For New York Design Week 2018, The Future Perfect presents two solo shows—each new work, each from a distinct voice—in one location. With San Francisco-based designer Charles de Lisle, the gallery launched its first self-produced series of lighting, the Linden collection. Chris Wolston presented a new collection of anodized and sand-cast aluminum furniture, exclusively made for The Future Perfect.

When designing the Linden collection, Charles de Lisle drew inspiration from cherry blossom branches. Reimagining the twisted, leafless form in extruded hexagonal brass conduit, the faceted structure and simple geometry playfully recalls early computer graphics, like a pixelated video game branch.

When prototyping the original Linden Branch, de Lisle looked to bicycle construction to develop the joint angles on the hexagonal form. The resulting system of connections has empowered an elegant series, beautifully made and restrained to its essential parts. Hanging fixtures, table lamps, sconces and flush mounts are available in Polished Brass, Brushed Brass, Dark Antique, Faux Pewter, and Antique Nickel.

For the collection’s debut, de Lisle accentuates its simplicity atop a theatrical monochromatic stage; a shadowed backdrop of deep red slipcovered furniture and carpet calling to memory a deserted San Francisco Victorian home. Clusters of the highly customizable, cascading Linden Ivy fixture glow within an industrial amber curtain, while wicker and polished brass table lamps cast twinkling patterns along the gallery’s terracotta walls.

Charles De Lisle is an upscale design firm based in Hayes Valley, San Francisco working in commercial and residential designs as well as handcrafted custom lighting and furniture. Pulling inspiration from bold pairings of the natural and manufactured world, Charles De Lisle’s design projects marry stellar workmanship with interesting textures and precision. The result is work that is as structurally impressive as it is avant garde.

Born in Massachusetts into a design family—he is the son of a colonial reproductions manufacturer and the grandson of a machinist— Charles De Lisle grew up acquainted with the world of interiors. Later, he attended the Hartford Art School. De Lisle then made a post-graduation move to California where a stint welding and manufacturing light fixtures honed his craft. After a move to New York in the 1990’s, he was discovered by Jonathan Staub and recruited to Staub’s early design firm where De Lisle cemented his personal style and ultimately became a leading partner in the design firm, later named DeLisle, Philpotts, Staub.

In 2009, De Lisle opened his eponymous design firm in San Francisco, creating state of the art, handmade design pieces from furniture to interior accoutrements and custom lighting. Ranging from storyline-based pieces to collaborative design works, the studio of De Lisle is world renowned. Well known projects, such as his stylings of the 100 year-old bank for real estate giant Vanguard Properties and the Ernest Coxhead House in Presidio Heights, San Francisco, showcase the designer’s diverse style, which combined unlikely materials and rich tradition.

His work at the Maximo Bistrot in Mexico City is one of De Lisle’s early masterpieces. There, he worked free of charge and with little to no budget in the economic desert of 2009. By incorporating traditional influences, well-timed thriftiness, and extensive knowledge of ceramics, De Lisle outfitted the restaurant with a one-of-a-kind ceramic wall relief depicting a modern Mexican tree of life. De Lisle worked on a second project with the restaurant owners, a sister restaurant of the Maximo Bistrot, Lalo!, in 2014.