The Visiting Artists Program resource guides contain upcoming speakers' biographies, articles, video and audio content, related publications in the Flaxman Library, and additional online resources. These guides may be used in the classroom in preparation for the event, research, or post-lecture discussion.
Objects of Common Interest: Tuesday, September 23, 6:00–7:30 p.m.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Fullerton Hall, 111 S. Michigan Ave.
This event will be live captioned by Communication Access Realtime Translation services.
Join us for a lecture by the design team Objects of Common Interest followed by an audience Q&A.
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
Objects of Common Interest. Left: Leonidas Trampoukis. Right: Eleni Petaloti. Photo: Dean Kaufman
Objects of Common Interest Website
LOT Office for Architecture Website
Objects of Common Interest make light of marble in Milan showcase
Danielle Demetriou | Wallpaper | April 7, 2025
objects of common interest draws from athens' shopfront rollers for resin VOIDS in milan
thomai tsimpou | designboom | April 3, 2025
inside LOT and objects of common interest's art-infused gallina restaurant in Athens
lea zeitoun | designboom | October 3, 2023
Objects of Common Interest: design is halfway between ephemeral and concrete
Agnese Torres | Lampoon Magazine | June 9, 2023
Objects of Common Interest explores "secret recipe" for iridescent resin
Amy Frearson | dezeen | April 25, 2023
‘Lights On’ by Objects of Common Interest activates a desolate Italian public plaza
Jincy Iype | stir pad | February 25, 2023
Objects of Common Interest named Designers of the Year: Wallpaper* Design Awards 2022
Rosa Bertoli | Wallpaper | October 6, 2022
A New York design duo tap a surprising art world secret to create objects of desire
Rosa Bertoli | Wallpaper | August 30, 2022
THE DESIGN PRIZE 2021 for experimentation goes to objects of common interest
sofia lekka angelopoulou | designboom | November 5, 2021
10 Questions With… Objects of Common Interest Founders
Osman Can Yerebakan | Interior Design | November 2, 2021
life-size centerpieces by objects of common interest form sculptural garden in carwan gallery
christina petridou | designboom | September 30, 2021
holographic pieces by objects of common interest compose futuristic domestic landscape
sofia lekka angelopoulou | designboom | September 10, 2021
Objects of Common Interest: Hard, Soft, and All Lit Up with Nowhere to Go
Lilly Wei | studio international | May 11, 2021
Noguchi and Greece, Greece and Noguchi
by
Noguchi and Greece, Greece and Noguchi examines the relationship between one of the 20th century's most celebrated artists, Isamu Noguchi, and the Mediterranean country he regularly visited for decades through the lens of Objects of Common Interest (OoCI). This two- volume set considers the influence Greek culture on Noguchi's work, and the metamorphosing identity he established from engaging with multiple cultures, diverse practitioners, and a variety of mediums.Letters, photographs, sketches, and words from the artist himself-some never seen before now-reveal the intimate relationship Noguchi had with Greece. New writings explore the Japanese-American interdisciplinarian's creative community, including futurist Buckminster Fuller and choreographerMartha Graham; while contemporary visual essays reinterpret Noguchi'senduringlegacy across today's design and art practices.Featuring texts by Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, Hsiao-Yun Chu, Dakin Hart, Noguchi, Fuller, Jannis Varelas, Dr Nicholas Paissios and Katerina Koskina. And visual responses to OoCI's work, in conversation with Noguchi's ever-evolving practice, come from photographers Marco Arguello, Iwan Baan, Yiannis Bournias, Lauren Coleman, Brian W Ferry, Adrianna Glaviano, Brooke Holmes, Naho Kubota, Mathjis Labadie, Jana Romanova, Omar Sator, Matthieu Salvaing, and Stefanos Tsakiris.
OBJECTS OF COMMON INTEREST X ETAGE PROJECTS FUTURE ARCHAEOLOGY
Chicago Architecture Biennial—SHIFT: Architecture in Times of Radical Change
The Chicago Architecture Biennial convenes the world to explore innovative ideas and collectively imagine the future of design. Objects of Common Interest will have work on view September 19, 2025–February 28, 2026.
SOFT HORIZONS
SOFT HORIZONS is an installation created by Objects of Common Interest for Milan Design Week and Fuorisalone 2025.
Objects of Common Interest: Hard, Soft, and All Lit Up with Nowhere to Go
Works by Objects of Common Interest are interspersed within The Noguchi Museum’s Garden and permanent installation, and as interventions in the concurrent exhibition Noguchi: Useless Architecture. Previously on view from September 15, 2021–February 13, 2022.
Visiting Artists Program Lecture Recordings from the Archive
SAIC Visiting Artists Program video and audio lecture recordings (1977–present.) Available with SAIC login credentials.
SAIC Digital Collections: Visiting Artists Program
SAIC Visiting Artists Program publicity archive and audio recordings (1977–98).