VDF studio profile: Bulgaria-born, Milan-based architect Victor Vasilev designs furniture, products and interiors as well as buildings in a bid to create holistic home environments.

The resulting projects range from a Tuscan family house with custom-made furniture and lighting to shelving systems that act as architectural elements in their own right.

Vasilev established his practice in 2004 after finishing his studies at the Politecnico di Milano and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen.

Since then, the studio has expanded to include a team from a broad range of professional backgrounds, working on both local and international projects.

"A close relationship between architecture, interior and product design was the driving force behind the studio from the very beginning," explained Vasilev.

"The subtle transition between these disciplines is driven by the continuous search for formal and material purity."

Among the studio's projects is Soldati house in Tuscany, which saw an existing house stripped back to its bare bones and transformed into an ultra-modern, Milanese-style residence complete with spa and cinema room.

The simple square volumes that define the design are complemented by bespoke furniture, while indirect, integrated lighting accentuates the structural qualities of the building.

Similarly, M Residence is a three-storey apartment in a building perched above Lake Lugano, which connects southern Switzerland with northern Italy.

Beyond the custom-built furnishings, strategically chosen materials connect the different levels of the flat, with teak boiserie throughout helping to disguise functional spaces such as the elevator and bathrooms, as well as featuring again in the decking around the swimming pool.

Born out of the desire to create well-rounded homes, Vasilev's product designs often aim to reimagine overlooked, overly-functional items such as sanitaryware or storage.

Kub, for example, sees a classic sink recast with a clear glass washbasin and hidden drain, offset against a cube of Carrara marble for the base.

Another sink design called Falper Eccentrico, which last year won Vasilev the Design Plus Award at Frankfurt's ISH trade fair, consists of cantilevered cylindrical volumes with a black marble basin.

His two storage systems CTline and Bukva are disguised to integrate into the architecture of the home.

CTline was created for Italian furniture brand Boffi and consists of a combination of irregularly stacked columns that resemble a city skyline.

Designed for Living Divani, Bukva seems to deconstruct the surface of a wall through suspended sheets that are held together by a metal skeleton.

"I believe that designing an object like this is very different from working on any other piece of furniture," said the designer. "It is more like creating domestic architecture.”

Studio: Victor Vasilev
Website: victorvasilev.com
Contact address: [email protected]

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