Today we dive into the fascinating world of FEO Studio, distinguished by its disruptive approach and its ability to transform the everyday into the extraordinary. With a trajectory marked by innovation and the constant search for new forms of expression, FEO Studio has mastered the combination of art, architecture, and functionality in each of its projects, creating spaces and objects that challenge conventional limits.
Are you intrigued to learn more about their disruptive approach? Discover how this studio turns chaotic ideas into extraordinary and unique projects.
How and when did FEO Studio come to be? What was the driving force behind starting this project?
Paula La Fea founded FEO Studio in 2007 at the young age of 20. Her main goal was to create unique spaces and objects that challenged traditional standards of beauty. FEO was born as a studio that celebrates the imperfect and the strange, bringing creations to life that question the dominant aesthetic norms. Paula, a self-taught artist, draws inspiration from her improvisational skills and creative fluidity, unafraid to get lost in ideas.
For her, originality is not only special but a form of sincerity. FEO is a space where the imperfect and the excessive take center stage, inviting reflection and provocation. Paula and her studio play with contradictions and incoherence, showing us that beauty can emerge from errors and imperfections. FEO represents a constant subversion of what is considered “normal,” challenging expectations to offer a new perspective on art and the functionality of objects.
What message do you aim to convey with each of your projects? Is there a common goal that they all share?
FEO is a manifesto against rigid thinking. Each project begins from an intellectual and artistic perspective, combining the emotions of both clients and the FEO team. They strive to convey ideas and questions, with each detail in their creations having a purpose and delivering a clear message.
Our designs reveal not only physical forms but also a system of complex, contradictory, and dynamic relationships where uncertainty and composition take the lead. For FEO, being "complex" is different from being "complicated." Each project is designed to fit the client like a unique piece of haute couture.
Furthermore, their projects not only have an aesthetic focus but also seek to improve people’s quality of life, offering new solutions that stray from traditional architectural and design logic. For them, beauty lies in what provokes emotion, questioning the boundary between beauty and ugliness.
What is your vision when creating a new design?
Our vision when creating a new design is focused on giving shape and materiality to a concept. The process begins with creative chaos, where all ideas are valid, regardless of functionality or initial needs. They seek to find a concept or purpose for the project, and over time, after much work, clarity, and order, they define the formal aspects such as shapes, colors, and technologies.
They emphasize the importance of balance between logical and lateral thinking and the time needed for a project to mature. Creativity arises from combining diverse influences and reorganizing them into something unique, resulting in distinctive projects.
Your projects stand out for being unique and special. What inspires you when designing?
We find inspiration for our projects through a holistic and unrestricted perspective. Each new design is seen as a leap into the unknown, allowing us to rediscover the world with creative openness. For them, ideas can come from anywhere, and the creative process involves letting oneself be carried away by imagination and the most unusual ideas.
Rather than depending on a specific source of inspiration, we trust in the natural development and interconnection of ideas. Although we value freedom, we also recognize the importance of setting time and space limits to effectively guide creativity. These limits help them become more innovative.
At FEO, we don’t believe in a “blank canvas” but rather in gathering prior information and data, which serves as a foundation for finding the concept of the design. The design process is based on empathy and synthesis, transforming elements like words, melodies, or ideas into habitable projects.
In summary, our approach is based on research, intense work, and moments of leisure rather than divine inspiration or external muses.
What elements or references influence you most when creating such distinctive spaces?
When creating distinctive spaces, we are mainly influenced by art, the need to solve a problem, and the specific rules that each project establishes from the start. Each client provides emotional signals that guide them in the right direction. They do not follow current stylistic trends but prefer to blend past, present, and future, seeking a unique balance.
While they acknowledge the use of contemporary resources, such as materials and technologies of their time, it is the project concept that truly defines every aspect, from forms to construction systems. Their designs aim to evoke a cinematic experience, as if the space were a permanent set influenced by cinema, theater, and visual arts.
We are drawn to the idea of "NO TIME," creating timeless spaces and objects that distance themselves from fleeting fashions. FEO combines art and functionality, infusing vital energy into each project. For them, design is utilitarian poetry that transforms the industry through artistic inspiration.
What factors do you consider when choosing materials for your projects?
When choosing materials for our projects, we focus on opening up to new experiences and combinations, seeking unexpected or forbidden relationships between materials, processes, and forms. Materials have their own "language" and relate to shapes, colors, textures, and light, so their choice is deliberate, expressing the spirit and concept of the project.
It is essential to "see beyond" a material’s superficial appearance, exploring its many facets and possibilities. They integrate the emotional and cultural significance a material can have for each user and experiment with it in new situations, sometimes altering its original nature to discover new uses and languages.
In our projects, we rigorously study the relationships between the parts and the whole, prioritizing the actions each element displays in interaction with others rather than focusing on size or nature.
Why do you think Tres Tapware suits your studio’s needs so well?
Tres in Argentina is unique in its class, standing out not only for its premium quality and wide range of designs and applications but also for its variety of finishes and colors. Currently, in our country, there is no brand that brings together such characteristics. It allows us to create high-quality wet areas that adapt to our designs, whatever their aesthetic.
Little by little, Tres is becoming better known in Argentina. We have installed its tapware in our projects and also sell it from our interior design store. Every new design and architecture professional who tries the brand is delighted with it.
What do you like most about our taps, and how do they add value to your projects?
We love the wide range of products to choose from, allowing us almost limitless design freedom. Additionally, the different operating options and technologies make it possible to create very sophisticated and contemporary spaces. We like being able to put together our own combinations by mixing the different parts. The finishes in the Study line are spectacular—we love the matte black and red!
In interior design, there are many ways to do things. The wide range of possibilities makes it difficult to make value judgments; the uniqueness of each object is in the detail, which makes it beautiful. Tres’s designs fit perfectly with our spaces, as they embody that beauty we always seek in every detail.
If you had to choose just one Tres collection, which one would you pick?
The Exclusive collection is our favorite, and among all its variations, we have a special fondness for the Slim and Cuadro lines for their sober, elegant, and contemporary forms. However, for finishes, we would choose the Study line, as it offers the widest variety of colors and finishes.
Tell us about the most special project you’ve done with Tres tapware
One of our latest projects, without a doubt, is the most special for us. This is the Hotel Yungas, located in the heart of the city of Salta, in northwestern Argentina. Here, all spaces are thematic, and we were able to offer comprehensive solutions to our clients, projecting a unique dynamic in the space and objects that inhabit it, creating the best scenarios for expression. All wet areas were designed with Tres tapware, with each one showcasing a different collection, line, and finish. The ability to create combinations for shower spaces, hot tubs, and basins, mixing various accessories and cutting-edge technologies, enriches our interiors with elegance and contemporaneity.
Undoubtedly, Tres is our favorite tapware brand, and we will continue to choose it for our new projects.
