MAGAZINE · INTERVIEW

Fred&Juul

Fred&Juul is the design studio of Federico Minarelli and Julie Janssen, whose practice explores the intersection of architecture, collectible design, and traditional craftsmanship. After studying architecture in Florence and founding an architectural practice specializing in residential renovations, the duo launched their first furniture collection in 2012, collaborating with local Tuscan artisans. Characterized by refined proportions, precious materials, and meticulous craftsmanship, their work balances organic elegance with geometric clarity, creating timeless pieces that bridge architecture, contemporary design, and artisanal heritage.

Let's know more about

Interview

Where were you born and where are you from?

Juul: I was born and raised in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Fred: I’m Italian, born in Bologna, raised among its arcades and rich heritage.

What is your first memory connected to the art world?

Juul: My mother took me to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam when I was 7. I was deeply impressed, especially by Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch”.

Fred: Art has always been a deeply personal part of my life. As a child, I dreamed of becoming a painter—a vision that, in many ways, still echoes in my current state of mind.

Have you always worked in the art/design field?

Juul: After graduating from architecture school, I worked as an architect and in film art departments before transitioning into furniture design.

Fred: Yes, I began with architecture, and over time, my path evolved—leading me to become a furniture designer, where I could focus more intimately on scale, materiality, and the relationship between objects and space.

What led you to design creation?

Juul: I’ve always been drawn to architecture. As a little girl, I would make paper models of my bedroom furniture and rearrange them to experiment with layouts before moving the real pieces. In architecture school, I found myself most engaged with smaller-scale projects. It wasn’t until I began working as an architect that I realized I loved designing furniture more than any other aspect of the job.

Fred: I’m inspired by the idea of using creativity for something meaningful in people’s everyday lives.

How would you describe your creative process and its influences?

Juul: I begin with the quiet logic of geometry, but it is the material I choose—its physical properties, limitations, and potential—that drives the development, informing the final character of the piece. Each design is a balance between conceptual clarity and the unique qualities of the material.

Fred: The process unfolds in many ways, but it’s always a quiet tension that pulls me forward toward resolution, guided by subtle influences like memory, emotion, and the elusive beauty found in ordinary things.

Could you describe a typical day of your work?

Juul: No two days are the same. My favorite ones are those when I can fully immerse myself in the design process—but with a small team, our roles are diverse, and flexibility is essential. Since becoming a parent, I’ve often found that some of my most creative moments happen quietly, in my head, while waiting for the kids to fall asleep.

Fred: I rarely have an ordinary day. Whether I’m in the studio or elsewhere, my mind is often engaged with a project, be it traveling through Tuscany, where we craft our pieces, or walking my dog through the countryside where I live and work.

Why did you choose the specific materials you work with?

Juul: I’ve always been drawn to classic, noble materials—wood, stone, glass, bronze. I realized I wanted to dedicate myself to furniture design while working on custom pieces for our interior design projects. What truly inspired me was the incredible expertise and craftsmanship of the master artisans I’ve met here in Tuscany. Their deep connection to materials passed down through generations made me want to begin this adventure with them.

Fred: I choose durable materials because they are the foundation of design that lasts. The specific material has to have the potential to perfectly complement and enhance each design.

What are the technical particularities of your creations?

Juul: Each material is shaped by specialized craftsmen, which can result in a single piece passing through three different workshops before its parts are assembled. Some of our artisans still work just as their grandfathers did, preserving centuries-old techniques, while others blend traditional craftsmanship with modern tools.

Fred: Applying traditional techniques to a renewed context.

What advice could you give to beginning artists who would like to create sculptural design works?

Juul: Once an idea takes shape in your mind, let it sit there for a while and revisit it often. I’ve learned that when I give my process time to breathe, I feel more at peace with the final outcome. In the beginning, I wouldn’t “waste” a minute, but now I see that waiting is an important part of the work.

Fred: Seek your own path, guided by intuition rather than trends. True creativity comes from looking inward, not following the shifting currents of contemporary design, but shaping something honest, personal, and lasting.

If your works had to belong to a design movement, how would you define it?

Juul: A blend of Art Nouveau and Art Deco, reimagined through a contemporary lens: a dialogue between organic elegance and geometric clarity.

Fred: Our design is shaped by many influences, but I’d say the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements are the most clearly recognizable in our work. That said, I don’t feel tied to any specific movement. I prefer to move freely between inspirations, letting each project find its own voice.

If you had to summarize your creations in one word or sentence, what would it be?

Juul: Biophilic geometry: a synthesis of organic forms and structured design.

Fred: Quiet depth.

What designers and artists have influenced you?

Juul: Claude Lalanne and Charlotte Perriand have been the most influential to me. Lalanne’s nature-infused forms that feel both surreal and grounded, while Perriand’s elegant functionalism and sensitivity to materials embody a harmony between design and life that I deeply admire.

