Durietz Design
Josephine and Christoffer Du Rietz are the founders of Durietz Design & Development, a Mallorca-based architecture and interior design practice dedicated to restoring and reimagining distinctive properties.
After working on projects in Gothenburg and Stockholm, the pair left Sweden for Mallorca in 2016, where they began restoring historic homes while developing their multidisciplinary practice. Josephine brings a background in industrial and automotive design, architecture, interiors, and art, while Christoffer’s background in digital design informs his work across architectural drawings, furniture design, and project management.
Together, they approach each project with a shared interest in preserving the character of existing buildings while creating thoughtful, contemporary spaces shaped by materiality, craftsmanship, and their Mallorcan surroundings.
“We believe the property, its environment and history should guide the design.”
INTERVIEW
We have both always had a deep interest in visual beauty and harmony, Josephine coming from the industrial and automotive design industry and Christoffer a graphic and digital designer. Our shared passion became interior design, first in our various own homes through the years and then we developed it into a business.
Definitely our move to Mallorca and starting a business here. It sparked lots of inspiration and opportunities.
A holistic approach and grand vision. There has to be a clear theme set and hard work done to not stray from it. And also creating this theme or design concept by taking environmental conditions into account. A house in the Hamptons should not look the same as a house in Mallorca, no matter what your “style” is.
We always start with the house itself. Initial ideas come naturally when walking into a house, and we can picture how it could be transformed, and luckily for us, we both usually see the same things. These ideas are then formed into real, approachable designs using moodboards.
We would say a mix of Scandinavian and Mediterranean, trying to always stay as timeless as possible, even though it’s impossible to not be influenced by trends.
It’s hard to say. After working on the projects, usually for 3 years or more, you are pretty tired of each project when it comes to “launch” 🙂 But what gives us real joy is when we come back to a project after a few months away and experience it with new eyes and feel, in all humility, “damn, this is pretty nice!”
Working in Mallorca, it’s definitely “never underestimate the bureaucracy”.
The devil is in the details, but it’s not more important than the full picture.
Hone your style so it’s clear who you are, and always follow the red thread. Also, get into art! It’s such an integral part of creating beautiful spaces.
We actually have a shared obsession with crime podcasts and listen to quite a few. Some Swedish, but I can recommend Casefile and Anatomy of Murder. A great way to rest your mind for 30 mins.
We would like to take a stand for practicability. So many designs you see are just not livable. For example, bathrooms without heaps of storage look like a mess when actually used.
Floor-level sofa tables 2 m from the sofa—how does that help? Chairs with 10 cm-high backs around a dinner table might be beautiful, but useless.
Currently, we are working on an amazing grand property in the middle of the mountains in Mallorca for some lovely clients that we are very excited about.
Hopefully done by the end of the year to be ready to show you.
Thank you so much Josephine and Christoffer, for this lovely interview!
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