Michael Yarinsky and Kelley Perumbeti

Based in Brooklyn and San Francisco, Office of Tangible Space is an interdisciplinary design studio founded by Michael Yarinsky and Kelley Perumbeti specializing in architecture, interiors, furniture and curation, with projects ranging from the object-scale to the urban.

Michael Yarinsky received degrees in Architecture from Pratt Institute and has been practicing since. Prior to founding Office of Tangible Space, Michael worked for several years at Specht Architects focusing on residential architecture and interiors and Janson Goldstein with a focus on high-end retail, commercial, and residential clients globally. Aside from practice, Michael founded Brooklyn’s Cooler Gallery, runs Design Field Trip with Ladies and Gentlemen Studio, and runs the seminar People in Places with Kelley Perumbeti, is a Fellow of the Urban Design Forum, and co-founded and was the Board Director of Non-Profit Design Advocates.

Kelley believes that each design project warrants a fresh approach – one that doesn’t adhere to a single style or aesthetic, but maintains a close relationship to materiality, form, function and essence. She completed her Masters in Interior Design at Parsons School of Design where her studies focused on an expanded understanding of the interior in community & public space. Coming from a background in in-person community experiences at General Assembly, her design expertise ranges from the urban interior and social spaces to our everyday living environments. Kelley runs the regular seminar People in Places with Michael.

How would you describe your design philosophy?
We create space and objects and like to bring community into practice. Our work is grounded in a human-centric approach that is achieved through warmth and materiality. We like to challenge the program of the space & to create unexpected moments of interaction. Our designs seek to be aesthetically appealing – but we hope that they make you feel something.

Which designer and/or piece of work inspires you? Why?
Allan Wexler is a fine artist that toys with the thinking and motifs in design. He also introduced us (Michael and Kelley). In Allan’s work, the purpose is meant to elucidate a simple idea or theme about making, living, or living together. He is a model for how to work, how to act, and for thinking about the future.

What’s now?
We are currently working on a few incredible public institutional projects with the Brooklyn Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Alvar Aalto Foundation. At the same time, we are building out our woodshop in Brooklyn to be able to make furniture prototypes and planning out the next Works In Progress group show in San Francisco.

What’s next?
We know this is a long game and we are always trying to set ourselves up for future success. In the long term, we are moving into larger hospitality, cultural, and institutional projects that hopefully will far outlast us.

Which of your projects or products are you most proud? Why?
Our work for Summertime Gallery as part of Design Advocates focused on using participatory design to create an inclusive work and display space for artists with and without intellectual disabilities. On a completely different scale, our retail stores for Brooklinen encompassed a holistic design process across many scales at once, from the architecture to the detailed expression of a hang bar. We were able to develop the spatial voice of the brand from the ground up: a material language, a functional system, and most importantly a feeling that people could experience no matter the store location. At any project scale, we attempt to maximize impact and connection with people.

Give us some context about where you live: How long you’ve been there and how does it influence your work?
We are a bi-coastal studio based in Brooklyn and San Francisco. We can’t help but be influenced by the cities since we are so driven by the communities we are enmeshed in. In both cities we have ongoing community-based curatorial projects. In Brooklyn we have Cooler Gallery and in San Francisco we have Works in Progress with Kate Greenberg.

We are always trying to create feedback loops in our work and one way is to heavily incorporate the designers and artists in our community into our larger interiors and architecture projects. 

Last question! What is your favorite movie? And your favorite band or/and song?
Terry Gilliam’s Brazil and been having a heavy rotation of Masayoshi Takanaka and Laurie Anderson recently.