# Dror Benshetrit

Dror Benshetrit is an American artist, designer, and inventor based in New York City and Miami. He established his studio, Dror, in 2002 in New York, focusing on product, interior, installation, and architectural design. His major works include the structural support system named Quadror, the Galataport Masterplan in Istanbul, Turkey, and the Cappellini Peacock chair. His studio has partnered with companies, developers, and institutions such as Alessi, Bentley, Tumi, Levi's, Boffi, Louis Vuitton, and Target. Dror's work is in the permanent collections of major museums in North America, Europe, and the Middle East, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Benshetrit firm's first architectural project consisted of a high-end residential masterplan for Nurai, a private island off the coast of Abu Dhabi. Dror designed 24 beachfront villas. The project was dubbed the “Most Luxurious in the World” by Newsweek Magazine.
In 2018, he founded Super Nature Labs.

## Early life

Benshetrit was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. During his academic career, he grew interested in and inspired by the work of Isamo Noguchi, Achille Castiglioni, and Buckminster Fuller. At age 25, he moved to New York city and opened his studio. His first commercial product, The Vase of Phases, is a vase that appears to be shattered and then put back together. Manufactured by Rosenthal, the product was the recipient of the 2006 IF product design award.

## Key works
### Vase of Phases (2005)

The Vase of Phases, designed by Dror, was created by the German porcelain company Rosenthal. It is now part of the permanent collection of the State Museum for Applied Arts in Munich, Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv, and Museum of Arts and Design in New York. The design, inspired by the fear of damaging delicate objects, depicts a vase at the moment of exploding. It comes in both black and white, and quickly became one of the company's best-selling products.

### Peacock Chair (2009)

Dror is perhaps best known for designing the Peacock Chair, which appeared as Rihanna’s throne in her music video for "S&M". Manufactured by Italian furniture brand Cappellini, the chair consists of three layers of felt folded and held in place with a simple metal frame. The Peacock Chair is made without using modern upholstery techniques or glues.

### Nurai (2008)

The masterplan for Nurai, a tropical island off of the coast of Abu Dhabi, features twelve water villas that complement twenty-four land villas. Recognizing that his target clientele owned multiple homes worldwide, Dror sought to differentiate his designs by enhancing privacy while preserving a sense of community. This was achieved by covering the roofs of the complex with a singular vegetative carpet, sheltering inhabitants from their neighbors while also providing open space for socialization. Once fully completed in 2014, the project sold for a total of $1 billion.

### Havvada (2012)

Using the dirt excavated to construct a canal between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara in Turkey, Dror envisioned building a man-made island off the coast of Istanbul. Named Havaada, the conceptualized island features six dome-shaped hills surrounding an inverted mound at its center. Dror explores a 3D urban grid, designing a series of domes wrapped by residences. Each dome houses a different activity center, with cable cars and walkways connecting them to each other as well as to the downtown center. The micro-environment aims to address the social, environmental, and economic issues affecting today's contemporary cities.

### TUMI (2012)

In 2012 Dror joined with Tumi to create a collection of travel bags. He designed the world's first expandable carry-on suitcase, which had the ability to double in size, as well as a backpack, travel satchel, dopp kit, and more.The integration of technology and luxury details was highly successful, leading Dror to later collaborate with Tumi to redesign their retail experience. The design approach for the flagship store on Madison Avenue in New York City has now been implemented in over 50 locations around the world.

### QuaDror (2006)

Through workshop experimentation, Dror developed a structural support system known as QuaDror. This patented technology serves as the foundation for various projects by the studio. The interlocking L-shaped pieces are stackable and load-bearing, allowing them to adapt to all sorts of conditions, scales and configurations.

### Swarovski (2007)

One of the many applications of QuaDror was in a partnership with Swarovski for a floor chandelier. The piece features a QuaDror frame complemented by a grid of signature Swarovski crystal strands. The chandelier is designed to open into two parabolas of crystals and is intentionally meant to stand on the floor rather than hang from the ceiling.

### Materialise (2009)

Through collaboration with the Belgian 3D printing innovator Materialise, Dror was able to manufacture and test the QuaDror structure on an advanced level. The collaboration resulted in a kinetic cube called Volume.MGX, created from 1,200 laser-cut QuaDror structures. Once assembled, the cube can be expanded to accommodate a light source at its center, producing a distinctive glow.

### Brancott Estate (2017)

Dror designed a sculptural installation for the New Zealand-based Brancott Estate, the pioneer of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc since 1975. The installation adopts the QuaDror modular system to form a geometric shape that reflects the shape of the grapevines. The design is meant to reflect the uniformity of the Marlborough landscape. Dror also created a scaled-down version of the installation, designed to function as a wine rack capable of holding up to six bottles of wine, allowing visitors to take home a piece of the sculpture.

### Galataport Masterplan (2018)

The team of Dror and Gensler won a competition to redesign Galataport, a site on the Bosphorus in the heart of Istanbul. The idea is to create the world's first underground cruise-ship terminal. With the help of Miami firm BEA, the team was able to invent a 3.5 meter hydraulic boardwalk and gangway system that hatches open when a ship docks. Above ground, Dror and Gensler created a multi-layered pedestrian neighborhood with a range of mixed-use buildings. This new public space seeks to help connect the city and sea, as well as provide space for bustling activity and newfound waterfront views.

### Tron Chair (2010)

The Tron Chair, designed by Dror and manufactured by Cappellini, is inspired by the Tron: Legacy film. It reflects on the angular terrain of the Disney film, playing with the collision of shapes in the digital world.

## Exhibitions

* 2015– Wanted Design: QuaDror furniture
* 2017– Bozar Centre for Fine Arts: Volume.MGX
* 2015– Guggenheim Helsinki
* 2014– Museo Poldi Pezzoli Milan: Peacock Chair
* 2011– Metropolitan Museum of Art: Peacock Chair
* 2011– Interni: QuaDror geometry

## Awards

Miami Lift Award
* 2013: Winner of Miami Landmark idea competition
Red Dot Award in Product Design
* 2010: QuaDror 03 table in mocha stained ash
* 2013: Dror for Tumi International Expandable Carry-On
Good Design Award
* 2008: Dror for Boffi +/- cabinet
* 2010: Dror for Alessi Try it Trivet
IF Product Design Award
* 2006: Dror for Rosenthal Vase of Phases

## Talks

* 2014: PennDesign
* 2013: India Design Forum
* 2011: What Design Can Do
* 2011: Design Indaba
* 2017: C2 Montreal