Climb under a rock, see yrself more clearly
Discovering superpowers in isolation, cool architecture, crib-enlivening jawns & more "unbeatable topics" with PIN-UP's Emmanuel Olunkwa
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Emmanuel Olunkwa — he’s a young prince of the design world who writes, curates, makes films, takes pictures (of ppl like Dev Hynes and Kilo Kish, among others), designs furniture, writes Columbia graduate theses about the spatiality of Jeremy O. Harris plays, and, at just 27, was recently named editor of the excellent architecture & design magazine PIN-UP …
He’s also a fashionable dude known to rock tremendous Eckhaus Latta joints on IG and Loewe in Interview magazine, and who interned at Saint Laurent and Comme des Garçons. Emmanuel’s based in Bed Stuy, and he first caught our eye here at the sletter because of his popping furniture practice — he makes carved birchwood tables and chairs whose shapes put us in mind of sick Scandinavian CHURCH DÉCOR?? (Ssense recently started carrying a capsule of Olunkwa joints; they’re coppable thru the links way down below.)
The other day Erin hit up Emmanuel on the SpyPhone to talk about unbeatably compelling topics such as RADICAL optimism, GREAT architecture, “actually having a relationship” with the jawns you wear — and more.
Blackbird Spyplane: “Radical optimism” is the theme of the first issue of Pin-Up that you edited. What are you feeling optimistic about these days?