From Cotonou to Chicago, via Paris, Larry Tchogninou has accumulated experiences, to become today a rising figure in design. An artistic jack-of-all-trades, the young Beninese sets no limits, and wants to explore and push the new frontiers of interior design, architecture, and object design. Portrait of a man who has curiosity and the permanent desire to create as a philosophy of life.
From our correspondent in New York,
“ We don’t force curiosity, we awaken it “, according to Daniel Pennac. For Larry Tchogninou, curiosity is stimulated by the experiences of his young life, but also through the encounters he has had since his birth in Cotonou, in his Benign so darling. He always had his eyes wide open to shapes, and at the age of 6, he discovered a passion for architecture during the construction of his mother’s house. “ We went every weekend to observe the work, and from my first visit, I was captivated by the creation of structures and shapes, but also the materials, the cuts. It was a revelation! » he still remembers today. From then on, he spent a large part of his free time making sketches, plans, building models, and dreamed of becoming an architect. “ I only had that in mind, it was a sort of obsession to imagine how to build, design houses, structures. This love for it has only grown », he smiles.
In 2014, at the age of 15, he joined his father in France. He settled in Beauce, in Angerville then in Pussay, before going to Ris-Orangis for high school. After obtaining his baccalaureate, he enrolled at the National School of Architecture of Paris Val-de-Seine (ENSAPVS). An experience that changes his life, opens his perspectives even more and stimulates his creativity like never before. “ My years in Paris brought me so much, I learned and accumulated so much. There, the diversity, the fact of having access to many forms of creative expression, such as drawing, writing, and with my ‘jack of all trades’ nature, I was in paradise “, he specifies.
He discovers Gaël FayeGoncourt High School Prize 2016 with Little country and wrote his first poems, which he grouped together in a book that he… published in 2017, Exile, in which he talks about his departure from his native land (Éditions du Panthéon). The young Beninese catches the eye with his creative approach.
Tchogninou is happy in France, but joins her mother in Chicago, where she has lived since 2009. “ I didn’t want to leave Paris, but after six months, I knew I had made the right decision. My French years were extremely important, they gave me a broader perspective in terms of creativity. It was THE turning point in my career so far “, he believes. The young African is therefore bringing his talent across the Atlantic in 2018.
Serena Williams, Nike and transmission of knowledge(s)
In Illinois, the young Beninese continued his studies in architecture and design, at the famous Illinois Institute of Technology (ITT). Through encounters, he continues his learning, and also discovers new interests. “ One day I met an important person in my life, the designer Benjamin Edgar, who made industrial design a reference in the creation of everyday objects.he explains. I loved his creations, and he inspired me to start this kind of initiative “.
In 2019, he launched one of the two flagship projects of his young career for the moment, Ruptur Vision. Through this initiative, he reimagines objects, such as bedside tables, but also remodeled kitchen utensils, without forgetting conical-shaped trash cans. “ I wanted to throw myself fully into this project, because I was overflowing with ideas, he emphasizes. I am fascinated by the objects that everyone has at home, and I wanted to restructure them by bringing my vision to them. “. The results are astonishing, and the products are selling like hotcakes. The young jack-of-all-trades gets involved in various initiatives, and even joins the team of designers hired by Nike to design the collection of Serena Williamsin December 2020.
Tchogninou and a few other hand-picked talents must create two collections for the world star. “ It was something huge because I had wanted to collaborate with the comma brand for a while.he smiles, I contacted them through a mutual friend, my Beninese mentor Ahmed Taofik who guided me a lot with his valuable advice. Until one day I found myself in the Nike offices doing zoom meetings with Serena, who loved my products, including a triangular sports bag. Serena is super professional and I continued to learn about design and fashion “.
It also helps the Guinean designer Mamadou Bahand his successful brand “C’est Bon” by producing his show at Paris Fashion Week the following year, and starting his second personal project, Point of Sail, with his friend James Langford. “ We take inspiration from the nautical world, and we design interior furniture: chairs, lamps, shelves, all with angles and shapes reminiscent of navigation. “, he specifies. The success was immediate, and he exhibited his creations in different places, including one of the Meccas of design in Chicago, the Center of order and experimentation.
For those who define themselves as polymath, the successes follow one another, but Tchogninou does not only wish to accumulate knowledge, but also to transmit it, by proposing, after each project, to publish a magazine version of the stages of the creation process of each object. “ The finished product is beautiful, but people also want to know how we got there. It is important to create supports, books with diagrams, explanatory texts, so that people see the different stages. Passing on knowledge is very important to me », he concludes.