Julien Manaira
Julien Manaira is a French designer whose practice explores the intersection of sculpture, furniture, and material experimentation. Working with aluminium, resin, and industrial finishes, he creates collectible objects defined by bold geometries, tactile surfaces, and a refined sense of proportion. His work embraces a minimalist vocabulary while revealing a playful exploration of colour, texture, and construction.
Through his studio, Manaira develops limited-edition furniture and sculptural pieces that blur the boundaries between art and function. Guided by a fascination with materials and fabrication processes, his work balances rational forms with expressive finishes, resulting in objects that are both visually striking and quietly understated.
Interview
I was born in Nice, France. I grew up in a little city further west on the French Riviera called La Croix Valmer.
I remember being obsessed as a kid with the models of habitation units you would find in shopping malls. I am not sure what this has to do with what I do today, but this is as far as I can remember.
I started my studio right after I was done with my master’s degree, so in that sense, yes. Although I still work in a restaurant on the side, Amsterdam is really expensive.
I entered a specific high school, art and design-oriented, with the idea of being an interior architect. I am not exactly sure how this slid slowly towards product design. I think I felt more empowered to make my own decisions when dealing with the scale of an object rather than a space.
I look at materials first. I never start with the intention of making a particular type of object. It always starts with a curiosity for a material or a technique: how this material can be transformed, and how I can try to transform it in a different way in order to trigger people’s curiosity.
Often I work on something casting-related, so I start with that to give it more drying time if I need to cast again before the end of the day. In between can be a bit of anything, mostly thinking and drawing about what’s next.
I am quite open about which material to work with. Although, obviously, so far I have been more noticed for my resin work. I started working with resin because it is liquid, then dries to become something you can use. This all started with my master’s degree research about the liquid state of material.
The aluminium works were in my brain for as long as the resin work. But I needed the money made out of the resin work to afford the aluminium prototypes. What I like about the aluminium is its softness (as a metal); it is really easy to cut into it without crazy equipment, so you can get somewhere pretty quickly.
My creations are completely influenced by the actions of the hands and the material’s reaction. Each piece is unique because of my relationship with the material. My work is about the fact that this relationship is always particular and leads to different results every time, which hopefully is tangible for the audience or user.
I would say don’t be scared of spending time and money, sometimes a lot. You have to invest in your own work to hope to get somewhere.
I really don’t know.
Gaetano Pesce and Droog Design.
Max Lamb, Johan Viladrich, Théophile Blandet.
I can’t think of one in particular.
Quest for controlled chaos.
“Each piece is unique because of my relationship with the material.”
The Questions
(The Proust Questionnaire is a set of questions answered by the French writer Marcel Proust.
Other historical figures who have answered confession albums are Oscar Wilde,
Karl Marx, Arthur Conan Doyle, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Cézanne…)
Stability
Emptiness
Impatience
Greediness
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Shoes and wine
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Punctuality
Generous
Generous
“Bah ouais” (for the french ones)
Languages
Being less stressed
Trying hard to live from my passion
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In a big city next to the sea
My shoes
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Wine tasting with friends
Calm
Availability
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Frank Abagnale Jr. (Catch me if you can)
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My parents
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People without passions
Not being more impulsive sometimes
On stage (again for the french ones)
I wish I was a “if not now when?” kind of person
“I look at materials first. I never start with the intention of making a particular type of object.”
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