Derived from the Russian word “troïka”, a team of three, atelier oï was founded in 1991 in La Neuveville, Switzerland, by Aurel Aebi, Armand Louis and Patrick Reymond. With a team spirit and an intimate rapport with materials, atelier oï has been striving to dissolve barriers between genres and foster transdisciplinary creativity for close to 30 years.
Born of an intuitive and emotional affinity between the three founders, atelier oï works across architecture, interior design, product design and scenography with a collaboration across disciplines, creating holistic solutions from object to space. The founders have a strong interest in nature and natural materials, and their expertise in transforming these enables them to realise projects that are both emotional and artisanal.
The three founders are architects, designers and boat constructors, all members of the Swiss Federation of Architects FAS and directed the Swiss federal prize of design as President of the Federal Commission for Design between 2008 and 2016. Educated at the architecture school funded by Alberto Sartoris in Switzerland, the founders further received honorary doctorates from the institution.
atelier oï fosters experimentation and cultural exchange, through their work with clients as well as their own initiatives, and as visiting professors in a number of leading institutions including ETH Zurich, ECAL Renens, The Academy of Fine Arts Guangzhou and Kuwasawa Design School Tokyo.
The combination of local roots and international know-how has enabled atelier oï to design for a broad variety of national and international clients including Artemide, B&B Italia, Bulgari, Fendi CASA, Foscarini, Louis Vuitton, Nespresso, Pringle of Scotland, Rimowa and USM amongst others. atelier oï has also hosted monographic exhibitions of its work in solo exhibitions in Zurich, São Paulo and Tokyo. atelier oï is also working on a humanitarian project for Smiling Gecko in Cambodia.
Their projects have been recognised globally, with some of the most renowned awards presented to atelier oï including multiple IF Design Awards; Europan 3 award; European Museum of the Year Award; Red Dot award; and Product of the Year, from Architectural Record.