Objects of Common Interest Lecture

Objects of Common Interest, Lights On, 2023. Photo: Piercarlo Quecchia, courtesy DSL STUDIO

Join us for a lecture by the design team Objects of Common Interest followed by an audience Q&A.

Doors open at 5:45 p.m. Free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Explore the Visiting Artists Program homepage for visitor information, recordings of past events, and more.

Founded by Eleni Petaloti and Leonidas Trampoukis in 2016, Objects of Common Interest engages at the intersection of art, design, and architecture. The studio explores a diverse range of scales, from sculptural objects and installations to immersive environments and public art projects. Based between New York and Athens, Petaloti and Trampoukis are also the founding partners of the sibling architectural practice LOT Office for Architecture.

Their work has been exhibited internationally at museums, institutions, galleries, and design fairs—including the Noguchi Museum, MAXXI - National Museum of 21st Century Art, Vitra Design Museum, Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation, Design Museum Brussels, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Museum of Cycladic Art, Musée National des Beaux-Arts de Québec, Biennale Interieur, Nilufar Gallery Milan, Etage Projects Copenhagen, and Delvis (Un)Limited. The studio has a wide range of collaborations, commissions, and acquisitions with global clients such as Kvadrat, Lexus, Jimmy Choo, Instagram, Rimowa, Gucci, Max Mara, Dooor, Charlotte Chesnais, Tacchini, CC-Tapis, Charlotte Chesnais, Marsell, Bitossi, and Technogym, among others.

Objects of Common Interest was formed with a focus on creating still-life installations, experiential environments, and sculptural objects—anchored by a deep fascination with materiality, conceptual exploration, and tangible spatial experiences. Their work bridges the contrasting influences of Greece and New York, blending cultural narratives into unified forms.

In 2023, the studio was commissioned by the Italian Cultural Capital for the main public art installation in Bergamo, Lights On, and has presented public art projects such as the Flatiron Plaza installation in New York.

Petaloti and Trampoukis were named Designers of the Year by the Elle Deco International Design Awards in 2024. Their recognition includes consecutive listings in the AD100 as among the world’s top designers and architects, serving as judges for the Wallpaper* Design Awards in 2023, and being honored as Designers of the Year by Wallpaper* in 2022. They also received the Design Studio of the Year Prize at the Dezeen Awards Public Vote 2022 and the Design Prize for Experimentation by Designboom in 2021. Petaloti and Trampoukis recently served as adjunct professors of Architecture at Columbia University's masters program in Advanced Architectural Design in New York.

Objects of Common Interest will have work on view as part of the sixth edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial—SHIFT: Architecture in Times of Radical Change, September 19, 2025– February 28, 2026.

Presented in partnership with the Chicago Architecture Biennial and the William Bronson and Grayce Slovet Mitchell Lecture Series in SAIC’s Department of Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects

This event will be live captioned by Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) services. The auditorium is wheelchair accessible and hearing assisted devices are available. For additional access requests, visit saic.edu/access.