MEET CONTAIN
In a recent dialogue with Juan Peralta and Mauricio Obarrio, the brilliant minds behind CONTAIN, we explored their perspective. They firmly believe in the power of combining local materials with contemporary design and high technology. This fusion, they assert, is the key to crafting top-tier lighting designs.
Tell us a bit about Contain and the services and products you offer.
CONTAIN is a highly engineered lighting and furniture design studio. Combining local materials with high technology, our pieces are proudly handcrafted on the sunny island of Mallorca and shipped worldwide. At CONTAIN, we use noble materials and recycled materials, combined with 3D printing technology. We use PLA (polylactic acid or polylactide), which is a thermoplastic polyester derived from renewable resources. Nowadays, PLA has the second-highest consumption volume of any bioplastic in the world. The philosophy behind our products is slow design: to create pieces that last, are of quality, are passed on from generation to generation, and are timeless on an aesthetic level. In each product, we seek to vindicate the synergy between pure craftsmanship and innovative design. Everything in CONTAIN carries the doctrine of "Buy less, make it local, choose well, and make things last".
Alabaster collection
Tell us a bit about your typical client.
Our average clientele is architectural firms from all over Europe; we also have clients in the United States and Asia, but Europe remains our main market. We also have private clients who buy a single product, but mostly we do integrated projects.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Our products have a bit of Art Deco and Mediterranean; these two styles coexist throughout the collection. Our studio is very connected with the life of the island and its customers, and this connection with the Mediterranean is given not only by the choice of materials (many of our suppliers are families who have been working for three generations with different materials on the island) but also the aesthetics of the products created. The essence of CONTAIN is focused on the creation of unique objects by combining craftsmanship with technology and using local labor. The added value we believe lies in the level of customization we offer, involving customers until the last step.
Which is your best-selling product?
At the beginning, the "Nuvol" and "Alba" collections were the best sellers; nowadays, the “Alabaster” collection is the best seller.
Alba collection
What kind of projects are you working on right now?
We have just finished lighting the Louboutin headquarters in Paris and we are currently working on the New York and Geneva stores. Last year we illuminated a very special space, which was the ephemeral space of Cartier in Casa Batlló and this year we continue with orders from the French house for other parts of the world.
We have also started to work with La Rinascente Milan, so in the last year we have started to work with quite a few international retail projects as well as large private yachts and Middle East palaces that, for confidentiality reasons, we cannot reveal the owners but that we are very excited about. Some of the latest hotel projects we have been involved in are the NH Collection Frankfurt Spin Tower, the Hoxton Hotel in Los Angeles and the St. Regis Red Sea Resort.
Which is your favorite spot on Mallorca?
The area of Selva, Moscari overlooking Tramuntana, is our favorite area of Mallorca.
Nuvol collection