architecture in Naple under the guidance of architect Riccardo Dalisi. Greek, Roman, Spanish, and French architectural genius have nurtured her imagination for years, in the alleys of Naples where every step is a new discovery.

“A wealth that is difficult to manage even in aesthetic terms. Now I have moved towards research into Nordic design: less is more,” says Marialaura Irvine about her educational and professional path.

Without ceasing to turn to the past and the tradition of its places of origin, the objective of Marialaura and Studio Irvine is to translate that heritage into projects that look to the contemporary, thus creating products that live outside of any pattern imposed by trends. Therefore, timeless products.

This choice, combined with the mission of simplifying production processes and the choice to follow a single-material approach, illustrates the attention towards values such as sustainability and circularity. Two essential principles that the studio also honors through the redesign of old products, thus extending their life. An approach that is possible thanks to the one-material structure of the objects that makes them decomposable.

“The respect for the material and its production processes has become the cornerstone of my projects, whether they come from the design or architecture field. Our research is always looking for a synthesis that, following an industrial approach, reduces material waste. The materials must be used in a structural and not merely decorative sense,” explains Marialaura.


D'Amore, restaurant in Capri, design by Marialaura Irvine - Studio Irvine. Photo by Natalia Garcia

Love and respect for the material find their perfect expression in the "D'Amore" project, a Capri restaurant whose architectural renovation was carried out by Studio Irvine.
The design of the "D'Amore" restaurant and the concept that guided its planning reflect both the culinary proposal of the restaurant, which pays homage to tradition through the choice of only local ingredients, and the Genius Loci of Capri.

“A walk towards the Faraglioni looking at the streets paved with stone and brick and the needles fallen from the pine trees on the path inspired me to create a surface in which the pine needles are grafted into the terracotta, which, once in the oven for cooking, evaporate leaving room for the stucco,” Marialaura explains, emphasizing how the Genius Loci and the story of local traditions are intrinsic and indispensable values in every project.

D'Amore, restaurant in Capri, design by Marialaura Irvine - Studio Irvine. Photo by Natalia Garcia

The choice of materials (terracotta and clay), like that of colors and textures, is a clear reference to nature and integrates perfectly with the most avant-garde elements, such as the hobs and worktops.


D'Amore, restaurant in Capri, design by Marialaura Irvine - Studio Irvine. Photo by Natalia Garcia

Once again, tradition and innovation communicate effortlessly and seamlessly in a project capable of speaking with intelligence and sensitivity to both the past and the future.