The Story

Fred&Juul, short for Federico Minarelli and Julie Janssen, are two architects who decided working as architects isn’t for them. It was when designing custom furniture for their clients and developing it with the amazingly skilled local artisans that they truly found joy in their work. So, in 2012 they decided to solely focus on that and launched their first lighting and furniture collection. With the exception of the renovation of the old Tuscan farmhouse that would become their home and studio, a labor of sorrow, but mostly love (see the result on the press page!).

What sets them apart is how they see and use their materials of choice: bronze, brass, wood and stone. Their designs value the inherent nature of these materials and how they are meticulously crafted, like the grainy, clouded surface of their Raffaele light in sandcast brass or the juxtaposed Oak grains in the marquetry of their Maurits table. Starring all these aspects in the story of a piece, is what makes it unique and last.

Over the years they have increasingly worked with interior designers on custom pieces for high end projects all over the world, thanks to their attention for detail, refined aesthetic sense and collaboration with the best highly specialized craftsmen Tuscany has to offer.

Backgrounds

Italian architect Federico Minarelli and Dutch architect Julie Janssen both studied at the University of Florence where they obtained their master’s degree in Architecture. Their broad interest for everything design-related has brought them to graduate with a thesis in industrial design while already working in the field of architectural renovation and, in Julie’s case, also active in film and television production design. It was from the wonderful experience of working with local artisans when custom designing furniture for clients of their full-service architecture and interior design firm in Florence, that the idea for their own furniture line was born, in which to express their personal style and love of fine craftsmanship.

credits

Website design: Fred&Juul
Website developer: Webag.it
Photographer: Lorenzo Michelini