An inaugural collection articulated by its verticality and monolithic appearance makes its way into Carwan's Gallery pop-up space in Ventura-Lambrate at this years Milan Design Week 2011. Based in Beirut, Carwan is the first gallery to promote emerging contemporary design in the Middle East. In Milan, Carwan featured seven projects from designers who all share a unique approach to design craftsmanship including the ''Totems for Living''. Designed by OEUFFICE, a collaboration between Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte from Samare Studio and Jakub Zak, from Studio Patricia Urquiola which was founded in 2011, the "Totems for living" is the first of many anticipated pieces by this research laboratory of limited objects.

The repetition and juxtaposition of its edges create a rich visual texture as your eyes moves up and down with the objects. A great platform to display domestic pieces and accentuate the stories inside them. The limited collection pieces erect from the ground with power and purpose. Their mass and floor plate demand attention and space for projection. An atypical object as it doesn't occupy a subtle adjacency to a sofa or a table; these ''Totems for living'' are a call to action within your domestic environment. We can see them being used in retail as well as they are ideal ways to pull your eyes to a diverse set of products.

The pieces explore the interaction with transparency, the aesthetic fascination to classical load bearing structures in architecture and the exploration of diverse engineering constructions. We await to see what other narratives of a contemporary utopia will OEUFFICE develop.