makeWorkshop was founded just this year as a creative outlet for makeStudio architects Alexander Papadias and Anna-Christina Fractopoulou. The two sought to make their project-specific object designs into commercial products and have started this venture with a series of door pulls. This is a strong statement, because opening a door is the metaphorical equivalent of starting something new, of venturing into another realm, of crossing a threshold.

Circus door pull. Manufactured by makeWorkshop.

White Marble Celebrates the Importance of Opening Doors

In designing door pulls, makeStudio decided to use an atypical material, which does service to the simple act of opening a door, something we do every day and therefore take for granted. But opening a door can be construed as a revolutionary act. makeStudio explains that “the frequency of the action does not diminish its importance.” Writer Francis Ponge would seem to agree, given that his poem “The Pleasures of the Door” magnifies the beauty of the act: “The happiness of grabbing by the porcelain knot of its belly one of these huge single obstacles”—the one difference being that makeStudio would have you grab a marble knot.

Circus is a round door pull ideal for large doors, those leading to great halls, ballrooms, and auditoriums. Made of a single piece of Dionyssos marble (also available in black Nero Marquina and creamy Carrara Arabescato), Circus recalls those wondrous tents under which ring masters and dancing dogs worked their tricks. makeWorkshop lamented that this exquisite material, used by artists for thousands of years, had become only cladding material for architects. Circle resurrects marble as the “first contact with a building”—placing it front and center as a sensuous portal.

About the Manufacturer: makeWorkshop is a recent development in the work of makeStudio architects Alexander Papadias and Anna-Christina Fractopoulou, whose work focuses on residential design for which they have created project-specific objects. In 2012, the two architects established makeWorkshop as a way to turn those project-specific creations into commercial products. Their first products are door pulls made of marble; makeWorkshop wants to “avoid being trapped by the preconceived notions” associated with certain materials.