Repeat Exhibitor Ready for BKLYN DESIGNS™ 2008

The following is an interview with Nahid Docouto, director of marketing for Williamsburg, Brooklyn-based Site Specific Design.

Tell us a bit about your company.
We are a team of three partners – my husband, Rui Docouto, who is the designer, our friend Frank Prisinzano and myself. We are based in Williamsburg, and have been here for 11 years!

We specialize in two categories: One is interior design, which includes the development of custom furniture and interior details. The other is product design – this includes the whimsical Childhood Memories collection of lighting and furnishings that we introduced at BKLYN DESIGNS™ last year.

Tell us about the Childhood Memories collection.
My husband grew up on the Azores in the '60's where there was a lack of commercial toys. His playthings were often objects he found in nature – bugs, sand, branches, etc. A few years ago he was working on a project in the East Village and saw a form that brought him back to those days. It was an oval shape that served as the inspiration for our Lucana light. It all started from there. The collection is all about playful shapes and movement.

Why did you decide to come on board as a BKLYN DESIGNS exhibitor last year?
We’ve been going to both ICFF (the International Contemporary Furniture Fair) and BKLYN DESIGNS™ for the past five years. It was immediately apparent that BKLYN DESIGNS™ had a young, fresh and innovative vibe. There is clearly a great deal of creativity coming out of this community. We also loved the fact that it was a more intimate setting.

What was your experience like as first time exhibitors at the show?
Awesome! We had a really great experience. Everything was well organized and pleasant. Also, the press coverage we received was terrific and we met with a large number of architects and designers throughout the course of the show.

How was the rest of the experience throughout the year as a result of your participation?
We participated in ICFF right after BKLYN DESIGNS™ and to be honest we got more press from BKLYN DESIGNS™. Also, most of the architects and designers who contacted us afterwards were people we met in Brooklyn.

What can we look forward to seeing from Site Specific Design at BKLYN DESIGNS 2008?
We are really looking forward to this year’s show. We will be introducing five or six new products – additions to the Childhood Memories collection.

For more information about Site Specific Design, go to http://www.sitespecificdesign.com/.

Photo: The “nymph” light, part of Site Specific Design’s Childhood Memories collection.