Fred: Observing the work of other designers definitely has an influence, but not in a direct or intentional way. It’s more about absorbing atmospheres, materials, or gestures that stay with me. Inspiration comes more from how something makes me feel than from other designers’ creations.

What contemporary designers do you appreciate?

Juul: I appreciate many, but if I had to name a couple, I’d say Marcin Rusak and the creators behind Maison Jonckers.

Fred: I appreciate a wide range of designers—just to name a few: Vincenzo De Cotiis, Casey McCafferty, Studio Drift.

What contemporary artists, in any kind of art, have you been inspired by?

Juul: I’ve been particularly mesmerized by Jennifer Packer’s flower paintings—their emotive layering and tenderness feel both intimate and expansive. Kathleen Ryan’s giant, bejeweled, moldy fruit sculptures captivate me with their tension between decay and decadence. And Wolfgang Tillmans’ abstract photographs resonate deeply, especially in the way they blur the line between the personal and the universal.

Fred: I’m inspired by artists like David Hockney, whose bold use of color reimagines the ordinary into something striking and new; Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who shape space into poetry; and Antonio Ligabue, whose raw, emotional vision leaves a lasting impression, just to mention a few.

“I’m inspired by the idea of using creativity for something meaningful in people’s everyday lives.”

The Questionnaire

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…)

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Juul: When I can find joy in whatever I’m doing.

Fred: Fully living the moment.

What is your greatest fear?

Juul: Something terrible is happening to my children.

Fred: Losing interest in life.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Juul: Impatience.

Fred: Guardedness.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Juul: Dishonesty.

Fred: A lack of empathy.

Which living person do you most admire?

Juul: All the oppressed people who risk their lives for a better future. (Like the woman in Iran who took off all her clothes and climbed onto a police car.)

Fred: People finding joy in a simple life.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Juul: Our home.

Fred: Isn’t the greatest extravagance nowadays simply not being extravagant? If so, that would be mine.

What is your current state of mind?

Juul: Reflective.

Fred: I’m trying to see a positive perspective for the future of the world.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Juul: Obedience.

Fred: Consistency, as change can often lead to growth and positive outcomes.

What is the quality you most like in a man?

Juul: Kindness.

Fred: The quality I most admire in a person is their intelligence, though, unfortunately, not everyone uses it wisely.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?

Juul: Self-respect.

Fred: The quality I most admire in a woman, as in a man, is intelligence.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

Juul: “Okay”.

Fred: I often overuse the phrase “what if,” as I tend to overthink possibilities and outcomes.

Which talent would you most like to have?

Juul: Musical talent.

Fred: I would love to have a talent for playing music, to express emotions through sound.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Juul: To be calmer… (I’m working on it).

Fred: I wish I could take things more lightly.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Juul: Parenting my children respectfully.

Fred: Greater awareness.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

Juul: A beloved cat in a house with a huge garden.

Fred: I’d choose to return as a human again. There’s still so much to experience and understand.

Where would you most like to live?

Juul: In the Tuscan countryside and Brooklyn.

Fred: In many places around the world, but also right here, in my corner of Tuscany, which I deeply love.

What is your most treasured possession?

Juul: A vintage armchair (which Fred and I bought when we first moved into a new home together).

Fred: Considering my children aren’t a possession, may I say my dog?

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Juul: Failing to enjoy life.

Fred: Living in conditions that prevent you from finding mental peace or fulfillment.

What is your favorite occupation?

Juul: An artist.

Fred: In my free time, I love being in close contact with nature; it restores and inspires me.

What is your most marked characteristic?

Juul: Determination.

Fred: Thoughtfulness.

What do you most value in your friends?

Juul: Non-judgement.

Fred: Authenticity.

Who are your favorite writers?

Juul: Harry Mulisch, Haruki Murakami, Elena Ferrante.

Fred: Milan Kundera, Hermann Hesse, George Orwell, Paul Murray.

Who is your hero of fiction?

Juul: Princess Mononoke.

Fred: Tintin.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?

Juul: The 21st-century working mother.

Fred: Sometimes I feel like a participant in the Grand Tour.

Who are your heroes in real life?

Juul: People who dedicate their lives to saving animals.

Fred: Those who dedicate themselves to making the world a better place.

What are your favorite names?

Juul: The names I gave my children: Jacques and Chloe.

Fred: I find French names particularly beautiful.

What is it that you most dislike?

Juul: Arrogance.

Fred: Violence.

What is your greatest regret?

Juul: Not having mastered an artisan’s craft.

Fred: I’d say my regrets are few and small; I prefer to see them as lessons that help me grow.

How would you like to die?

Juul: Without regrets.

Fred: Peacefully.

What is your motto?

Juul: “Live according to nature.”

Fred: “Age quod agis,” a reminder to be fully present and do well whatever you’re doing.

“Our creations are a dialogue between conceptual clarity and the unique qualities of the material.”

View Available Works

Fred&Juul

Interview

The Questions

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Giorgio Bonaguro 5 Picks From Philia Collection

Justus Knut Schomann

Behind the Scene: Mirei Monticelli