Furniture Design: Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann

“To create something that lasts, the first thing is to want to create something that lasts forever.”

-- Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann

Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann was born in Paris on August 28, 1879 to Alsatian parents. His family owned a painting and contracting firm, and Ruhlmann spent most of his youth learning his father’s trade. During this time he met several young architects and designers who would turn out to be Ruhlmann’s first exposure into the world of furniture design.

Ruhlmann took over the family business in 1907 after his father’s death. Around 1910, a newly married Ruhlmann had his first experience designing furniture for their new apartment. This was also the first year in which he exhibited his custom furniture to the public.

His early work reflected the Art Nouveau influence that was popular in France at the turn of the century. Ruhlmann’s influences can also be traced to architects and designers creating custom furniture in Vienna during World War I.

Contrary to popular belief, Ruhlmann had no formal training in cabinet or furniture design and did not construct the furniture himself. Other cabinet shops did all of his work until 1923 when he assembled his own cabinetmaking shop. By 1927, Ruhlmann’s shop had grown to two locations, employing master cabinetmakers, finishers, upholsterers, and draftsmen.

To understand the art of Ruhlmann’s furniture, one needs to take careful notice of his subtle use of grain. Ruhlmann was careful in not allowing the figure of the wood to vie for attention with the form of the furniture. His two favorite woods — Macassar Ebony and Amboyna Burl — both create soft but striking background patterns, without focusing attention on the wood itself. This allowed the veneers to support the design details instead of competing with them.

Ruhlmann’s talent for design and his mastery of material combinations produced unique furniture that is historically incomparable. His formal elegance made his contemporaries’ work appear lackluster in form, and garish with respect to materials and color. His impact on designer furniture will surely last forever.

Visit www.perczek.com for more information on custom furniture and modern furniture design influenced by Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann.

Jaime Perczek Custom Furniture Design

The Jaime Perczek Design team specializes in high-end bespoke furniture that's designed exclusively for clients' needs. Our extensive experience in replicating and re-designing pieces from the Art Deco period, in particular, is now a Perczek benchmark. From Palm Beach to New York, South Beach to Marbella, precise yacht interior design to never before seen entertainment centers, the Perczek Furniture Design team excels in the art of furniture design and manufacturing... from simple tables to an entire home.

Jaime and Janou Perczek formed Today's Custom Design in 1981, importing unique furniture from South America and using exotic materials like rare woods, cow horns, bone and natural goatskins. Their goal was to assist interior designers and clients in creating distinctive one-of-a-kind furniture. The company quickly grew to national proportions, selling to many other showrooms and developing a unique look, similar to the late Karl Springer Collections. The Jaime Perczek Design showroom in the Design Center of the Americas (DCOTA) was established in 1987 and has since been a leader in the south Florida design community, leading the future of holistic furniture design.

Jaime Perczek became a professional furniture designer in 1987 and is a member of the American Society of Furniture Designers. Perczek's signature “Neo Deco” style — Jaime’s modern approach to the Art Deco style — conveys form and artistic value beyond the ordinary, retaining classical meaning while displaying a fresh approach to contemporary interiors. Over the years, Jaime Perczek and the Perczek Design team have refined their innovative ways of designing and manufacturing high-end custom furniture. From hand rendered conceptual sketches to computer generated CAD drawings and construction documents, exotic finishes and precise templates for built-in units and fitted cabinetry, Perczek provides all the tools and expertise required for an aesthetically successful installation.

Our Process

Perczek Design has three main departments: Design & Drafting, Manufacturing & Finishing and Delivery & Installations. Every project starts with a conceptual and mechanical drawing, our drafting department employs computer systems to easily transmit and receive pictures and drawings via e-mail using PDF or AutoCAD files. We have over 30 years experience and we make sure that each piece is aesthetically beautiful and well proportioned, and that it has the correct balance and integrity of design to custom fit your environment. As required, we will come to your home, office or yacht to evaluate and capture the essence of your design objectives.

After the furniture is designed, the next step is selection of the finishes - reviewing our large library of samples, reference books, photos or catalogs. Our ability to work with rare and difficult materials will impress even the most discerning furniture connoisseur. We are experts in many unique and exotic materials including exotic wood veneers marquetry, dyed Goatskins, Shagreen, carved acrylic and glass, stainless steel, leathers and semiprecious stones.

From the moment you enter our showroom, you will experience an art gallery of custom furniture

with many styles and finish options. Our clients love to learn about Perczek's unique finishes and spectacular furniture design not available elsewhere. In our DCOTA showroom we offer a vast collection of impressive finish samples to select and visualize the finish that works for your project. To better understand the design concepts, we offer finish samples and create 3-D digital renderings of proposed Perczek Furniture Designs.

Furniture Manufacturing

With over 30 years manufacturing unique furniture, our experienced team of specialists includes architects, professional installers, computer designers as well as experts in every section of the hand made process. From its conception, each piece of furniture takes about 5 months to produce — every aspect is studied and shaped to follow the harmonious lines that will produce the desired results.

Perczek Design has developed partnerships with overseas factories where the furniture is produced and where individual attention is given to each Perczek piece that's ordered. Our European and South American partners allow us to make the most unique custom designed products. The local Perczek Design workshop offers upholstery, finishing, cabinetry and installations.

Holistic Design

Your personal space is important; it is where you spend your creative time — your home and your office environments. The decor that makes your space uniquely YOURS is more than just random elements. The elements you choose become part of your physical world, and their energy surrounds and contributes to your whole being. When you create your outer world in balance with your inner essence, your spaces feel inspiring and welcoming, creating in turn increased harmony and well being within. An inspired home or workplace is where you can relax and feel at peace, creative and supported - because your environment was designed reflecting your inner values. Our lives are affected by our physical environments and we must strive to surround ourselves with beauty, as well as life giving elements, in order to find proper balance and center ourselves.

Inspired furniture and interior design include many facets: style, volume, colors and textures, surprise and mystery - and of course must consider what uplifts the clients zest for life. Some of these details are more obvious, but others come from the client's ability and willingness to imagine and envision a future worth having.

Perczek offers his clients the opportunity to recognize and harness the positive energy both inside and surrounding us. "Our team of specialists personally interviews each client, to find the vision and creative direction to follow, what details will best suit your inner desire, to create harmony and balance in your surroundings". It is a holistic approach to interiors and furniture design that lets the client guide the process with intuition, spontaneity and freedom. Our pieces are one-of-a-kind originals, each component is custom created to align with and bring about the agreed creative vision. "Our friendly approach to interiors and custom furniture design promises to transform your home into the positive reflection of your inner essence bringing you closer to your life's mission and purpose".