About

« Au commencement était l’émotion. »
— Louis-Ferdinand Céline, entretien avec Claude Sarraute, 1960

I have always been drawn to objects that feel closer to fragments of architecture than to decoration — objects with weight, silence, texture, and a presence of their own.

I founded Luminis as an extension of this fascination. I am a French architect, first trained in spatial design in Paris and later in architecture in Spain. Today, I work from Madrid, where every piece is imagined, developed, and handcrafted.

My work begins with architecture, but rarely ends there. I am interested in what happens when architectural ideas are removed from the scale of buildings and condensed into objects: a wall becomes a plane, an opening becomes a void, a façade becomes a relief, and a structure becomes something that can be held in the hand or placed within a room.

The process moves constantly between digital precision and physical experimentation. I use 3D modelling and prototyping to explore proportions, geometries, repetition and structure, before returning to the hand — casting, sanding, assembling, pigmenting and finishing each piece individually.

Concrete is the primary material through which I explore form, weight and texture. I am particularly attracted to its contradictions: it can appear monumental yet fragile, primitive yet precise, raw yet almost delicate. Its pores, variations and imperfections are not something I try to erase entirely. They are part of what gives each object its character.

From sculptural bookends and architectural models to lamps and abstract objects, each piece is produced in small series or as a unique work. Forms may repeat, but no two objects are ever completely identical.

I don't want these pieces simply to fill a space. I want them to establish a relationship with it — changing with the light, casting shadows, revealing different surfaces and sometimes feeling almost like fragments of an imagined architecture.

Ultimately, Luminis is my way of exploring architecture at a more intimate scale: objects made slowly, with intention, designed to acquire a place in someone's interior and remain there over time.

Virgile A.
Founder & Architect